Be advised that there are no physical tickets for this event. All reserved guests will need to arrive by 2:50pm the latest on the day of the event to check-in with our staff at the door and claim their reserved tickets. Due to the overwhelming response we have received for the performance, all reservations will be filled on a first-come first-served basis. Registered guests that have not arrived by 2:50pm will have their tickets released to the waitlisted guests. Guests may join the waitlist at the door, but admittance is not guaranteed.

American Symphony Orchestra highlights the different forms of expression and musical languages that emerged in the 1920s, including new elements of dance, theater, and jazz.

George Antheil (1900 —1959)
A Jazz Symphony (1925, rev. 1955)

Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901 —1953)
Music for Small Orchestra (1926)

Aaron Copland (1900 —1990)
Music for the Theatre (1925)

Florence Price (1887—1953)
Andante moderato (for string orchestra), 1929

John Allen Carpenter (1876—1951)
Krazy Kat, 1921

In the years immediately following World War I, the American artistic scene experienced an extraordinary burst of creativity. Responding to the horror and brutality of that war, artists, writers and composers rejected the exalted ideals of the previous century, focusing instead on creating new means of expression, ones that would accurately reflect the realities this new age required. With jazz, many American composers found a new source of inspiration, one distinctly American, as well as thoroughly fresh, modern and exciting. Some of the works offered in this program reflect this fascination in the Roaring Twenties with this language, with its irresistible rhythmic energy and catchy melodies. Other composers sought to push the boundaries of musical expression with radical, ‘ultra-modern’ languages. Whether by polytonality, jagged counterpoint and asymmetric ostinatos, or brash atonality—in which melody, harmony and rhythm are harshly distorted and deconstructed—the experimental impulses of this generation are presented here in its arguably finest exponents.

Music Director: Leon Botstein has been music director and principal conductor of the ASO since 1992. He is also music director of The Orchestra Now, an innovative training orchestra composed of top musicians from around the world. He is co-artistic director of Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival.

The Orchestra: ASO has made several tours of Asia and Europe, and has performed in countless benefits for organizations including the Jerusalem Foundation and PBS. Many of the world’s most accomplished soloists have performed with the ASO, including Yo-Yo Ma, Deborah Voigt, and Sarah Chang.

Running time: 60 minutes without intermission

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The ASO’s Vanguard Series is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.