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Press Releases

Peter Boyer's Rhapsody Premieres June 30 With Utah Symphony

March 24, 2023 | By Naturally Sharp

On June 30, the Utah Symphony opens the Deer Valley Music Festival with an American salute at the annual

Patriotic Pops, highlighting the World Premiere of Peter Boyer's Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue.

Kicking off the Rhapsody National Initiative - an idea envisioned and created by pianist Jeffrey Biegel - Peter

Boyer's new work is a tip-of-the-hat honoring the centennial celebration of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in

Blue (which debuted in 1924. Boyer composed an original reflection of America from the 1920s to the

2020s, inspired by the iconic masterpiece.  Biegel will unveil Boyer’s Rhapsody first in Utah before taking the

piece throughout the United States for a three-year jpurney, and will also perform Gershwin's Rhapsody.

Conducting the performance will be Ben Manis.

 

Jeffrey Biegel has created twenty-six commissioning projects spanning a quarter century, with more than

one-hundred orchestras. Several works have been composed for piano, orchestra and chorus. The list of

composers echoes a wide spread of styles from the following composers:

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (3 times)

Charles Strouse

Lowell Liebermann

William Bolcom

Richard Danielpour

Kenneth Fuchs

Jake Runestad

Lucas Richman

Christopher Theofanidis

James Stephenson

P.D.Q. Bach (aka Peter Schickele)

Dick Tunney (3 times)

Marjorie Rusche

Peter Tork

Peter Boyer

Daniel Dorff

Giovanni Allevi

Daniel Perttu

Farhad Poupel

Adolphus Hailstork

Melissa Manchester

Christopher Marshall

 

Peter Boyer shares this about his Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue:

This work was conceived by the prodigious American pianist Jeffrey Biegel, who approached me in early 2020 with his ambitious idea for a project to celebrate the centennial of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, in February 2024. I hesitated before accepting the commission, knowing that the piece I was being asked to compose would be performed repeatedly alongside RIB—one of the most iconic and beloved works of American music. I wondered how any piece of mine could withstand the inevitable comparisons to the Gershwin work—especially with Jeffrey’s chosen title, Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue. However, he is as persuasive as he is gifted, and so I accepted the commission.
Like the Gershwin work, my Rhapsody is in a single long multi-sectional movement. As Gershwin did a century ago, I have attempted to capture a sense of American energy and optimism in much of this music. Though my musical style typically does not employ any jazz elements, in this work it seemed appropriate to include some allusions to a 1920s, “quasi-Gershwin” style. There is one section of the work, largely pastiche, which does this, in the form of a “bluesy scherzo.” The slow, lyrical section of the work, coming after its midpoint, might be heard as both an allusion to America’s wide open spaces, and to my personal belief in the country’s promise, despite its many challenges.
I am grateful to Jeffrey for his confidence in my ability to create what he envisioned, and for giving me all the time which was necessary to do so. I’m delighted that he will be performing this new Rhapsody with many orchestras around the United States.
— P.B., February 2023

 

Media contact for the Rhapsody National Initiative: Jeffrey Biegel, biegel88@yahoo.com

For more information about Peter Boyer: www.propulsivemusic.com

For more information about Jeffrey Biegel: www.jeffreybiegel.com

For more information about the Utah Symphony: www.utahsymphony.org

For media contact at the Utah Symphony:

Megs Vincent, Utah Symphony | Utah Opera

mvincent@usuo.org | (801) 869-9021

 

 
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