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BMOP's "Boston Connection" is an opportunity for the orchestra to showcase the high caliber of this city's musicians. The orchestra is comprised of the best of Boston's superb instrumentalists, and conducted by founder and Artistic Director Gil Rose, whom the Boston Herald has called "one of the most important musicians in this city." Boston-based composers Eric Chasalow, Donald Martino, William Thomas McKinley, and Michael McLaughlin will collaborate with the orchestra in presenting world premieres of their new works.

Michael McLaughlin, a doctoral student at New England Conservatory (NEC), is the winner of the seventh annual BMOP/NEC composition contest. His piece, Murder, uses a cinematic flashback structure to tell the story of a murder. The music is heavily influenced by film noir, and McLaughlin uses fragments of film scores from Hitchcock's Psycho, Vertigo, and North by Northwest by well-known composer Bernard Herrmann. Eric Chasalow's Concerning Sunspots, another world premiere, is influenced by 17th century Italy and a Galileo treatise on sunspots from 1613, with elements of Monteverdi's Orfeo.

A third world premiere, "Childhood Memories" Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra by William Thomas McKinley, is meant to evoke the world of childhood. Of his piece, the composer says, "Very often the first musical instrument a child receives is a small mallet instrument. . .Thus it seemed entirely natural to use a concerto for marimba and orchestra to suggest that period of life, when the world begins to reveal itself to the mind of the curious and artistic child." World-renowned marimba soloist Nancy Zeltsman will join BMOP in presenting this concerto. Zeltsman has performed across the United States, as well as in Japan, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France.

Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Martino, will be the fourth world premiere of the evening. Martino is himself a clarinetist, and his expertise and love for the instrument are clearly indicated in this piece. He was once heavily involved with jazz and Broadway theater as a clarinetist, and the Concerto also reflects influences from those genres. Clarinetist Ian Greitzer will solo with the orchestra. Greitzer is the principal clarinetist with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Boston Classical Orchestra, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic.

"Boston Connection" will also include a performance by saxophonist Eliot Gattegno, winner of the sixth annual BMOP/NEC concerto competition. Gattegno, an undergraduate student at the New England Conservatory, has been hailed as a "gifted young musician" by the Sun Sentinel (Miami) and "brilliant" by The Boston Globe.  He will perform Elliott Schwartz's Chamber Concerto IV, written in 1978, which explores differences in sound textures and levels. The piece divides the orchestra into distinct string, brass, clarinet and percussion forces, and requires the saxophone soloist to move around on stage in order to interact with each section.

BMOP welcomes the Boston community to share in this performance and opens its doors free of charge to all students with valid IDs (ticket reservations still required). "Boston Connection" is also City of Boston and Partnering Organization Members' Night at BMOP. A limited number of free tickets are available to members of Boston arts institutions that are part of BMOP's partner program. This program includes the American Repertory Theater, the Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Brattle Theater, the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and WGBH. City of Boston employees are entitled to two tickets for the price of one and should look for special emails and announcements from the Mayor's Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events with details about the offer. (All free and discounted tickets must be reserved by calling (617) 363-0396 between January 3 and January 19 at 5 pm.)

"Boston Connection" begins at 8 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2005 at Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory (30 Gainsborough St., corner of Huntington Ave.) in Boston, MA. Pre-concert Program Notes with the evening's composers begins at 7 pm in the hall and is free for all ticket holders. Ticket prices are FREE for students with valid ID, $19, $28, $38 based on seat selection. Jordan Hall is handicapped accessible.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call (617) 363-0396. Tickets are also available online.

Please note: Current high resolution photographs of Gil Rose are available to download at www.gilrose.info/photos. Please use these images instead of any you may already have on file.

High resolution photographs of BMOP are available in our online Press Kit.

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