"Ahmed Alabaca's clarinet-and-orchestral Ascension, for instance, I could quite see enjoying popularity with its elegiac character (mourning the passing of a clarinettist friend of composer's) and style close to Copland in the opening movement of his Clarinet Concerto." Guy Rickards - Gramophone
"'Ascension", by Ahmed Alabaca, starts the album with expressive clarinet from Karel Dohnal as the strings highlight the elegant mood with a cinematic quality..." and "Quite possibly the best offering yet among the Prisma albums, the artistic and powerful pieces here truly think in original ways of what a symphony orchestra is capable of, and we’re all better off for it." - TAKE EFFECT
"Certainly one of the standouts is Alabaca's Ascension for Solo Clarinet and String Orchestra, an eloquent elegy written in memory of Rex Aniciete, a Southern California clarinetist and friend of the composer. Purposefully crafted to capture Aniciete's spirit, the eight-minute setting advances from a tender opening into dynamic outpourings of emotion, the breadth of his personality conveyed by Karel Dohnal's heartfelt clarinet performance and the grandeur of the string orchestra's accompaniment. While that magnificent opener sets the bar extremely high, other pieces impress too." -TEXTURA
PERFORMANCES
ASCENSION
JANACEK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
SAN JOSE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, BARBARA DAY TURNER
D.C. STRINGS, AHMED ALABACA (AD, ANDREW LEE)
ON ROTATION AT NEW YORK'S WQXR
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ACROSS THE CALM WATERS OF HEAVEN
COLOUR OF MUSIC FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA, RODERICK COX
SAN JOSE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA, BARBARA DAY TURNER
D.C. STRINGS JERI LYNNE JOHNSON (THE MILLENNIUM STAGE, KENNEDY CENTER)
SONATAS AND SOUNDSCAPES AT SCPR WITH BRADLY FULLER (min 18)
SCHEDULED BROADCAST ON "PERFORMANCE TODAY" 2/24 2021
MARCH 13TH AND 14TH 2021 THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA MICHAEL FRANCIS
SCHEDULED INTERVIEW WITH NPR's WUSF SUSAN GILES WANTUCK WEDNESDAY 2/24