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Peteris Vasks' Music Sets Tone for Orchestra of St. Luke's "In the Grace of the World" Multimedia Production

Oct. 04, 2007

On October 6 at Montclair State University in New Jersey, the Orchestra of St. Luke's performs the world premiere of "In the Grace of the World," a series of interwoven musical and visual tableaus which explores man's interaction with nature. Featuring projections and lighting by electronic artist Scott Snibbe and lighting designer Lonnie Alcaraz, and nature videography by Wes Skiles and Chris Welsby, the music of Latvian composer Peteris Vasks sets the tone for the work. Vasks comments:

"Since I have been writing music I have always expressed the idea of the beauty of nature, its infinite diversity, power and mightiness. Of course, also the idea of harm to nature due to human greed, stupidity, or a feeling of almightiness, has been passed to listeners - both in my solo instrument opuses and in my orchestra scores."

"In the Grace of the World" features numerous works of Peteris Vasks including Message and Cantabile. Other works featured include Arvo Pärt's Fratres, Toru Takemitsu's How Slow the Wind, and works by Charles Ives and J.S. Bach.

Also this month in the New York area, Arvo Pärt ‘s Mein Weg sees its US premiere at the hands of SONOS Chamber Orchestra conducted by Erik Ochsner in New York City.

Peteris Vasks
Cantabile (1979)
string orchestra
8'

Peteris Vasks
Message (1982)
perc - 2pno - str (16.14.12.10.8)
15'

Arvo Pärt
Fratres, version for wind octet and percussion (1977)
2ob.2cl.2bn.2hn.perc
10'

Toru Takemitsu
How Slow the Wind
pic (afl)12(2.ca) 2(2.bcl)2(2cbn) - 2000 - 2perc - harp.piano (cel) - str (8.6.4.4.2)
11'

Arvo Pärt
Mein Weg (1989/1999/2000)
perc.6vn.2 va.4vc.2cb
7'

For further information about Peteris Vasks' life and music, please visit www.schott-music.com.

For further information about "In the Grace of the World" and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, please visit www.oslmusic.org.

For further information about Arvo Pärt, please visit www.universaledition.com.

Information about the SONOS Chamber Orchestra performance of Mein Weg can be found at www.sonoschamberorch.org.

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