Boyer: Balance of Power • Orchestral Works
ARTISTS: London Symphony Orchestra; Peter Boyer (Conductor)
COMPOSER: Peter Boyer
LABEL: Naxos
CAT ID: 8.559915 (UPC: 636943991527)
GRAMMY® CATEGORIES SUBMITTED INTO:
Orchestral Performance
Contemporary Classical Composition (“Balance of Power”, 2019)
Engineered Album, Classical (Simon Rhodes, Jonathan Stokes, Neil Hutchinson, James Linahon)
This album presents eight of the most recent works by Peter Boyer, one of the leading American orchestral composers of his generation. Balance of Power was commissioned by the Kennedy Center for the 95th birthday of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, while Fanfare for Tomorrow was composed for the inauguration of President Joe Biden in 2021. Each of these pieces displays Boyer’s vivid soundscapes and tuneful American sensibilities, from the cinematic sweep of Rolling River to Radiance, composed especially for this album. Boyer’s GRAMMY®-nominated Ellis Island: The Dream of America (8.559246) has received over 250 performances and was televised by PBS.
Performers
Peter Boyer
Peter Boyer is one of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers of his generation. His works have received over 600 public performances by more than 200 orchestras, and tens of thousands of broadcasts by classical radio stations around the US and abroad. He has conducted recordings of his music with three of the world’s finest orchestras: the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Boyer’s GRAMMY®-nominated Ellis Island: The Dream of America has become one of the most performed American orchestral works of recent years, with 250 performances by more than 100 orchestras. In 2017, Ellis Island was filmed in concert with Pacific Symphony (conductor Carl St.Clair), and a cast of stage and screen actors for PBS’ Great Performances, America’s preeminent performing arts television series, with a national telecast premiere in 2018. Boyer has received commissions from prestigious American institutions and ensembles, including The Kennedy Center for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, Pacific Symphony, and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, which premiered his Fanfare for Tomorrow at the inauguration of President Biden.
Other orchestras that have performed Boyer’s music include The Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Nashville Symphony. He has served as composer-in-residence of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the Pasadena Symphony. In 2010, Boyer composed the Boston Pops 125th anniversary commission, The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers, which was narrated by acclaimed actors including Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, and Alec Baldwin. In addition to his work for the concert hall, Boyer is active in the film and television music industry. He has contributed orchestrations to more than 35 film scores from all the major movie studios, for several leading Hollywood composers. He has arranged music for the Academy Awards and composed music for the History Channel. His music has appeared in documentary films, short films, and a variety of television programs. He holds the Helen M. Smith Chair in Music at Claremont Graduate University. In 2019, Boyer received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which is officially recognized by both Houses of Congress as one of the most prestigious American awards.
For more information, visit propulsivemusic.com
Photos by Benjamin Ealovega
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is built on the belief that extraordinary music should be available to everyone, everywhere. From orchestral fans in the concert hall to first-time listeners across the world. The London Symphony Orchestra was established in 1904, as one of the first orchestras shaped by its musicians. Since then, generations of remarkable talents have built the LSO’s reputation for uncompromising quality, and inspirational repertoires. The LSO is Resident Orchestra at the Barbican in the City of London, and reaches international audiences through touring, residencies and digital partnerships. Through a world-leading education and community program, LSO Discovery, the LSO connects people from all walks of life to the power of great music. Based at LSO St Luke’s, the orchestra’s community and music education center and a leading performance venue on Old Street, LSO Discovery’s reach extends across East London, the UK and the world. In 1999, the LSO formed its own recording label, LSO Live, and revolutionized how live orchestral music is recorded, with over 150 recordings released so far. Overall, the LSO has made more recordings than any other orchestra, with 2,500 recordings to its name. The orchestra has collaborated with a genre-busting roster of world-class artists through its work in film, video games and bespoke audio-only experiences. In addition to entertaining and inspiring millions of listeners, the LSO’s performances have been decorated with multiple honors from the GRAMMY® Awards, Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and BRITs, not to mention three Mercury Music Prize album nominations.
For more information, please visit: lso.co.uk
VIDEOS
Press
BBC Music Magazine
“Peter Boyer’s broad-brush cinematic works have the orchestral buoyancy of John Williams and the absorbing emotionalism of the late James Horner. The London Symphony Orchestra sparkle in items like the rousing ‘Fanfare for Tomorrow’, written for President Biden’s inauguration last year.” (5 stars)
Gramophone
“Bright, brash, breezy: attributes one often associates with American orchestral music and which Peter Boyer (b1970) delivers in spadefuls. Right from the outset of Curtain Raiser (2017, orch 2020), the ‘American’ qualities in Boyer’s writing — not least a vibrant dependence on tonality — are vividly, unapologetically displayed in a rattling good orchestral overture... [On Radiance:] its shimmering textures and intensity are highly evocative. Under the composer’s direction, the London Symphony Orchestra provide performances as committed as one could hope for.”
The Washington Post
[On the premiere of Balance of Power by the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in September 2021:] “It was hard to say whether audience members were aware of the work’s particular muse [Kissinger], that its movements were meant to reflect and refract aspects of his character, or that the gentleman taking the stage at the work’s conclusion to wild applause was the composer. But it didn’t seem to matter; the applause went on like a fourth movement.”
AllMusic
“Who is the next John Williams? It may be composer Peter Boyer… The fanfare is a favored genre for Boyer, but several pieces here testify to his lyrical abilities… The future of populist American music seems to be in good hands.”
Textura
“The evidence at hand suggests Boyer’s name might be mentioned in the same breath as those of Barber, Bernstein, Ives, Adams, and especially Copland. Like them, he writes works that have popular appeal and engage with immediacy. They’re also, however, impeccably crafted and in no way lacking in integrity… his writing is sincere, honest, and authentic; that it connects so readily with listeners is surely no knock against it.”
Pizzicato
“For an orchestra, all of these superbly orchestrated compositions provide an opportunity to shine, and in this case, the London Symphony under the composer’s baton does just that.”
MusicWeb International
“Consider an American composer whose works are popular — and Boyer’s works are performed repeatedly. We should not be surprised that there are elements of film music in his orchestral style... I detect a kind of “open-air” quality in the orchestral sound, which I also sometimes hear in Copland’s more popular works... the works are very enjoyable... the LSO play splendidly.”
WXXI Classical
“[Boyer’s] newest release, Balance of Power – Orchestral Works, has shot up the classical charts…and with good reason. It is chock full of melodic and energetic pieces, played with gusto by the London Symphony Orchestra… filled with pieces to touch every heart.”
AwardS & Commercial Success
On release day, July 8, 2022, the album debuted at #1 on the Amazon US “Hot New Releases in Classical” chart, and was featured by Gramophone with its Video of the Day (Fanfare for Tomorrow).
Debuted on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart at #4, spending four consecutive weeks on that chart.
SiriusXM's Symphony Hall's "Album of the Week" during its release week; featured on two "Living American" shows.
Week-long features on WGUC Cincinnati and Winnipeg's Classic 107.
"Recording of the Week" on WCLV Cleveland; "CD Spotlight" on WXXI Rochester.
In its first weeks of release, the album received over 400,000 plays on Apple Music, and was featured on multiple Apple Classical playlists.