Peter Boyer | Photo: Dario Acosta
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American composer Peter Boyer commissioned to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III |
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Peter Boyer has been commissioned to compose a new work to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III. The commission is from ORA Singers and their Artistic Director and founder, Suzi Digby OBE. The premiere will be part of a Coronation Celebration at St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden (“The Actors’ Church”), London, on May 3, 2023, three days before the Coronation.
Boyer’s new work, titled Today We Ask, sets text written specially for the occasion by Welsh poet Grahame Davies, known for his collaborations with composers such as Karl Jenkins and Paul Mealor. In addition to ORA Singers, Boyer’s new work calls for brass quintet and timpani.
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The concert will feature music from Coronations and Royal occasions through four centuries, including works by Byrd, Purcell, Handel, and Vaughan Williams, and such contemporary masters as John Rutter, Judith Weir, James MacMillan, and Bob Chilcott. ORA Singers will be joined by the renowned actor Simon Callow CBE (Amadeus, Shakespeare in Love), reading first-hand accounts of Coronations across the centuries.
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ORA Singers, conducted by Founder/Director Suzi Digby OBE, at the Tate Modern |
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The Cleveland Orchestra to perform Ellis Island
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Peter Boyer’s major work Ellis Island: The Dream of America will be performed by The Cleveland Orchestra, in six concerts from April 18-21, 2023, at Severance Music Center. The performances will be conducted by Daniel Reith, Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. The actors are cast and directed by Donald Carrier of Case Western Reserve University.
The first of these Ellis Island concerts will be a free public performance on Tuesday, April 18, leading off the Orchestra’s Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival, The American Dream. This will be followed by five additional educational performances of Ellis Island for young audiences.
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Peter Boyer’s new work Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue, commissioned to celebrate the upcoming 2024 centennial of George Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue, will be premiered by pianist Jeffrey Biegel and the Utah Symphony, conducted by Benjamin Manis, on the opening night of the Deer Valley® Music Festival at the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater in Park City, June 30, 2023.
The Utah Symphony performance is the first of many for Boyer’s new Rhapsody. Pianist Jeffrey Biegel has launched a “Rhapsody National Initiative,” with the goal of performing the new work with at least one orchestra in each of the 50 United States. Presently, 39 orchestras in 36 states have signed on to perform Boyer’s new work, with Biegel as the soloist. There will be nearly 30 performances of the work around the U.S. in the first year following its premiere.
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Tom Jacobs recently interviewed Peter for an Artist Spotlight:
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Press inquiries
Milina Barry PR
212.420.0200
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