PROGRAM NOTES
AWADAGIN PRATT RETURNS
AWADAGIN PRATT ON AN EXPLORATION OF TRUTH AND BEAUTY
In a project of seven new commissions , Awadagin Pratt musically explores the truth and beauty found within T . S . Eliot ’ s poem Four Quartets . The composers include Tyshawn Sorey , Paola Prestini , Pēteris Vasks , Jonathan Bailey Holland , Alvin Singleton , Judd Greenstein , and Jessie Montgomery . A BSO cocommission , Montgomery ’ s Rounds for Solo Piano and Strings Orchestra is performed by the BSO and Pratt May 5 – 8 .
The full project will be recorded in August of 2022 and released in early 2023 on New Amsterdam Records . We took a moment to talk to Pratt to learn more about his project and his time in Baltimore at the Peabody Institute ( where he was the first student to receive diplomas in three performance areas ).
How did you first begin studying music ? My parents listened to classical music when I was growing up . It was in the home all the time , and I liked it ! I started piano lessons when I was six and then we moved to Brazil for a year when I was seven . When we came back , I took piano lessons again and started violin lessons in the public schools . When I was deciding what to study in college , I had several interests . I grew up playing tennis , writing , and doing a lot of oratorical work . I realized that if I didn ’ t do any one of those things , I would be fine , but if music wasn ’ t in my life every day , I wouldn ’ t be happy .
That led me to realize that I wanted to study music but couldn ’ t decide between piano or violin ! I started college at 16 , so my parents didn ’ t want me far from home . I became a violin major at the University of Illinois , while taking piano lessons at the same time because they didn ’ t allow a double major . Illinois is a great school with amazing faculty , but it was very focused on music education . So , I wanted to transfer to a conservatory , and I applied to New England Conservatory . They accepted me on violin , but not on piano . And then Cleveland took me on piano , but not violin . And then , Peabody accepted me on both !
What inspired your degree in conducting ? That had been my original interest when I was growing up , but you can ’ t really start with
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I ’ ve always loved these lines of T . S . Eliot ‘ At the still part of the turning world , Neither from nor towards , Neither flesh or fleshless , at the still point , there the dance is ,’ and I thought , ‘ wouldn ’ t it be great to have composers write about these words ?’”
conducting ! So , I began studying that too when I was in Illinois and then continued at Peabody .
I just conducted my first opera , Porgy and Bess this January with the Greensboro Opera . In Brooklyn , 20 years ago , I conducted a piece by Ornette Coleman called Skies of America , and we took that to Japan with his band and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra . Ornette ’ s son Denardo is a drummer who was in the band then , and now they ’ re doing a reprise of Ornette ’ s album The Shape of Jazz to Come . Denardo commissioned six composers to write onto his version from that work , and he asked me to conduct that . That ’ s a super exciting upcoming project for me .
After studying at the Peabody Institute , what is it like to return to Baltimore for these performances ? What ’ s your relationship like with Baltimore ? I was in Baltimore from the age of 20 – 27 , and my career really started when I was 26 . Those are very intense years I think for anybody , and they were formative for me . I came to really love Baltimore — I loved and have loved the city all these years . I still have good friends in
Rob Davidson
Baltimore ; I have friends on the faculty and administration at Peabody ; and I have Baltimore restaurateur friends !
What do you love most about performing with the BSO ? In those early years , it was great because a lot of the musicians in the orchestra were also on the faculty of Peabody . I had known them as mentors and teachers and then to be on stage with them as a peer was a really great feeling . I also had friends that were my colleagues from school in the orchestra . So , it ’ s always felt good to be there with my friends .
Can you speak to the journey of working on a new piece with a composer ? Orchestras often have a process for commissions , but I think a lot of music is composed and commissioned under varying circumstances .
In this case , there ’ s a foundation that I started called the Art of the Piano . It has presented a festival every summer , and a friend of mine , Mark Rabideau , was interested in discussing the future of both my career and music in general — engaging Art of the Piano in something that is more current and innovative . Mark was really interested in change : what are the areas of progression for the field alongside entrepreneurship .
Three years ago , we had the idea to commission seven composers to write new works . And then it was the question of who are they going to write for . I thought , “ there ’ s so much written for piano and full orchestra , and a lot less written for piano and strings . Wouldn ’ t it be cool to commission a bunch of composers for piano and strings ?”
Then Mark , who is friends with the vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth , thought it would be interesting to collaborate with the group . All of a sudden , we ’ re creating a set of works for a group that has never been written for before : piano , string orchestra , and Roomful of Teeth — which is really kind of amazing .
How did you begin to identify the composers for the project ? What was it like to work with so many different composers ? Judd Greenstein from New Amsterdam Records is someone I met through Mark . He has a collective of composers that work with the record label . I also really wanted to engage African American composers . We came up with the composer list , and then in the middle of the process the question becomes : what do we want ?
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