Press from the 2011 S4M Festival


“Great programs create a kind of invisible drama; they bring forth what E. T. A. Hoffmann, in his 1813 essay ‘Beethoven’s Instrumental Music,’ calls ‘an unknown realm, a world quite separate from the outer sensual world.’ Such a realm seemed to materialize…”

Alex Ross
The New Yorker, June 6, 2011
“Somehow this experiment made me eager to hear Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, which came after intermission. The orchestra sounded great and played with verve and brilliance. Mr. Nagano’s exciting, urgent performance was full of insightful ideas.”

Anthony Tommasini
The New York Times, May 16, 2011
“It is hard to believe that the Oregon Symphony had never performed in Carnegie Hall until Thursday evening, when it played a vivid, often wrenching program, “Music for a Time of War,” as part of the Spring for Music festival.”

Allan Kozinn
New York Times, May 14, 2011
“The goal of Spring for Music is to empower orchestras to take chances with their programming. That Mr. van Zweden and the Dallas players seized the opportunity speaks well of their shared artistic priorities and working relationship.”

Anthony Tommasini
The New York Times, May 13, 2011
“It was a bold, thoughtful idea for a concert, with the spirituals flanked by the Copland work and “Let the River Be Unbroken,” George Tsontakis’s 1994 orchestral riff on 19th-century Americana.”

Zachary Woolfe
The New York Times, May 12, 2011
“Spring for Music shows what can happen when industry insiders act creatively.”Barbara Jepson
The Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2011
“In all, the evening was a genuine coup for the orchestra and its gifted conductor.”James R. Oestreich
The New York Times, May 9, 2011
“I have long thought that in confronting the challenges of maintaining an orchestra and engaging new audiences, American ensembles should think a little less about how they play and a lot more about what they play and why they play it. This is not to suggest that the technical level of the playing does not matter. The general level of talent and technical skill in American orchestras is quite high over all, even in regional ensembles. But so much more is at stake… This is something the people behind Spring for Music especially understand.”

Anthony Tommasini
The New York Times, 05/01/11
Symphony Magazine, April, 2011

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