{"id":1134,"date":"2021-10-08T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2021\/2021\/10\/08\/david-alan-miller-discusses-his-30th-season-with-albany-symphony-returning-october-9-at-the-palace-theatre\/"},"modified":"2021-10-08T14:15:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T14:15:00","slug":"david-alan-miller-discusses-his-30th-season-with-albany-symphony-returning-october-9-at-the-palace-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2021\/2021\/10\/08\/david-alan-miller-discusses-his-30th-season-with-albany-symphony-returning-october-9-at-the-palace-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"David Alan Miller Discusses his 30th Season with Albany Symphony, Returning October 9 at The Palace Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Albany Symphony Music Director David Alan Miller will return to the Palace Theatre<\/a> stage on Saturday, October 9 for the start of Miller\u2019s 30th Anniversary Season. The program features Ludwig van\u00a0Beethoven\u2019s beloved Symphony No. 3, \u201cEroica,\u201d\u00a0as well as\u00a0J<\/strong>ean <\/strong>Sibelius\u2019\u00a0Lemmink\u00e4inen Suite, and\u00a0Coincident Dances, by composer Jessie Montgomery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Patrons are welcomed back to Albany Symphony<\/a> performances for the first time since Spring 2020, with extra precautions in place for everyone\u2019s health and safety, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The concert, along with all Albany Symphony subscription concerts this season, is also being streamed live online to increase access for patrons who cannot attend in person or live too far away to come to the concert hall. Tickets, including live stream access, start at $20 and are available at\u00a0albanysymphony.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are so thrilled to gather again, and to be able to make beautiful music with and for our patrons and friends here in the Capital Region and beyond .This season is a special one for us. The musicians and I can\u2019t wait to share this program celebrating heroism, community, and the healing power of great music with you.<\/p>David Alan Miller<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The opening night program will include Beethoven\u2019s\u00a0“Eroica,” a symphony that launched the \u201cheroic\u201d middle period of the composer\u2019s career and pushed the boundaries of the symphony form. Sibelius\u2019\u00a0“Lemmink\u00e4inen Suite” brings Finnish folktales of the eponymous hero from the\u00a0Kalevala\u00a0to life in vivid musical vignettes.\u00a0“Coincident <\/em>Dances”\u00a0by Jessie Montgomery, who is a frequent Albany Symphony collaborator, and draws from her life experiences in thoughtful and captivating ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coincident Dances\u00a0is inspired by the sounds found in New York\u2019s various cultures, capturing the frenetic energy and multicultural aural palette one hears even in a short walk through a New York City neighborhood. The work is a fusion of several different sound-worlds: English consort, samba, mbira dance music from Ghana, swing, and techno.<\/p> Jessie Montgomery<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the Albany Symphony’s return this week, Conductor and Music Director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, David Alan Miller, spoke with NYS Music about the upcoming season, the story behind his musical selections, and what he loves about Upstate New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"david<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pete Mason<\/strong>: You were music director for the New York Youth Symphony in the mid 1980s. How do you recall the transition from the LA Philharmonic to New York?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Alan Miller<\/strong>: The transition to the\u00a0Capital Region was easy; we’d always wanted to come “back\u00a0east” after our 5 years in L.A. We felt a little trepidation because there were so many fabulous restaurants serving foods from around the world in L.A.\u00a0But we discovered that there was at least one excellent restaurant serving each cuisine here, and that was all we needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PM<\/strong>: The program for the 30th season celebrates heroism, community and the healing power of music. Where did these themes arise from, and what music represents each of those themes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAM<\/strong>: We wanted to design a season to celebrate all the things live music can do, the things we’ve missed so much during the pandemic.\u00a0 So, we programmed lots of the most iconic works of the repertoire, from Beethoven’s “Eroica” on the first concert to Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Gershwin, etc. on our subsequent concerts.\u00a0 \u00a0In addition, we included works by our favorite living composers, and lots of passionate, brilliant solo artists.\u00a0 Everyone is hungering for comfort and spiritual uplift after the difficult 18 months we’ve experienced, and we hope our concerts can give that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"david<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

PM<\/strong>: In addition to conducting the ASO, you are also Artistic Advisor for the Little Orchestra Society <\/a>in NYC, as well as Artistic Director for the world music festival \u201cNew Paths in Music<\/a>\u201d from 2006-2012. How did you first begin working with these groups?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAM<\/strong>: I was asked to conduct some of the Little Orchestra Society’s concert about 6 years ago, and have been doing so ever since.  L.O.S. is an amazing institution which normally runs 900 in-class workshops each year, teaching elementary students how to compose music, as well as presenting marvelous family concerts throughout the season.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PM<\/strong>: The American Music Festival celebrates up and coming conductors. How do these conductors arrive on your radar, and how do you go about curating this event each year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAM<\/strong>: Composers.\u00a0 I have a wide network of composer friends, professors, industry professionals, etc, who are always keeping me updated on the most interesting composers coming out of graduate programs and working around the country.\u00a0 Each festival is curated around a theme.\u00a0 This year it’s “Trailblaze,” a festival celebrating our new 750-mile-long Empire State Trail<\/a> connecting communities across New York State.\u00a0 I’ve commissioned a whole bunch of composers to create new works inspired by aspects of the trail, our history, communities, the natural world.\u00a0 It’s going to be amazing!\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PM<\/strong>: You\u2019ve live in Slingerlands, and presumably have lived in Upstate NY for many years. What are some of your favorite non-music getaways within New York State?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAM<\/strong>: I love all aspects of Upstate NY.\u00a0 I’m an avid amateur cyclist, so I’ve been riding the Empire State Trail recently, discovering areas I’d neve known existed, beautiful places like the trail connecting Troy through Kinderhook <\/a>to Hudson.\u00a0 I’ve done a little riding down around New Paltz and Hopewell Junction<\/a>, and am eager to explore that part of the Trail more fully.\u00a0 My ambition is eventually to ride virtually the whole Trail, from Buffalo to NYC at least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PM<\/strong>: Do you have any favorite music venues, state-wide or world-wide, that you have enjoyed conducting or seeing performances at?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAM<\/strong>: Well, I always get goosebumps when we play at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall,<\/a> which is defintiely one of the greatest acoustical spaces for live music in the world.\u00a0 I’m also partial to the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall,<\/a> the two venues where I essentially “grew up” musically.\u00a0 I conducted three concerts annually at Carnegie when I led the New York Youth Symphony<\/a>, and conducted many, many concerts at the Hollywood Bowl when I was the Associate Conductor there.\u00a0 I also love all our spaces here in the Capital Region: EMPAC<\/a>, the Palace<\/a>, and all the others.\u00a0 We are so lucky to have so many great venues for live music!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n