Symphony Number One is Baltimore's newest chamber orchestra, dedicated to performing and promoting substantial works by emerging composers.
Led by Music Director Jordan Randall Smith, Symphony Number One brings together great composers of the past, virtuoso performers of the present, and the leading compositional voices of the future.
What a summer it’s been. Here are a few updates in case you missed them.
I’m thrilled to be joining Symphony Number One in my new role as Composer-In-Residence for the 2017-2018 season. I’ve admired their mission since their inception, and it’s great to be aboard. I would like to thank Jordan Randall Smith and the administrative team for this significant opportunity. We have a lot of great projects in the works and I’m looking forward to creating some memorable musical experiences in the coming year.
Michael Raymond Rittling, Principal Contrabass
Thanks to your support, Symphony Number One is pleased to bring you another great season of thrilling works new works by emerging composers. Earlier today, we reached our funding goal of $10,000, meaning that our project is now funded and our future is bright! Thanks to all of you for your support to serve our community with substantial works by living composers, powerful masterworks, and a twist of pop.
We'll be updating the website with tons of fresh information for Season 3, but for now, here's a quick preview page:
The question I most often get in regards to Approaching Eternity, is how one deals with composing a piece of its length. It doesn’t take much research to find that a piece combining the medium of a large chamber symphony with the breadth of an hour-long swath of time is a rarity in this period of music composition. It’s no fault of the composer here – many factors outside of the composer’s control (mostly economic) have contributed to the unfortunate and gaping hole in the repertoire that we now have, but now is the time to fill that space. But regardless, the composer of the 21st century isn’t normally expected to fulfill a commission like this, so how do we all go about it?
The piece is conceived as one large swath of music, with seven distinct sections that flow into each other without pause. Each of these sections is demarcated by a cryptic ‘totem’ that relates to a piece of visual art, poetry, literature, or even film, that served as a creative impetus for the section. The sections, when woven together, create a life cycle beginning with the first movement: Ode to the Abyss.
In recent weeks, Symphony Number One was featured in the media on multiple occasions.
On January 5, we again appeared on Maryland Public Television's Artworks! They featured a portion of our EP, Emergence, a portion of Andrew Boss' Concerto for Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra.
Now, for the first time, we are releasing a full-length album exclusively featuring emerging composers. More represents the best of Symphony Number One: three stimulating new works for chamber orchestra by a slate of three of the next generation's most promising voices, all lovingly prepared and performed in Baltimore.
FIRST LISTEN: Here's your first chance to hear Jonathan Russel's "Light Cathedral" in its entirety! Performed live at Light Street Presbyterian Church on April 9 and 10, 2016. Commissioned by Symphony Number One for Baltimore's inaugural Light City festival. Light Cathedral will be featured on our new album, More.
Last Friday, the Warnock Foundation named Symphony Number One to the fall class of Baltimore Social Innovation Fellows! Competing with 84 other entries narrowed down to 24 finalists, we proposed to work with West Baltimore's Innovation Village development district to provide free and severely-reduced-price concerts in West Baltimore that mirror our current offerings in Midtown and Downtown. We've already begun planning the first of these performances.
Asst. Conductor JoAnna Cochenet most recently served as the Conductor of the Northeast String Orchestra in New York and Music Director at Grace United Methodist Church. Cochenet has also been Guest Conductor and Clinician for several All-County, All-City String and Symphony Orchestra Festivals, and other school, camp, and community orchestra rehearsals and concerts across the states. She currently serves as a string instructor at Levine Music in Washington D.C.
What I like the most about Symphony Number One is their dedication to bringing the works of emerging composers to life. Being involved with SNO means being a part of the creative process, allowing new music to reach out and positively influence the community
Jordan Randall Smith, Music Director
Brian Harris, Managing Director
