The Seattle Symphony Presents Its New Music Summer Series on Seattle Symphony Live

The Seattle Symphony's new on-demand series will include five programs spotlighting new music from the 2021/2022 season, with new content available every few weeks.

Building upon its longstanding commitment to new music and supporting diverse musical perspectives from living composers, the Seattle Symphony is thrilled to present the New Music Summer Series on Seattle Symphony Live. The New Music Summer Series features five programs, with new content released on the streaming service every two weeks. The Series showcases some of the biggest commissions and premieres of new works by acclaimed contemporary composers from the Symphony’s bold 2021/2022 season, giving audiences the coveted opportunity to experience these cutting-edge works again — but this time with additional content such as interviews and stories from the artists, offering an exclusive look at the stories behind the music.

The New Music Summer Series kicks off with the Reena Esmail Retrospective on Thursday, July 21, 2022, giving viewers a chance to hear the complete suite of incredible works conceived over the course of Esmail’s time as the Seattle Symphony’s Composer in Residence. The Reena Esmail Retrospective will be available for two weeks until the next program debuts, and will include two new works premiered by the Symphony at the 2021/2022 Opening Night and the annual Celebrate Asia concert. The latter was a concerto for Hindustani violin co-composed by Esmail and violin virtuoso Kala Ramnath. The Violin Concerto received its world premiere with Ramnath herself performing on Hindustani violin. Esmail speaks to the story behind the Violin Concerto in the program’s bonus content, sharing that the pair wrote this work after Ramnath’s pandemic reflections on an environmental emergency urged her to reach out to Esmail to co-create a multi-stylistic commentary on humanity, nature and climate change.

On Thursday, August 4, 2022, The Peril of Dreams becomes available to stream, giving viewers another chance to witness the world premiere performance of American composer Han Lash’s rare work for double harp, which was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony. Lash takes the stage alongside the Symphony’s Principal Harp Valerie Muzzolini to bring this new work to life.

Then Sibelius Companions premieres on Thursday, August 18, 2022, and viewers will be able to experience exceptional world premieres from Angélica Negrón and Ellen Reid. Sibelius Companions features the work Negrón wrote to complement Sibelius Symphony No. 2, Color Shape Transmission; the composer shared that she aimed to “resist virtuosity and traditional embellishment,” creating a new work that counters the inspiration from which she initially drew. Sibelius Companions also showcases another new work by Negrón, Think of a Sound, a piece born after Seattle Symphony Clarinet Eric Jacobs commissioned Negrón to compose new music for voice, clarinet and electronics; Think of a Sound premiered in Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center. The program also includes Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid’s new work,TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY, which was written as a companion to Sibelius’ First Symphony, often regarded as one of his most impressive symphonies.

Following Sibelius Companions is To Awaken the Sleeper, which begins streaming on Thursday, September 1, 2022. This program features rising star composer Joel Thompson’s stunning new work To Awaken the Sleeper, based on the writings of legendary Black writer and activist, James Baldwin. The piece brings the recent poignant conversations around racial equity to the orchestral stage and includes narration of Baldwin’s own words by local composer, conductor, pianist and gospel/jazz vocalist, Stephen Newby.&

The series finishes with HOCKET, a program starring the dynamic piano duo that spent 2020 commissioning composers nationwide to write music about their pandemic experiences. The results were later condensed and presented during the astounding #What2022SoundsLike concert, which encompassed several composers and was dedicated to a hopeful future emerging from the pandemic. The new works were originally performed in Octave 9, Benaroya Hall’s immersive venue, inviting viewers to see and hear how the innovative space expands the possibilities for artists’ creativity and performance. This final program in the series curates seven stunning modern works by Sarah Gibson, Jonathan Richards, Jane Meenaghan, Jen Shyu, Sakari Dixon Vanderveer, Hitomi Oba and Thomas Kotcheff.
 

NEW MUSIC SUMMER SERIES SCHEDULE

REENA ESMAIL RETROSPECTIVE
Streaming: Thursday, July 21 through Wednesday, August 4 

Kahchun Wong conductor  
Kala Ramnath Hindustani violin & composer 

Reena Esmail/Kala Ramnath Violin Concerto (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
Reena Esmail RE|Member (Seattle Symphony Co-commission & World Premiere) 

THE PERIL OF DREAMS 
Streaming: Thursday, August 4 through Wednesday, August 17 

Lee Mills conductor 
Han Lash composer & harp 
Valerie Muzzolini harp  

Han Lash The Peril of Dreams (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
 

SIBELIUS COMPANIONS 
Streaming: Thursday, August 18 through Wednesday, August 31 

Ruth Reinhardt conductor 
Ludovic Morlot conductor 
Eric Jacobs clarinet 

Angélica Negrón Think of a Sound (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
Angélica Negrón Evolution of Voices 
Ellen Reid TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY  (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere)  
 

TO AWAKEN THE SLEEPER 
Streaming: Thursday, September 1 through Wednesday, September 14 

Peter Oundjian conductor 
Stephen Newby narrator 

Joel Thompson To Awaken the Sleeper (Seattle Symphony Co-commission & World Premiere) 

HOCKET 
Streaming: Thursday, September 15 through Wednesday, September 28 

HOCKET piano duo 
Michael Werner percussion 
Walter Gray cello 

Sarah Gibson the line of your trajectory (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
Jonathan Richards Resilience (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
Jane Meenaghan First Word (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
Jen Shyu Requiem for Her Voice (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
Sakari Dixon Vanderveer Tides (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
Hitomi Oba Color Me Dancing (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 
Thomsa Kotcheff INCANDESCENT (Seattle Symphony Commission & World Premiere) 

Sponsorships:  

2021–2022 Masterworks Season Sponsor: Delta Air Lines
Octave 9: Emerging Artists is supported by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
Lee Mills' position is generously underwritten as the Douglas F. King Associate Conductor.
Principal Oboe Mary Lynch’s position is generously supported by Anonymous donors.
Han Lash's performance and commission were generously underwritten by The Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis Living Music Program.
Reena Esmail’s residency was generously supported by Parul and Gary Houlahan.
Han Lash's performances were generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Han Lash's The Peril of Dreams was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony with the support of Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting.
Joel Thompson's To Awaken the Sleeper was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony with the support of Betty Graham.
Angélica Negrón's Color Shape Transmission was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony with the support of Richard Meyer and Susan Harmon.
Celebrate Asia was generously sponsored by Naomi and Yoshi Minegishi.
Celebrate Asia was generously sponsored by Perkins Coie.
Evolution of Voices was generously sponsored by Matt Brannock and Claire Taylor.
Reena Esmail as composer in Residence, Reena Esmail’s RE|Member, Han Lash’s The Peril of Dreams, Joel Thompson’s To Awaken the Sleeper and Celebrate Asia were presented as part of the Seattle Symphony’s New Music WORKS initiative, which is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. New Music WORKS features commissions, concerts and educational activities that use composition as a catalyst for collaboration and engagement in music.