The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), under artistic director and conductor Gil Rose, is one of the few professional orchestras in the United States dedicated exclusively to performing and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Since its founding in 1996, BMOP has programmed 46 concerts of contemporary orchestral music, released ten world premiere recordings, and won eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming.
The Boston Modern Orchestra Project opens its 2005-2006 season with Louis Andriessen's Trilogy of the Last Day, featuring Tomoko Mukaiyama, piano and koto. Trilogy of the Last Day will receive its North American premiere on November 4, 2005 at Jordan Hall, with the composer in attendance. Louis Andriessen has developed a cult-like following, and is considered one of the most prominent composers of Amsterdam's thriving new music scene. Trilogy of the Last Day focuses on aspects of mortality, as conceived by the composer, and was completed in 1997 for voices and large ensemble. Rose explains, "I have admired Louis Andriessen's work for so long and remember attending the premiere of Tao. It's a pleasure to present the North American premiere of such an important work, and such a thrill to host Louis in Boston." Also featured on BMOP's season opening concert are Evan Ziporyn's The Ornate Zither and the Nomad Flute, with Anne Harley, soprano, and Julia Wolfe's The Vermeer Room.
The season continues on January 21, 2006 with BMOP's eighth annual "Boston Connection" concert. As New England Conservatory's "Affiliate Orchestra for New Music," BMOP presents composers and artists that make Boston their home. "Boston Connection" features Lee Hyla's Lives of the Saints, with Mary Nessinger, mezzo-soprano. Lee Hyla is chairman of the composition department at New England Conservatory and has long been a popular composer among Boston audiences. This program also includes the world premiere of Symphony for Strings, by Jonathan Sokol, whose score was selected as the winner of the eighth annual BMOP/NEC composition contest, and Krzysztof Penderecki's Concerto for Viola, featuring Nicholas Bootiman, winner of the seventh annual BMOP/NEC concerto competition.
BMOP will once again explore non-western cultures with a program of concertos for indigenous instruments on March 10, 2006 at Jordan Hall. The concert will feature three world premieres, including: Reza Vali's "Toward that Endless Plain" Concerto for Persian Ney and Orchestra with Khosro Soltani; Eternal Rock II by Jin Hi Kim, featuring Gerry Hemingway, Korean percussion; and a new work by Shirish Korde, featuring flutist Alberto Almarza. Also featured on this concert will be Concerto No. 1 for Koto and Orchestra by Henry Cowell.
The season concludes on May 27, 2006 with a concert of music for the modern big band featuring a new work by William Thomas McKinley for Richard Stoltzman, clarinet. This concert marks the second time BMOP will collaborate with world-renowned musician Richard Stoltzman.
BMOP will also continue its innovative Club Concert series at Club Café in the South End, bringing new music to uncommon places. Nearly sold out in its first two seasons, Club Concerts continue to be an exciting series within the BMOP season. BMOP's exceptional musicians will take the stage in the Moonshine Room on Tuesday nights—December 6, 2005, February 7, 2006, and April 4, 2006—for these informal and interactive concerts hosted by Gil Rose. Club Café's full menu and bar is available throughout each performance for audience members who wish to dine at the concert.