Open to the public and livestreamed
David Alan Miller, Heinrich Medicus Music Director
Britt Hewitt, vocalist
Francisco del Pino: Orenda (world premiere)
Albany Symphony Musicians
Liz Silver, Violin I
Mitsuko Suzuki, Violin II
Tina Chang-Chien, Viola
Erica Pickhardt, Cello
Luke Stence, Bass
Karen Hosmer, Oboe
About Orenda:
Orenda is written for a little stone-walled area of the old canal to the side of Lock 17 in Little Falls, NY.
Inspired by ancient conceptions of place and interconnectedness with nature, I wanted to write a piece that would be suitable to be performed outdoors and that would welcome the sounds of the environment without fighting them—more of a sound tapestry than a “concert” piece. This music behaves a bit like running water: a continuous stream of motion underneath which things change only imperceptibly over time.
Floating above that tapestry, a singer chants words from the Oneida Nation’s motto: good mind, good heart, strong fire. To those core values, I added a few more principles of my own choosing. The text can be interpreted as a prayer, an invocation, a list of wishes, or a declaration for oneself.
