Scott Wheeler, Avner Dorman, Bright Sheng: Premieres – Gil Shaham

Performing three concertos written specifically for him by Avner Dorman, Bright Sheng, and Scott Wheeler, renowned violinist Gil Shaham is joined by acclaimed conductor Leon Botstein and The Orchestra Now (TŌN), Bard College’s graduate orchestral masters.

Scott Wheeler’s “Birds of America” (Violin Concerto No.2) was premiered by Shaham, Botstein, and TŌN at the Fisher Center at Bard and Carnegie Hall in 2021. The birds making appearances in the concerto include a hawk, a whippoorwill, loons, a mourning dove, and a downy woodpecker.

Winner of the 2018 Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music, Avner Dorman’s “Nigunim” (Violin Concerto No.2) was originally commissioned as Sonata No.3 for violin and piano by New York’s 92nd Street Y, Gil, and his sister, pianist Orli Shaham. Gil premiered the orchestrated version with CityMusic Cleveland, conducted by Dorman, in 2014. The main melodic gestures of the piece are drawn from common elements found in Jewish music from around the world.

Chinese-American composer Bright Sheng’s violin concerto “Let Fly” had it’s premiere in 2013 with Shaham and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, led by legendary conductor Leonard Slatkin. The title of the work was inspired by an aural image of the violin melody flying off into the air.