Mos Def and Brooklyn Phil conductor Alan Pierson

Airdate: October 19, 2011

WNYC’s New Sounds Live and Q2 Music present a live recording of the Brooklyn Philharmonic from the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center performing music by Mos Def, Frederic Rzewski, Lev Zhurbin, David T. Little and Corey Dargel. The concert features a preview of the orchestra’s upcoming season, the first under the energized stewardship of their new conductor, Alan Pierson.  The audio is available here until October 19th, 2011.

The program features a fresh, multidimensional approach to vocal repertoire with the versatile hip hop-icon Mos Def joining the Brooklyn Philharmonic on stage for arrangements of his songs by composer-clarinetist Derek Bermel; Rzewski’s provocative setting of letters from Sam Melville, an inmate at the infamous Attica State Prison; 19th Century shape note singing; and the pop-art songs of singer-songwriter Corey Dargel. Additional performers include new-music stalwart Mellissa Hughes and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

Mos Def (arr. Derek Bermel): Life in Marvelous Times (2008) and other songs
David T. Little: excerpt from Am I Born (2011)
Lev Zhurbin: excerpt from Only Love (2008)
Frederic Rzewski: Coming Together (1972)
Corey Dargel: What Might Have Been (2010)