New York City’s foremost period instrument orchestra, American Classical Orchestra (ACO), has provided various events for this Summer. Starting on May 6 through July, ACO is offering a range of free digital activities.
In 1984, Artistic Director Thomas Crawford founded the American Classical Orchestra. Crawford is known for his historically accurate performance styles, as well as his numerous accolades. As NYC’s only full-scale orchestra, ACO dedicates performances to 17th, 18th, and 19th-century music on period instruments. The group consists of high-performing artists across an array of well-established ensembles.
Throughout May, the Orchestra is presenting a lively new podcast series: TACOTalk. This podcast explores in-depth conversations among the Orchestra’s musicians, special guests, and honorary host Thomas Crawford. In addition to the provided insight about ACO, the members will also examine the period-instrument movement in the U.S. Each episode seeks to analyze the existing duality that classical musicians face with historical performance and contemporary culture. Produced by Mark Zaki, the 12 episodes of TACOTalk are available now, and more are coming soon.
ACO’s Video Series
Beginning in June, ACO will present Beethoven Sonatas Video Releases. Due to the pandemic, the Orchestra had to cancel their planned recitals featuring Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas. ACO’s Sfzp Project originally scheduled these performances to be a part of their program. The Sfzp Project is a three-year cycle of programs and events intended to advance fortepiano performance in NYC and beyond. The events will resume in Fall 2022, but the Orchestra has something else in store until then.
AOC has decided to film the performance of seven of those sonatas. Worldwide leading keyboard artists will conduct the performances on original and replica fortepianos. Two of these instruments are from the Metropolitan Museum’s collection. The films will release weekly on Thursday at 11 a.m. from June 3 to July 15. All of which can be streamed on ACO’s website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel.
June 3 – Eric Zivian, pianoforte; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat Major, Op. 26 ‘Funeral March’
June 10 – Shuann Chai, pianoforte; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ‘Appassionata’
June 17 – Dongsok Shin, fortepiano; Beethoven: Early Piano Sonata to be confirmed
June 24 – Jiayan Sun, fortepiano; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21, in C Major, Op. 53 ‘Waldstein’
July 1 – Petra Somlai, fortepiano; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 ‘quasi una fantasia’ ‘Moonlight’
July 8 – Shuann Chai, fortepiano; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 ‘Cuckoo’
July 15 – Dongsok Shin, fortepiano; Beethoven: Late Piano Sonata to be confirmed
