| Piano Concerto | |
| Composer: | Teddy Abrams |
| Genre: | Contemporary classical, Orchestral jazz |
| Composed: | 2022 |
| Duration: | c. 38 minutes |
| Scoring: | Piano concerto |
| Premiere Conductor: | Teddy Abrams |
| Premiere Location: | Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts |
| Premiere Performers: | Louisville Orchestra, Yuja Wang |
The American composer and conductor Teddy Abrams composed his Piano Concerto for pianist Yuja Wang, who was his classmate during their student days at the Curtis Institute of Music.[1] [2] Wang performed its world premiere in Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts with the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Abrams on 7 January 2022.[3] [4] An audio recording of the performance on the next day, 8 January, was released by Deutsche Grammophon on 12 January 2023 as the main piece in the album The American Project.[5] The album received a Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo on February 4, 2024 for Wang and Abrams.[6] [7] [8]
Abrams initially developed this composition as a short companion to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue,[9] then following a discussion with Wang about her recording the Rhapsody with the orchestra, the work transformed into a standalone orchestral showpiece and was dedicated to Wang.[10] [11] [5]
The Gershwin influence is apparent in the big-band overture and an “orchestra break”.[5] Orchestration is more than big-band, however: the premiere employed more than 60 orchestral players, "including several imported for the occasion (on three saxophones, electric guitar and bass, drum kit, etc.), a band within the larger group".[12] [4] Four semi-improvised cadenzas in the classical style showcase the virtuosity of the soloist.[13] [14] Several other instrumental solos are featured throughout the piece, including violin, oboe, trumpet, and saxophone.[15]
A performance of the piano concerto has a duration of roughly 35 to 40 minutes.[9] [12] [16] The single-movement concerto is constructed in eleven sections, traversing multiple genres and styles.[13]
Annette Skaggs of Arts-Louisville thought it was "a marvelous and charismatic concerto", though it "needs to be honed a little more", and sometimes "it was very difficult to hear the sax".[15]
David Mermelstein of the Wall Street Journal found "it lacks originality, even as it revels in craft", and is "missing a vision beyond the sum of its parts".[12]
Richard S. Ginell of San Francisco Classical Voice said "I rather like this piece" even though the “Solos” section "gets a bit awkward".[2]
Nathan Cone of Texas Public Radio was "immediately taken from the get-go", only wishing "the strings could have been mixed a little hotter, as they sometimes get overpowered by the brass and saxophones".[14]