[#174] November 21, 2022
2001 | Wind Ensemble, piano | Grade 5 | 5’-10’ | Transcription
Millennium Canons by American composer Kevin Puts is our Composition of the Week.
« Millenium Canons » was commissioned by the Institute for American Music of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester for Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra, which premiered the work in June 2001 at Symphony Hall in Boston. Mark Spede arranged this version for wind ensemble for the University of Texas at Austin Wind Ensemble, Jerry Junkin, director.
Kevin Puts composed Millennium Canons to celebrate the turn of the millennium. The wind ensemble version is scored for a standard setting, with the addition of Soprano Saxophone, String bass and Piano. It has a duration of about 8 minutes.
“Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts has established himself as one of America’s leading composers, gaining international acclaim for his “plush, propulsive” music (The New York Times), and described by Opera News as “a master polystylist.” He has been commissioned and performed by leading organizations around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Opera Philadelphia, Minnesota Opera, and many more, and has collaborated with world-class artists such as Renée Fleming, Yo-Yo Ma, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, and Marin Alsop, among others. In March 2022 Puts’ fourth opera, The Hours had its world premiere on the concert stage by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguin, and was hailed as a “historic event … with a lush orchestration that hits you in the solar plexus.” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). The Hours premiers as a fully staged production at the Metropolitan Opera in November 2022 starring sopranos Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. Other highlights of 2022 include the West Coast premiere of The Brightness of Light featuring Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfry with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. His triple concerto Contact had its world premiere in March 2022 with the Florida Orchestra, and will receive additional performances in summer with the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Sun Valley Music Festival. A recording of the piece by the Philadelphia Orchestra will be released on the “Deutsche Grammophon” label.” (from composer’s website)
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