The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), under artistic director and conductor Gil Rose, is pleased to announce the release of the world premiere recording Stephen Paulus: The Five Senses, featuring Janet Bookspan, narrator, on Arsis Audio. This release marks the tenth CD from the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in less than three years. "BMOP's recordings have become an important part of the organization and it's very exciting to be releasing our tenth CD," comments Rose.
The Five Senses features two works by Stephen Paulus: The Five Senses - Windows of the Mind and The Age of American Passions. "It's a great pleasure to work with such an accomplished and celebrated composer as Stephen Paulus, especially since the featured work on the CD, The Five Senses, was premiered by BMOP," explains Rose. The Five Senses - Windows of the Mind was commissioned by Eleanor Eisenmenger for BMOP and was premiered in March 2003 featuring Janet Bookspan, narrator. This piece is the second collaboration between composer Stephen Paulus and playwright/librettist Joan Vail Thorne. Comprised of fourteen sections, Thorne presents new aspects that constitute our senses, shows how we receive information, and how we communicate with the world around us.
The second work on the CD is Paulus's The Age of American Passions, which was premiered by the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra in 1999 and recorded by BMOP in 2003. The Age of American Passions borrows its name from a phrase used to describe the final decade of the 18th century in America and is inspired by parallels between this post-revolutionary period and the final decade of the 20th century.
BMOP's previous releases have been received with much critical acclaim. Lucas Foss's Griffelkin (Chandos, 10067), released in May 2003, was hailed as a "Top Ten Critic's Pick of 2003" by the Boston Herald, and as an "Editor's Pick for 2003" by The Boston Globe and the Boston Phoenix. BMOP's recording of Arthur Berger's The Complete Orchestral Works (New World, 80605-2) was chosen by The New York Times as one of the "Best Classical CDs of 2003" and was given honorable mention in the Chicago Tribune. The Arsis release of Bernard Rands's Canti Trilogy was selected as one of the Top Ten Recordings of 2004 by Time Out New York. Upcoming releases will feature composers John Harbison, Gunther Schuller, Elena Ruehr, and Michael Gandolfi.
Stephen Paulus: The Five Senses (Arsis CD153) will be released August 30, 2005, and is available for sale at www.bmop.org or by phone at (617) 363-0396. For more information or to request review copies of this CD, please contact Catherine Stephan, Executive Director and Interim Press Contact, at (617) 363-0396 or cstephan@bmop.org.