Stephen Jaffe's THREE ARCS (Chamber Concerto #5) premiered on May 1 at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia for The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia’s 200th anniversary (+ 2) celebration. The piece was performed by Network for New Music, conducted by Jan Krzywicki, and the Pennsylvania Girlchoir and Garden State Girlchoir Chamber Choir, conducted by Ya-Jhu Yang.
Jaffe was one of four composers awarded a commission from The Musical Fund Society’s Edwin G. McCollin Fund competition, which chose the recipients from a group of over 50 prominent American composers. The other three composers who received commissions were Tania León, Roberto Sierra, and Augusta Read Thomas.
About THREE ARCS, Jaffe writes: "Three Arcs is the second work I have created for Philadelphia's Network for New Music. It is also my second chamber concerto written for the group, following Light Dances (Chamber Concerto #2) of 2009. In the present work I deliberately wished to compose for a different instrumentation than the "Pierrot plus percussion" ensemble for which Light Dances was imagined, and with the permission of the ensemble, composed for the more muted colors of an ensemble featuring flute, harp and guitar, percussion and a string trio composed of violin, viola and contrabass."
More about THREE ARCS and the 200th anniversary celebration.
Read the review in Broad Street Review.
