Te Deum

Symphony Orchestra

James Ra

About

Te Deum was generously commissioned by the Curtis Institute of Music during the COVID pandemic. As we grappled with uncertainty and loss, both the best and worst in all of us were revealed. Many of us endured the pain of losing loved ones, while others faced unseen struggles, consumed by pressures more insidious than the virus itself. Amidst this adversity, I resolved to give more thanks for the good in my life and to cherish the loved ones who bring beauty and steadfastness to my world. Based on the original Latin hymn, my Te Deum is an introspective, personal prayer and hymn of praise, thanksgiving, and awe in solitude. I have used the hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness” as the vessel through which the conviction “I believe” is expressed, and the nucleus from which all of the music emerges. Te Deum is an ode to the simplicity and sincerity of a time lost. It expresses a longing for a place in which artless beauty and unadorned truth are celebrated without pretension and the cynical sophistication of a bitter age. The essence of our collective connection with art, music, and the divine hinges on our ability to recapture what it was like to know nothing, to be a blank canvas, and to have a child-like fascination with the mysteries of simple miracles such as illumination . I celebrate the boundless wonders of this radiance in Te Deum.

Performance

James Ra Te Deum
  Duration
09:00
  Commissioning Year
2023
  Premiere
March 9, 2024
Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA
  Recording
March 9, 2024
Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA

Artists

  • James Ra Composition

    James Ra’s recent commissions include Te Deum for Robert Spano and the Curtis Symphony, Fantasia on Sae Taryung for pianist Min Kwon and the New Jersey Symphony, and Ring O Bells for the New Jersey Youth Symphony. He studied with Richard Danielpour and Ned Rorem, graduating from Curtis in 2004.

  • Curtis Symphony Orchestra

    Acclaimed for its “otherworldly ensemble and professional level of sophistication” (New York Times), the Curtis Symphony Orchestra offers a dynamic showcase of tomorrow’s exceptional young talent. Each year the 100 extraordinary musicians of the orchestra work with internationally renowned conductors, including Osmo Vänskä, Vladimir Jurowski, Marin Alsop, Simon Rattle, Robert Spano, and Yannick Nézet Séguin, who also mentors the early-career conductors who hold Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellowships. This professional training has enabled Curtis alumni to assume prominent positions in America’s leading orchestras, as well as esteemed orchestral, opera, and chamber ensembles around the world.

  • Robert Spano Conductor

    Robert Spano (Conducting ’85)—conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher—is known worldwide for the intensity of his artistry and distinctive communicative abilities. After twenty seasons as music director, he continues his association with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as music director laureate. He has served as music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2011 and begins an initial three-year term as music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in August 2022, currently acting as music director designate.

    For the 2021–22 season, Mr. Spano will continue with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, sharing the role of artistic advisor with principal guest conductor Donald Runnicles. Highlights include an opening night program of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and “Emperor” Concerto with Garrick Ohlsson.

    The 2018–19 season featured Mr. Spano’s highly-acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut, leading the U.S. premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie, and the conclusion of the ASO’s two-year “LB/LB” celebration commemorating Leonard Bernstein and Ludwig van Beethoven. Recent concert highlights include several world premiere performances including Bruce Dessner’s Voy a Dormir at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; George Tsontakis’s Violin Concerto No. 3 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Dimitrios Skyllas’s Kyrie eleison with the BBC Symphony Orchestra; Jennifer Higdon’s Tuba Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Matthew Ricketts’s Melodia, For Piano and Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival; and Miserere by ASO bassist Michael Kurth.

    Guest engagements have included the Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Minnesota orchestras; New York and Los Angeles philharmonics; and the San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and New World symphonies, among many others. Internationally, Mr. Spano has led the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfonica Brasileira, Wroclaw Philharmonic, the Saito Kinen Orchestra, and the Melbourne and Sydney symphonies. His opera performances include Covent Garden, Welsh National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and Seattle Opera.

    With a discography of recordings for Telarc, Deutsche Grammophon, and ASO Media, Mr. Spano has garnered four Grammy™ Awards and eight nominations with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He is on faculty at Oberlin Conservatory and has received honorary doctorates from Bowling Green State University, the Curtis Institute of Music, Emory University, and Oberlin. Mr. Spano is a recipient of the Georgia Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities and is one of two classical musicians inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

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