The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is a professional

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

founded in 1996 by artistic director Gil Rose in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, United States. In its first twelve seasons, the BMOP was able to perform over 80 concerts of contemporary orchestral music, commission more than 20 works, present over 70 world premieres, release 20 CDs, produce the inaugural Ditson Festival of Contemporary Music with the

Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is an art museum and exhibition space located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The museum was founded as the Boston Museum of Modern Art in 1936. Since then it has gone through multiple name chang ...

, and collaborated to produce performances of contemporary operas (including the Opera Unlimited festival of contemporary chamber opera), releasing nearly 50 CDs in total. The BMOP performs regularly at Boston's Jordan Hall, also performing in major venues on both the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and West Coasts of the United States, including

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

, the Festival of New American Music in

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; and the "Music on the Edge" festival in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. The orchestra has won the

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

Award for Adventurous Programming of Orchestral Music and became the recipient of the John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music. In 2015 it was named ''

Musical America ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online magazine, online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. ...

s 2016 Ensemble of the Year, the first ever symphony orchestra to receive the award. In 2008, the BMOP launched its record label, BMOP/sound, with John Harbison's ballet ''Ulysses''. Its five inaugural releases appeared on the "Best of 2008" lists of ''

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'', ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'',

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, '' Time Out New York'', ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' magazine, and ''

American Record Guide The ''American Record Guide'' (''ARG'') is a classical music magazine. It has reviewed classical music recordings since 1935. History and profile The magazine was founded by Peter Hugh Reed in May 1935 as the ''American Music Lover''. It chan ...

''. BMOP/sound has received two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominations: in 2009 for its recording of Charles Fussell's ''Wilde'' symphony for baritone and orchestra ( Sanford Sylvan Best Classical Vocal Performance), and in 2010 for its recording of

Derek Bermel Derek Bermel (born 1967, in New York City) is an American composer, clarinetist and conducting, conductor whose music blends various facets of world music, funk and jazz with largely classical performing forces and musical vocabulary. He is the ...

's ''Voices'' for solo clarinet and orchestra (Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra). ''The New York Times'' proclaimed, "BMOP/sound is an example of everything done right." The BMOP has hosted a composer-in-residence each season since 2000. Meet the Composer and the League of American Orchestras awarded the BMOP one of six three-year Music Alive grants for a collaboration with composer Lisa Bielawa. ''

'' wrote about the BMOP in 2000: "Mr. Rose and his team filled the music with rich, decisive ensemble colors and magnificent solos. These musicians were rapturous – superb instrumentalists at work and play." Composer John Harbison has said that "No other city has anything resembling the BMOP – with that level of activity, with that sustained productivity ... There's really been no new-music organization with a wider range of inclusion."

References

External links

*
Gil Rose site
*, Art of the States
"A Bold Declaration: experiencing BMOP's modern music"
by Paul Jump, March 1, 2002, ArtsEditor.com feature article {{Authority control Orchestras in Boston Musical groups established in 1996 Contemporary classical music ensembles Arts organizations established in 1996