THOMAS DAUSGAARD AND THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY RELEASE GEORGE WALKER’S REVELATORY SINFONIA NO. 5, “VISIONS”
SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA RELEASE FEATURES WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCE OF WALKER’S FINAL WORK
WORLDWIDE DIGITAL-ONLY RELEASE MARCH 5, 2021
Seattle, WA — From Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony comes the recording of the world premiere performance of George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions” to be released on March 5, 2021. Performed live for the first time in April 2019 by the Seattle Symphony and Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, this moving work by a true American master comes to life in the stunning acoustics of Benaroya Hall.
Walker was a trailblazer throughout his distinguished career, breaking barriers first as a pianist and then as a composer. Having studied piano at Oberlin Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music, he was the first Black soloist to take the stage with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Hindered by prejudice in his performance career, Walker turned his talents toward composition. He became the first African-American composer to receive a Pulitzer Prize, and in the enormous catalog of solo, chamber and orchestral works that he left behind, listeners discover his “distinctively laconic style purged of excess and meticulously designed from meaningful gestures” (The New York Times).
"For me, the title ‘Visions’ refers to the sublime feeling at the end of the work, and maybe you can sense as in a ‘vision’ how all its parts peacefully return to their original organic form,” shares Music Director Thomas Dausgaard. “In this way Walker’s music is very modern: only through the reflection in us does it show its true soul. If we make a leap, we can bring peace."
Music Director Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony give the world premiere performance of Walker's Sinfonia No. 5, "Visions" at Benaroya Hall in April 2019. Photo by Brandon Patoc.
Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions” was Walker’s final completed work. Though the piece was already underway, the massacre of nine Black parishioners at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina at the hands of a 21-year-old white supremacist in June 2015 spurred Walker to complete the work and pay tribute to the victims. Sinfonia No. 5 exists in two versions — one for orchestra alone, and a second that incorporates spoken text which Walker wrote for a cast of speakers. It is the latter version featured in the Seattle Symphony’s recording, with vocalists Clayton Brainerd, Ed Morris, Stephen Newby and Shaina Shepherd joining the orchestra in this live performance.
Seattle Symphony Media is pleased to share Walker’s legacy and groundbreaking work with listeners everywhere through a digital-only release. Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions” will be available worldwide for digital download on March 5, 2021 through all major online music retailers and streaming services. This recording is also available in an immaculate 5.1 digital surround version engineered by the 2017 Grammy Award winner for Best Surround Sound and 2021 Grammy Award nominee for Producer of the Year, Classical, Dmitriy Lipay.
To obtain a review copy of the release, photos, liner notes or any other information on Seattle Symphony Media, please contact Dinah Lu at press@seattlesymphony.org.
RECORDING DETAILS
GEORGE WALKER
SINFONIA NO. 5, “VISIONS”
Thomas Dausgaard conductor
Clayton Brainerd vocals
Ed Morris vocals
Stephen Newby vocals
Shaina Shepherd vocals
Seattle Symphony
Worldwide Release Date
March 5, 2021
Label: Seattle Symphony Media
Catalog Number: SSM1026
Producer: Dmitriy Lipay
The Seattle Symphony’s world premiere performance of American composer George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions,” is now available as a digital download. Walker wrote this powerful work partly in response to the horrific events of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church massacre in 2015. This restless composition — recorded in the stunning acoustics of Benaroya Hall — combines spoken text and orchestral music in a bold and impactful score from this Pulitzer Prize-winning composer.
WALKER: SINFONIA NO. 5, “VISIONS”
Total Timing: 14:16 // Catalog Number: SSM1026 // Producer: Dmitriy Lipay //
Label: Seattle Symphony Media
The Seattle Symphony is grateful to Joan Watjen for her generous support of SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA in memory of her husband Craig.
Recorded in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington.
George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions” was recorded live in concert April 11 and 13, 2019.
The performances of George Walker’s Sinfonia No. 5, “Visions,” were presented as part of the 2018-2019 Delta Air Lines Masterworks Season.
Thomas Dausgaard’s performances were generously underwritten by Ilene and Elwood Hertzog through the Seattle Symphony’s Guest Artists Circle.
Thomas Dausgaard’s performances received additional support from the Scan|Design Foundation by Inger and Jens Bruun.
Digital downloads are available through iTunes, Amazon, Acoustic Sounds and HD Tracks. Recordings can be streamed through Apple Music, Spotify and Primephonic.
THOMAS DAUSGAARD MUSIC DIRECTOR
Music Director of the Seattle Symphony, Danish conductor Thomas Dausgaard is esteemed for his creativity and innovative programming, the excitement of his live performances and his extensive catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings. A renowned recording artist with over 70 discs to his name, Dausgaard’s releases with the Seattle Symphony have garnered critical acclaim resulting in international honors including a 2017 Gramophone Award nomination for Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 (Deryck Cooke version), Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year Award, and a 2019 Best Orchestral Performance Grammy nomination for Nielsen’s Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4. An avid champion of contemporary works and the music of his homeland, Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony will release the much-anticipated cycle of symphonies by Carl Nielsen.
Performing internationally with many of the world’s leading orchestras, Dausgaard is also the Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Conductor Laureate of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, and Honorary Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
Dausgaard has been awarded the Cross of Chivalry by the Queen of Denmark and elected to the Royal Academy of Music in Sweden.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA
Launched in 2014, Seattle Symphony Media is the Seattle Symphony’s independent Grammy Award-winning in-house record label. The Symphony has an extensive catalogue of nearly 150 recordings, which have brought forth five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy Award nominations and two Emmy Awards throughout its history. The Seattle Symphony was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. Under the direction of Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, the Symphony's in-house record label features both “core repertoire” and some of the eclectic and contemporary programming for which the Seattle Symphony has become recognized. The label includes both studio recordings and performances captured live in concert, allowing the organization an unprecedented breadth of repertoire choices.
All recordings are made in the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall and engineered by the Grammy Award-winning recording engineer Dmitriy Lipay. Using the Symphony’s own state-of-the-art in-house recording studio, recordings have been engineered to audiophile standards and aim to capture as realistically as possible the sound of the orchestra performing on stage with naturalistic imaging, depth of field and dynamic range. Distributed by Naxos of America, the recordings are available in both physical and digital formats from a variety of retailers. Digital content is available in stereo, “Mastered for iTunes,” 96k 24-bit high resolution and 5.1 surround sound.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY
Led by Music Director Thomas Dausgaard, the Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 26 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 500,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts.
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