Listen to THE SPIDER THREAD performed by the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on demand at q2music.org
On October 23, the American Composers Orchestra closed the 2015 SONiC Festival with "Orchestra Underground: 21st Firsts" at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. This concert consisted of five world premieres of orchestral music from composers under 40.
Hawaii-born composer Michael-Thomas Foumai's The Spider Thread is inspired by the Buddhist writing of the early 20th century Japanese author Ryṻnosuke Akutagawa. Composer Hannah Lash joined the orchestra on harp for her Concerto for Harp and Chamber Orchestra.
Judah Adashi's Sestina, set to a poem of the same name by Ciara Shuttleworth, featured a vocal performance from Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw. Conrad Winslow's Joint Account for Orchestra and Video incorporates the Baroque techniques of German composer-theorist Johann Mattheson into the 21st century and uses video as a virtual instrumentalist.
