JONATHAN LESHNOFF: Of Thee I Sing, Violin Concerto No. 2, Elegy

JONATHAN LESHNOFF: Of Thee I Sing, Violin Concerto No. 2, Elegy

ARTISTS: Oklahoma City Philharmonic; Alexander Mickelthwate (Conductor); Noah Bendix-Balgley (Violin); Canterbury Voices
COMPOSER: Jonathan Leshnoff
PRODUCERS AND ENGINEERS: Christina Giacona and Patrick Conlon
MASTERING ENGINEER: Kevin Lively
LABEL: Naxos
CAT ID: 8.559927 (UPC: 636943992722) 

GRAMMY® CATEGORIES:
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Classical Compendium
Orchestral Performance > Of Thee I Sing
Classical Instrumental Solo > Violin Concerto, No. 2
Contemporary Classical Composition > JONATHAN LESHNOFF: Violin Concerto, No. 2

This is Naxos’s fifth album devoted to the music of leading American composer, Jonathan Leshnoff. He was GRAMMY-nominated for his album Violins of Hope (Naxos 8.559809) and is among the most frequently performed of living composers. The themes of these recent works are remembrance, memorialization, and hopefulness. Elegy addresses ideas of harmony and discord through contrasting thematic ideas. The Violin Concerto No. 2 follows the ‘symphony-concerto’ model with a resonant and lyrical slow movement inspired by Jewish mysticism at its core. Pulsating harmonies eventually subside into serene and hopeful writing in Of Thee I Sing, written in an act of creative transcendence to commemorate the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Jonathan Leshnoff

GRAMMY-nominated composer Jonathan Leshnoff is renowned for his music’s striking harmonies, structural complexity, and powerful themes. The Baltimore-based composer has been ranked among the most performed living composers by American orchestras in recent seasons and his compositions have been performed by leading international orchestras and chamber ensembles in hundreds of concerts worldwide. He has received recent commissions from Carnegie Hall and orchestras across the United States, and his compositions have been premiered by classical music’s most celebrated soloists. There are eight all-Leshnoff albums to date, five of which have been featured on Naxos American Classics. A notable recent release is the 2019 Naxos recording featuring Leshnoff’s music performed by the Nashville Symphony and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero (8.559809). Nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Compendium, the album includes the world premiere performance of his Symphony No. 4 ‘Heichalos’ with the Violins of Hope. Reference Recordings released a highly acclaimed all-Leshnoff album featuring world premiere recordings of his Piano Concerto and his Symphony No. 3 commemorating the First World War, and earlier in 2020 the label also released an extensively reviewed album featuring the world premiere performance of his Double Concerto for Clarinet and Bassoon by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and conductor Manfred Honeck, which made it to the top of the Billboard charts. Other notable releases include a recording of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performing his Symphony No. 2 and Zohar oratorio (ASO Media). Leshnoff’s catalog is vast, including several symphonies, various concertos, solo and chamber music works. Leshnoff is a Professor of music at Towson University.

https://www.jonathanleshnoff.com/

Oklahoma City Philharmonic

Tracing its roots back to the city’s first professional orchestra in 1924, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic formed in 1988 under the musical direction of Joel Levine with the help of dedicated civic leaders and corporations. Throughout the years, the orchestra has performed a diverse selection of music with many different artists. It featured on PBS with Michael Martin Murphey in a performance titled Sagebrush Symphony for the program Austin City Limits, and appeared with Kathie Lee Gifford on her CBS Christmas special Just in Time for Christmas. Guest artists have included Itzhak Perlman, Amy Grant, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Tony Bennett, Olivia Newton-John, Bebe Neuwirth, Sir James Galway, Chris Botti, Renée Fleming and most recently Kristin Chenoweth, Kelli O’Hara, Pink Martini, and Ben Folds. The Oklahoma Philharmonic Society, Inc. exists to provide inspiration and joy for the community through orchestral music and maintains a strong commitment to enrich the lives of those it touches, enhance the cultural life of the community, educate future generations about the value of music, entertain audiences, elevate the quality of every performance, and to serve as a leader for positive community growth through the performance of excellent symphonic music, and to cooperate with other arts agencies for the betterment of its community.

https://www.okcphil.org/

Alexander Mickelthwate

Alexander Mickelthwate became music director of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic in 2018, and has embraced Oklahoma City and its rich and colorful tapestry. Artistically, he has programmed several concerts with a Native American theme, and has created some touching tributes to the city’s history. In 2020, he led the commissioning of a special piece for the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Mickelthwate was born and raised in Frankfurt, Germany. He received his degree from the Peabody Institute, and has worked with orchestras in Atlanta, Winnipeg and Los Angeles. He is music director emeritus of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in Canada, and in 2022 accepted the position of music director of the prestigious Bear Valley Music Festival in Bear Valley, California.

https://www.okcphil.org/about-us/history/alexander-mickelthwate/

Noah Bendix-Balgley

First concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic, Noah Bendix-Balgley also regularly appears with leading international orchestras and as a soloist. Recent highlights include concerto appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, and solo engagements around the world, with extensive tours throughout Asia and Europe. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Bendix-Balgley began playing the violin at the age of four. At the age of nine, he played for Yehudi Menuhin, and later graduated from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and the Munich Hochschule, studying with Mauricio Fuks, Christoph Poppen and Ana Chumachenco. Now a gifted educator himself, Bendix-Balgley teaches at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic and frequently gives masterclasses including at his alma mater in Indiana, Morningside Music Bridge, Domaine Forget, the Australian National Academy of Music, and the Shanghai Orchestra Academy.

https://www.noahbendixbalgley.com/

Canterbury Voices

Now in its fifth decade, the prize-winning ensemble Canterbury Voices is Oklahoma’s premier symphony chorus, performing three concerts per season at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City. Often accompanied by the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and other community partners, Canterbury consistently offers artistic and educational experiences of the highest caliber to the broadest and most diverse audiences possible in the Central Oklahoma region. In addition to having commissioned new works by Stephen Paulus, Edward Knight, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, and Dominick Argento, Canterbury has performed alongside many talented singers and musicians from around the United States, including Kelli O’Hara, Sarah Coburn, Barry Manilow, Ron Raines, and Andrea Bocelli. Through its mission – to transform lives, inspire communities, and educate the future – Canterbury also maintains a 20-member ensemble comprised of some of the most talented singers in Oklahoma, a youth music education program featuring four choirs, an immersive summer camp for students who love to sing, and an afterschool music program in partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County.

https://canterburyokc.com/

Producers and Engineers Christina Giacona and Patrick Conlon are both Voting members of the Recording Academy, and last year they were a part of the team for Starr Parodi and Kitt Wakeley’s 2023 Grammy® Award-Winning Best Classical Compendium album, An Adoption Story. Christina is also a Smithsonian Folkways-certified World Music Pedagogue, and a lecturer on American Music at the University of Oklahoma, while Patrick currently serves as the Associate Director of the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma, and is a Master-level 310M Certified ProTools Instructor. Through their production company Onyx Lane, recent clients include the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Oklahoma Contemporary, Kitt Wakeley, the Fort Smith Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, University of Oklahoma Wind Symphony, and Shoals Symphony Orchestra.