NEW YORK TIMES AND COMMERCIAL APPEAL ADD IRIS TO THE BEST OF 2003
12/22/03
The IRIS Chamber Orchestra’s inaugural commission piece, "Landscapes with Blues" by Stephen Hartke featuring Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, has been selected by Anthony Tommasini as one of the New York Times’ Best Classical CD’s of 2003. The esteemed music critic calls the work “audacious” and “ingeniously complex.” In addition to the orchestra’s first contribution to the Western cannon of classical music, the CD, released on Naxos records, includes two other pieces performed by IRIS, Pacific Rim and Gradus, an octet ensemble performance.
The Commercial Appeal’s Christopher Blank also selected the IRIS recording as one of his top five CD’s of 2003, calling the work “Modern, dissonant, rhythmic: Benny Goodman meets Igor Stravinsky.”
The Harke recording was released within weeks of the IRIS’ second commission piece, In The Arms of The Beloved composed by Richard Danielpour and featuring violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson. Both the CD ‘s are available for sale in the GPAC lobby at 1801 Exeter Road or on the website, www.irisorchestra or www.gpacweb.com.
Read the full New York Times Article at www.nytimes.com/2003/12/21/arts/21RECO.html and Christopher Blank's article at www.commercialappeal.com/mca/music/article/0,1426,MCA_505_2515309,00.html.
