October 19, 2023
Viet Cuong (b. 1990) Chance of Rain (2023) The Covid-19 pandemic will leave its stamp on our culture for many years to come. As we emerge from isolation and loss, there’s a sense of awakening in the arts—orchestras resuming their regular concert schedules, audiences returning to live performances, musicians back on the road after their…
April 3, 2023
Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9 (1844) Hector Berlioz never met an applecart he didn’t want to upset, or an envelope he didn’t want to stretch. It was simply not in his nature to kowtow to prevailing fashion or to acquiesce to the dictates of the proletariat. Nor was he just some obnoxious…
May 18, 2022
This weekend’s EPIC FINALE concert was a fitting exclamation point on the season, as audiences got to hear Viet Cuong’s Next Week’s Trees (live and in-person, not on a screen!), Nathan Chan’s beautiful rendition of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, and Tchaikovsky’s triumphant Symphony No. 5.
April 21, 2022
Viet Cuong (b. 1990) Next Week’s Trees (2021) “Light is an invitation to happiness,” wrote beloved poet Mary Oliver in “Poppies”. We could all use such an invitation about now. We’ve been through a period of darkness, of present dread and future fear, a time of foreboding and separation. But such things don’t last. The…
May 6, 2021
Wonderful… Soul-refreshing…”—Kathryn Juneau, Viola This article was first published in May, 2021 When 30 California Symphony musicians came together last month to record the Poetry in Motion season finale series, it was the largest gathering of California Symphony musicians in one place since the February 2020 BRAHMS FEST concerts. We asked how it felt to…
April 21, 2021
Viet Cuong (b.1990)Next Week’s Trees—World Premiere “Light is an invitation to happiness,” wrote beloved poet Mary Oliver in “Poppies”. We could all use such an invitation about now. We’ve been through a period of darkness, of present dread and future fear, a time of foreboding and separation. But such things don’t last….
February 19, 2020
The New York Times has called his music “alluring” and “wildly inventive” and his compositions have already been featured in concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. We sit down with our newest Composer-in-Residence Viet Cuong to talk marching band, his compositional style, and connections to former Young American Composers-in-Residence Chris Theofanidis, Kevin Puts,…
May 2, 2019
It’s been called “a model for residency programs across the country” (Mercury News). Not all orchestras around the country have resident composer programs, and among those that exist, the California Symphony’s Young American Composer-in-Residence program is different in three key ways, says California Symphony Executive Director Lisa Dell. 1. Real relationships take time Several…
