Symphony Number One (SNO) is a chamber orchestra primarily devoted to new music based in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland. SNO performs approximately concerts each year in musical venues in

Mount Vernon, Baltimore Mount Vernon is a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, located immediately north of the city's Downtown Baltimore, downtown district. Designated a city Cultural District, it is one of the oldest neighborhoods originally home to the city's wealthie ...

, at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...

, and across the city.

Jordan Randall Smith Jordan Randall Smith (born November 18, 1982) is an American conductor, arts entrepreneur, and percussionist. He is the music director of Symphony Number One and conductor of the Hopkins Concert Orchestra at Johns Hopkins University. He was also ...

is Symphony Number One’s founder and current music director.

History

Symphony Number One was founded in 2015 by Jordan Randall Smith, Nicholas Bentz, and Sean Meyers, all of whom were graduate and undergraduate students at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–186 ...

. Symphony Number One is a chamber orchestra devoted to performing works by emerging composers. A non-profit performing arts organization, SNO maintains close relationships with the other independent classical music organizations of Baltimore, and is a part of Maryland's classical arts space. With its focus on contemporary music, SNO can also be classified as a contemporary classical ensemble. The orchestra's president is Dr. Janan Broadbent and Ben Goldberg is SNO's Composer-in-Residence. The orchestra's current concertmaster is Nikita Borisevich. Founder

and co-founder Nicholas Bentz are current members of the collective. The other co-founder was Saxophonist Sean Meyers; Smith, Bentz, and Meyers first met at the

. The three put together the inaugural concert in May 2015 at the Baltimore War Memorial. In 2017, SNO appointed Brian Tracey as executive director. SNO was invited to perform at the inaugural Light City festival on April 2, 2016 in Baltimore. In September 2016, Symphony Number One began its second season with compositions by Strauss,

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism o ...

, and

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, ...

. SNO was named a "Category Buster" by

Baltimore Magazine ''Baltimore'' magazine is a monthly magazine published in Baltimore, Maryland by Rosebud Entertainment L.L.C., a company owned by Steve Geppi and led by its President Michael Teitelbaum. It is the oldest, continuously published city magazine in ...

in their 2016 "Best of Baltimore" issue; SNO also won runner up for "Best Band" in Baltimore Magazine's Reader's Poll. In addition, SNO was featured in ''I Care if You Listens Mixtape #20. Symphony Number One emphasizes inclusionary policies in orchestra membership, audience access, and selection of featured composers. SNO is a two-time recipient of grants by Women's Philharmonic Advocacy for multiple commissions of female composers. SNO is the 2019 winner of

The American Prize The American Prize is a set of annual nonprofit national competitions in the performing arts which recognizes and rewards commercial and noncommercial recorded performances of classical music in the United States based on submitted applications. T ...

in Orchestral Performance.

Repertoire

Notable premieres

Symphony Number One’s cornerstone project is the commissioning of new works. SNO has commissioned several works from American and international composers, which include: *

Kirsten Broberg Kirsten Broberg (born April 16, 1979) is an American composer from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Her music has been performed by the Kronos Quartet string quartet, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW Ensemble, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, ...

: ''In Search of Imagery'' (2020) *James Lee III: ''Chamber Symphony: Awakened to Eternal Realities'' (2018) *Carolyn Chen: ''Animalcules'' (2017) *Nicholas Bentz: ''Approaching Eternity'' (2017) *

Natalie Draper Natalie Draper is an American composer who teaches composition at Syracuse University's Setnor School of Music. Biography Draper completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in 2017. Her teachers inclu ...

: ''Timelapse Variations'' (2016) * Martha Horst: ''Straussian Landscapes'' (2016) *Andrew Posner: ''The Promised Burning'' (2016) *

Jonathan Russell Jonathan Russell (February 27, 1771 – February 17, 1832) was a United States representative from Massachusetts and diplomat. He served the 11th congressional district from 1821 to 1823 and was the first chair of the House Committee on For ...

: ''Light Cathedral'' (2016) *Nicole Murphy: ''Water Mirrors'' (2015) *

Andrew Boss Andrew M. Boss (born 1988) is an American composer. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Texas and his masters at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. His teachers include Dan Welcher, Donald Grantham, Ru ...

: Saxophone Concerto, written for saxophonis
Sean Meyers
(2015) *Mark Fromm: Symphony No. 1 (2015)

Masterworks

John Adams * Son of Chamber Symphony Pierre Boulez * Dérive 2 Anton Bruckner * Symphony No. 7 Antonín Dvořák * Serenade No. 2 Charles Ives * Symphony No. 3 Gustav Mahler * Symphony No. 4 *

Das Lied von der Erde ''Das Lied von der Erde'' ("The Song of the Earth") is an orchestral song cycle for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six songs for two singers who alt ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart * Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra Arnold Schoenberg *

Chamber Symphony No. 1 The Chamber Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 9 (also known by its title in German Kammersymphonie, für 15 soloinstrumente, or simply as Kammersymphonie) is a composition by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg's first chamber symphony w ...

