South Florida Classical Review

Ryan Bancroft conducted the New Word Symphony in music of Valerie Coleman and Aaron Copland Saturday night.

An outstanding new work, an American classic and an irreverent provocation by one of the original adapters of traditional American band and folk music comprised the refreshingly unhackneyed program by the New World Symphony on Saturday night. Avoiding the tried and true, the concert at the New World Center featured a panorama of scores by native-born composers, each with its own distinctive perspective.

Ryan Bancroft was on the podium. An American conductor whose career has been centered in England and Scandinavia, he proved an able exponent of Americana in its different variations. Currently principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, chief conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and artist in association with the Tapiola Sinfonietta in Finland, Bancroft led sans baton. Yet, his gestures were clear and exact, and he drew vibrant, crisp playing from the New World fellows.

Valerie Coleman’s Concerto for Orchestra – “Renaissance” was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra (and repeated by them in New York) in 2024 to great acclaim and for good reason. This New World Symphony co-commission is an orchestral blockbuster. 

As Coleman, a former University of Miami Frost School of Music faculty member, told the audience in her introduction, it is an 25-minute virtuosic showpiece for each section of the orchestra as well as a portrait of the African-American experience in the United States. “American Odyssey,” the first section, opens with sonic picturing of the devastation and chaos of battle in World War II, followed by a wailing trumpet over clanging percussion, suggesting tragedy but also resolve. Sweeping string motifs embody the Great Migration of black Americans from the South to northern cities. A plaintive English horn solo recalls, whether by coincidence or intent, the theme of the second movement of Dvořák’s New World Symphony. Coleman paints these varied influences in brilliant orchestral writing and striking thematic invention.

“Portraits” (the second movement) refers to the race riots and bombings that targeted blacks in the North and Midwest following World War I. Astringent and elegiac strings, clarinets and bassoons suggest the mood of spirituals without any direct quotations. “Cotton Club Juba,” the work’s finale, celebrates the tunes and dance that flourished in black enclaves. Trombones take the lead in constantly swaying rhythm. The movement radiates joy, contrasted by a ruminative horn solo, backed by prominent strings, harp and piano. At the conclusion, Coleman lets the brass loose for a raise-the-roof climax. Her entire score is couched in a modernist symphonic style rather than the jazz-infused language of many contemporary composers.

Coleman could not have wished for a better performance than Bancroft and the New World fellows delivered. Conducted and played with enthusiasm and disciplined precision, all the score’s strengths were vividly on view. Coleman and Bancroft received an enthusiastic ovation. This is a score that deserves to be heard widely and become part of the canon of 21^stcentury repertoire.

Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3 was completed in 1946 as the Second World War had ended and hope for a better future prevailed. Bancroft drew out the prairie eloquence of Copland’s melodic writing in the opening Molto moderato. Rock-like brass and lustrous strings produced shattering climaxes that came close to setting a decibel record for the hall. Contrasting soft moments were given silken resonance, fully illuminating the composer’s variegated soundscape. This was authentically idiomatic Copland, marked by perfect pacing, well proportioned balances and taut but flexible shaping of themes.

There was high energy and relentless momentum in the scherzo-like second movement. Bancroft elicited charm and grace in the central episode, with especially warm and sonorous string playing. He captured the poignancy behind the lyricism of the third movement Andantino quasi allegro. The symphony’s final movement is a fantasia on Copland’s wartime Fanfare for the Common Man. The brass’ initial quiet articulation of the anthem was well-nigh perfect. Bancroft kept the movement from becoming diffuse with well-chosen tempos. Copland’s scoring for extra brass, six percussionists, two harps, piano and celesta came through with clarity, with the figurations of the two piccolos given fine presence. The final triumphant reprise of the fanfare emerged with stirring immediacy.

Conducting fellow Ziwei Ma opened the evening with Charles Ives’ Country Band March. In typically iconoclastic fashion, Ives’ piece abounds in off-kilter rhythms, deliberately out-of-tune playing and raucous irony. Ma captured Ives’ subversive spirit and the small band of players seemed to have a grand time with this sarcastic vignette.

The New World Symphony repeats the program 2 p.m. Sunday at the New World Center in Miami Beach.   nws.edu

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