Grammy Nominated Conductor & Mexican Composer Team Up With Little Orchestra Society To Win Grant

"Individual Artist" grant was recently awarded by NYS Council on the Arts to The Little Orchestra Society (L.O.S), to commission a contemporary piece retelling an ancient Mayan legend: The Monarch of Uxmal!

The work will be an 18-minute piece for orchestra, narrators, and electronic samples in three parts, the first of which will debut during the Fall 2020 L.O.S. KIDS' program conducted by Grammy Award Winner and L.O.S. Artistic Advisor David Alan Miller. The piece in its entirety will debut during a Young Composers Festival in May 2021. Details in the attached release.

Mr. Miller along with the Albany Symphony is up for two GRAMMY Awards on January 26th: The first for Best Classical Instrumental Solo with violinist Tessa Lark for their recent recording of Michael Torke's "Sky," his bluegrass-inspired violin concerto and the second for the Orchestra's recording of Derek Bermel's "Migration Series" for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.

Sosa's composition will present a free adaptation of an ancient Mayan legend, "The Monarch of Uxmal." The tale recounts how a young girl named "Ha," born from water and adopted by a couple, lives in the Mayan jungle and befriends its inhabitants. Relying on the help of her family, the insects, the monkeys, and the birds, she defeats the King, saves the jungle environment, and becomes Queen of the ancient Mayan city of Uxmal.

About the commission, Sosa said: "My goal is to create a piece that inspires young people, promotes ecology and multiculturalism, and provides a window to the culture of my native México."

Sosa also compared his approach to impressionist composers who tried to recreate the sounds of nature using the orchestra:

"I like to use actual recorded sounds of nature and combine them with live instruments. My plan is to use pre-recorded sounds of water, rain, birds, insects, and monkeys along with instruments of the orchestra and audience participation to create a unique musical texture," explained Sosa.

The NYSCA grant allows a further exploration of this creative process with the support of the talented musicians and staff at The Little Orchestra Society.

"I am grateful for the support of the New York State Council on the Arts in the development of this project, and the creative vision of Artistic Advisor David Allan Miller. I can't wait to get started," exclaimed Sosa.

The commissioned piece represents the perfect marriage of talents between Jorge Sosa and The Little Orchestra Society, an organization that has been at the forefront of creating innovative programming to inspire and educate audiences of all ages. Over the last seven decades, The Little Orchestra Society has created a new model for a 21st-century orchestra that emphasizes connections with the community. L.O.S. has given more than 65 premieres and launched the careers of many major musical talents in its concert programming for adult and family audiences.

"The Little Orchestra Society and I are so excited to bring Jorge Sosa's new work into the world during our 2020-2021 season," exclaimed L.O.S. Artistic Advisor David Alan Miller. "Jorge is a wonderful, extremely romantic composer, with a great sense of fantasy and imagination. His music blends traditional Mexican folk sounds with an almost Puccini-like lyricism. His new work for young audiences will no doubt be a dazzling addition to our repertoire, and extremely accessible for kids and their families."

Excerpts from the three-movement piece will be performed as part of the L.O.S. KIDS concert series at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. The narration will move seamlessly between Spanish and English to engage diverse audiences.

The final movement will be eight minutes in length and the piece in its entirety will be performed as part of a Young Composers' Festival with work performed by the professional musicians of the L.O.S. Orchestra, alongside living professional and student composers celebrating the diversity, creativity and vibrancy of the musical landscape across the city.

Performances are scheduled as follows:

· November 2020 - Movement 1: "Born from Water," featured at the second L.O.S. KIDS program of the season at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College

· February 2021 - Movement 2: "The Animals," featured at the third L.O.S. KIDS program of the season at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College

· May 2021 - World Premiere of "The Monarch of Uxmal" at the Young Composers' Festival Program featuring emerging, professional, and student compositions at a venue to be announced.

For more information on concerts and programs of The Little Orchestra Society, visit the website at: www.littleorchestra.org.

Since its debut at Town Hall 73 years ago, The Little Orchestra Society has been captivating audiences young and old with innovative concerts of classical music and more. Through a variety of art forms including storytelling, video, and animation, that exhibit the creative genius of the company and collected artists, the Orchestra presents dynamic repertoire and brings meaningful musical experiences to today's concertgoers. Under the leadership of its Artistic Advisor, David Alan Miller, L.O.S. also shares the vitality of live performances beyond the concert hall through music education and community engagement in New York City schools, museums, libraries, and senior centers.

Last year, L.O.S. reached nearly 25,000 New York City area children, adults, and seniors, of whom almost 5,000 attended concerts free-of-charge. These transformative initiatives welcome not only thousands of participants to L.O.S. concerts, they inspire audiences to make music and concertgoing a lifelong pursuit.

Grammy Award-winning conductor David Alan Miller has established a reputation as one of the leading American conductors of his generation. Music Director of the Albany Symphony since 1992, Mr. Miller has proven himself a creative and compelling orchestra builder. Frequently in demand as a guest conductor, Mr. Miller received his Grammy Award in January, 2014 for his Naxos recording of John Corigliano's "Conjurer," with the Albany Symphony and Dame Evelyn Glennie. Prior to his appointment in Albany, Mr. Miller was Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. From 1982 to 1988, he was Music Director of the New York Youth Symphony, earning considerable acclaim for his work with that ensemble. A native of Los Angeles, David Alan Miller holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree in orchestral conducting from The Juilliard School.

Jorge Sosa is a Mexican-born composer currently residing in New York. His style mixes folk music, Afro-Latin rhythms, Jazz harmonies, and the juxtaposition of noise and lyricism. Jorge has been collaborating with librettist Cerise Jacobs and Whitesnake Projects in developing two new operas: "I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams" and "Monkey," with premieres scheduled for 2019, and 2021in Boston. Excerpts from "I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams" will be performed by Juventas New Music Ensemble in April 2019. Jorge was recently commissioned by Albany Symphony to write his new work "I Dissent" for chamber orchestra, narrator and electronics, based on three iconic dissenting opinions by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The premiere is scheduled for June 2019. In 2019 his piece "Punto y Línea" for solo flute was featured in the London Festival of American Music. Jorge's work "Sunrise" for orchestra was one of the winning pieces for the Allentown Symphony Orchestra "Pictures at an Exhibition 2018" composition competition. Jorge's first full-length opera, "La Reina," commissioned by American Lyric Theater, was performed in the 2016 "PROTOTYPE" festival in NY. Jorge is currently an Associate Professor, and the Chairperson of the Music Department at Molloy College. Jorge's CD's "Plastic Time" and "Enceladus" are available on all the major music download sites and through the website www.jorgesosa.com.

The Little Orchestra Society's programs are supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the generous support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.