A central episode features violas and cellos playing expansive thematic material, punctuated by bells and harp. ![]() Opening with tense string phrases that build to a crescendo, accompanying bells, harp and mallet instruments herald the entry of the brass like a burst of light. The work was commissioned two decades ago for the Pittsburgh Symphony and its then-music director Mariss Jansons, who passed away last week at the age of 76. Thomas’s Prayer Bells is a twelve-minute symphonic canvass that is rich in bright tolling sonorities, from bells as well as winds, brass and percussion. The trio of diverse works all received excellent performances under the baton of Milarsky, a contemporary music specialist. On Saturday night, Jeffrey Milarsky returned to the podium at New World Center to conduct an American program featuring a great vocal work by Steve Reich, a symphonic synthesis of a John Adams opera and a gripping miniature sound portrait by Augusta Read Thomas. Something special often adorns the program and this year’s edition was no exception. ![]() ![]() The New World Symphony’s first Sounds of the Times concert each season usually coincides with Art Basel week, providing a musical counterpart to the exhibitions of contemporary art. Jeffrey Milarsky conducted the New World Symphony in music of John Adams, Steve Reich and Augusta Read Thomas Saturday night.
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