Sun Valley Summer Symphony Music Director Alasdair Neale returns to host his popular \u201cUpbeat with Alasdair\u201d speaking series on Wednesday, March 20, 2019. Titled Meet Mason Bates, Musical America\u2019s Composer of the Year, the conversation between Neale and Bates will provide an overview of Mason Bates\u2019s work, including three pieces the Symphony will feature during Bates\u2019s residency this coming summer.<\/p>\n
The \u201cUpbeat with Alasdair\u201d speaking series is held every winter and spring at The Community Library, located at 415 Spruce Ave., Ketchum. It provides an intimate platform for Maestro Neale to share his passion for music-making and his personal take on specific works with the community. For this March\u2019s talk, Mason Bates will join Maestro Neale for a conversation about Bates\u2019s compositions. Symphony fans may recall that the Sun Valley Summer Symphony commissioned Bates to write \u201cDevil\u2019s Radio\u201d five years ago, for the occasion of its 30th anniversary. He will return this summer for performances of his pieces \u201cLiquid Interface\u201d and \u201cPassage,\u201d as well as an encore performance of \u201cDevil\u2019s Radio.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tremendously excited to welcome my friend Mason Bates back to Sun Valley and to have the chance to talk with him about his musical influences and compositional style as part of our ongoing \u2018Upbeat with Alasdair\u2019 series.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Alasdair Neale, Music Director<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Bates is the most-performed composer of his generation and serves as composer-in-residence at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His recent opera \u201cThe (R)evolution of Steve Jobs\u201d was hailed as one of the best-selling productions in the history of Santa Fe Opera, and it just won the Grammy\u00ae Award for Best Opera Recording. His pieces for orchestra often blend classical instruments with electronica and recorded sounds, and in his spare time, Bates works in several clubs as a DJ where he integrates classical music and electronica to packed crowds.<\/p>\n