Oregon Composers

With this handful of works by composers with Oregon connections, the Portland Youth Philharmonic re-enters the lists of Northwest recording orchestras - among whom it was the first. In the '60s and '70s the Philharmonic recorded 10 works by eight composers on the CRI label - to good press and public reception. Six of those pieces had been commissioned by the Philharmonic under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The rationale at the time was that young musicians could be the best proponents for new music except that often it was beyond their reach technically. To meet this problem, the Philharmonic invited composers to produce works that were a little less difficult but still true to their own style. This recording was made to celebrate the Philharmonic's 70th Anniversary and continue the commitment to contemporary music. Composers whose works receive world premiere recordings on this disc are Salvador Brotons, Kevin Walczyk, John Van Buren, Bryan Johanson and Jacob Avshalomov.