Richard Strauss * Sonatine No. 2 Igor Stravinsky *

L'Histoire du soldat ' (''The Soldier's Tale'') is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" () by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. Conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer C. F. Ramuz, the piece was based ...

Crossover

Dan Deacon * "When I was done Dying" Lady Gaga * Poker Face Leonard Cohen * Hallelujah Martina Lynch * "Dear Media" Radiohead *

Pyramid Song "Pyramid Song" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, ''Amnesiac'' (2001). It features piano, strings, a "shuffling" rhythm and lyrics inspired by the Egyptian underworld. It was ...

Music directors

(2015–present)

Members

SNO is a flexible collective of approximately thirty artist-entrepreneurs, including instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, and sound and production designers. The musicians also serve as the executive and operational leadership.

Performances and tours

SNO performs in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

SNO on the Road

SNO offers small tours concerts called "SNO on the Road." In February 2016, members Sean Meyers and Elizabeth G. Hill used the series to present saxophone and piano recitals in which the piano reduction of the

Saxophone Concerto was premiered, their second album–''

Emergence In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergen ...

''–was released, and the sheet music for the concerto went on sale. More recently, Symphony Number One performed at TEDxMidAtlantic 2017 in Washington, D.C.

Community outreach

SNO offers several programs to engage with a variety of audiences in Baltimore as well as to work with composers internationally.

Beethoven's Kitchen

In May 2016, Melissa Lander presented SNO's first significant chamber music concert under the umbrella of "Beethoven's Kitchen." The series focuses both on new music and concert experiences and on combining food and drink.

Call for Scores

SNO holds an annual Call for Scores competition, recognizing two winners each year. The winning composers are commissioned to write new works for Symphony Number One. In its third call for scores, Symphony Number One added a number of additional prizes, including the "Maryland Prize," recognizing a Maryland composer's achievements. Howard County native Karena Ingram was the winner.

Broadcasts

WYPR WYPR (88.1 FM) is a public radio station serving the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. Its studio is in the Charles Village neighborhood of northern Baltimore, while its transmitter is in Park Heights. The station is simulcast in the Fred ...

's
Midday
': Performance broadcast across the State of Maryland. Hosted by Tom Hall. *

Maryland Public Television Maryland Public Television (MPT) is the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member state network for the U.S. state of Maryland. It operates under the auspices of the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission, an agency of the Maryland state govern ...

's
Artworks
': Performance broadcast across the State of Maryland. Hosted by Rhea Feikin. *

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

's
Roughly Speaking
': Performance broadcast live from the lobby of The Baltimore Sun. Hosted by

Dan Rodricks Dan Rodricks is a longtime columnist for ''The Baltimore Sun'' newspapers, and former host of thRoughly Speaking podcastfor baltimoresun.com. He was previously the host of Midday, a two-hour, daily talk show on WYPR FM 88.1, the NPR station in Balt ...

. *

KALW KALW (91.7 MHz) is an educational FM public radio station, licensed to the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), which serves the San Francisco Bay Area. Its studios are located at Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School of ...

's
Music from Other Minds
': Radio broadcast featuring SNO's third album, ''

More More or Mores may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka ...

''. Hosted by Danny Clay.

Discography

SNO emphasizes recordings as an integral component of its program. In addition to freely releasing live performances of individual compositions, SNO records albums on its own custom label,

SNOtone SNOtone is an independent record label founded in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2015 by Jordan Randall Smith. The label's catalogue is devoted to classical and contemporary classical music. SNOtone is a custom imprint for recordings by Symphony Number ...

. * 2017: ''

Approaching ''Approaching'' is the fourth live album by contemporary classical chamber orchestra Symphony Number One Symphony Number One (SNO) is a chamber orchestra primarily devoted to new music based in Baltimore, Maryland. SNO performs approximately c ...

'': Martha Horst: ''Straussian Landscapes ''; Hangrui Zhang: ''Baltimore Prelude ''; Nicholas Bentz: ''Approaching Eternity''. (

) * 2016: ''

'':

: ''Timelapse Variations'';

: ''Light Cathedral''; Andrew Posner: ''The Promised Burning''. (

) * 2016: ''

'':

: Concerto for

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

and Small Chamber Orchestra, feat. Sean Meyers – alto saxophone. (

) * 2015: ''

Symphony Number One Symphony Number One (SNO) is a chamber orchestra primarily devoted to new music based in Baltimore, Maryland. SNO performs approximately concerts each year in musical venues in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, at Morgan State University, and across the ...

'':

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

: Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra, feat. Raoul Cho, Jordan Thomas;

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

: Pavane; Mark Fromm: Symphony No. 1, feat. Hanul Park – bassoon. (

)

References

External links

Symphony Number One official siteSymphony Number One
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

* * Sources * {{Orchestra 2015 establishments in Maryland Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups established in 2015 Musical groups from Baltimore Orchestras based in Maryland Chamber orchestras