Michael Daugherty's TROYJAM Receives World Premiere
(April 2008)
Michael Daugherty's TROYJAM for narrator and orchestra receives its world premiere on May 18 with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) under the baton of Leonard Slatkin at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Commissioned by the NSO for its Family Concert Series, TROYJAM takes listeners on a 20-minute tour through the orchestra in the tradition of Prokofieff's Peter and the Wolf and Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.For the creation of TROYJAM, Daugherty joined forces with acclaimed poet-classicist Anne Carson to provide a work which not only showcases the orchestra but that also exposes young audiences to classic Greek drama through a unique retelling of Homer's epic tale, The Iliad.
Part 1 of Daugherty's two-part tone poem follows Achilles and Hektor through Carson's narrated text, as they battle out the tenth year of the Trojan War. The story takes an unexpected turn, however, when a musical theme enlightens both Achilles and Hektor, inspiring them to bring a compassionate end to the ruthless war. The result is an orchestral fantasy (Part II) played by the Greeks and Trojans in the newly formed "Panhellenic Symphony Orchestra."
TROYJAM is the latest addition to Daugherty's body of work that is rich with political and cultural allusions; placing social commentary in imaginative musical settings with pieces such as Jackie O (1997) and Bay of Pigs (2006) for guitar and string quartet/orchestra.
Says Daugherty: "With TROYJAM I wanted to emphasize that the instruments of the orchestra are used for making peace, not war: a message most needed today in this age of raging warfare around the world."
One of the most sought-after American composers on the concert music scene today, Daugherty is currently composing a rock-influenced piece entitled Gee's Bend for the Alabama Symphony, as well as new work for baritone Thomas Hampson and the Spokane Symphony in honor of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday.
> Further information on Work: TROYJAM
Photo: Dorothy Gotlieb
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