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PHOTO CAPTION: Top, left to right: composers Brittney Benton and Quinn Mason; Bottom, left to right: composers Yoko Nakatani and Kevin Scott.<\/em><\/p>\n
The album is part of an initiative by the Lowell Chamber Orchestra\u2019s Music Director Orlando Cela called \u201cLowell Threads,\u201d a way to pay homage to the textile history of the city of Lowell. The orchestra commissions a new way to showcase new composers alongside a set of works by a well-known composer, a genre, a style, etc., and programs them next to each other, allowing for a multidimensional experience akin to a fabric of new works crisscrossing with established masterpieces. In the case of these album, four living composers – Brittney Benton, Yoko Nakatani, Quinn Mason, and Kevin L. Scott – were commissioned to write a piece matching the instrumentation of one of five chamber symphonies by Darius Milhaud.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrlando Cela\u2019s creative ideas always inspire me, and this project was no exception,\u201d says composer Yoko Nakatani. \u201cI was honored to be a part of it, and wish the Lowell Chamber Orchestra great success in the future with Orlando\u2019s excellent leadership. I would also like to thank the recording engineer Will Holland, who is a true professional and made a difficult process easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Producing this album kept a number of musicians active during the pandemic. The reduced instrumentation – no more than 10 and as little as seven players at a time – eased the finding of venues; the shortness of the works, none longer than 7 minutes, allowed more recording time to commission more composers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started recording 10 feet apart from each other, and behind plexiglass shields\u201d says LCO\u2019s Music Director Orlando Cela, \u201cbut we kept going when concert halls were closed. We were very fortunate to be able to access the beautiful spaces at Middlesex Community College Lowell campus. Such great acoustics!\u201d<\/p>\n
The four commissioned works sometime compliment, sometimes opposed the nature of the matching work. Las Vegas composer Brittney Benton\u2019s \u201cThe Sentinel\u201d was written with the same instrumentation as Milhaud\u2019s first chamber symphony: while Milhaud\u2019s work (subtitled \u201cSpring\u201d) has a bright and pastoral quality to it, Benton\u2019s work offers a dramatic story filled with foreboding. On the other hand, Dallas-based composer Quinn Mason wrote a work orchestrated for the exact instrumentation, and is heavily inspired by the style of Milhaud\u2019s fourth chamber symphony, as the title suggests – Petite Symphonie de Chambre Contemporaine (apr\u00e8s Milhaud).<\/p>\n
Composer Brittney Benton says, \u201c\u2018The Sentinel\u2019 was a joy to write, and I’m excited to bring the story I’ve crafted through my music to CD and to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thoroughly\u00a0enjoyed writing for the Lowell Chamber Orchestra and to have a work recorded by them is an honor. The entire process had me involved\u00a0in some way so it truly felt like a fruitful collaboration,\u201d says composer Quinn Mason.<\/p>\n
The Lowell Chamber Orchestra is Lowell\u2019s first and only professional orchestra. We\u00a0provide the\u00a0area with an ensemble that\u00a0presents music at a very high level, of all styles and time periods, entirely free to the\u00a0general population. The performances take place at Middlesex Community College, the University of\u00a0Massachusetts Lowell, and at other venues around the area, to provide\u00a0students easy access to concerts without leaving their respective campuses, and allow the public in general to\u00a0attend a concert at a proper performance space.\u00a0The LCO is a member of Lowell City of Learning, working to make Lowell an UNESCO learning city.<\/p>\n
The album will be released this Friday, August 26th, in the most popular digital platforms. For more information about the album, visit: https:\/\/www.navonarecords.com\/catalog\/nv6447\/<\/a><\/p>\n Listen to the first track of the CD here: https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/LCOMason<\/a><\/p>\n