Listen to Speculations on a Rainbow here (National Youth Orchestra) or here (New Jersey Symphony).
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I’m currently recovering from what was an intense but massively rewarding week in Wellington, with the 2024 NZSO National Youth Orchestra and guest conductor Tianyi Lu. I’m so grateful to have been able to write this new work, Speculations on a Rainbow, for the NYO and to get to work with Tianyi who is an incredibly inspiring musician and leader. I was blown away by the musicianship and work ethic of the NYO players, and thrilled to hear my music brought to life in two different cities/venues with such energy and enthusiasm.
I’ll write in more detail on my NYO residency later, but for now I wanted to share these concert reviews with lovely words about my piece and the fantastic musicians of the 2024 NZSO NYO.
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Emerging orchestra stars show symphony in safe hands
Max Rashbrooke, July 7
The National Youth Orchestra’s annual concert in the NZSO programme is always a good chance to keep an eye on the future of classical music – and on this showing it seems to be in safe hands.
The concert’s first piece, by the orchestra’s composer-in-residence, Jessie Leov, took its inspiration from an abstract painting, The Rainbow Loop, by local artist Judy Millar. Leov’s response, entitled Speculations on a Rainbow, had echoes of Philip Glass and John Psathas, but was also distinctively her own.
It was an impressive work, tightly conceived, in which a pulsating, syncopated sound wall became the backdrop through which other textures emerged in a beautifully integrated manner.
Leov also made good use – as one would expect in a visually inspired work – of silence and pause, the musical equivalent of the painter’s negative space.
NZSO National Youth Orchestra: an exuberant musical showcase
Elizabeth Kerr, July 10
The programme opened with a new work from New Zealand composer Jessie Leov. Her Speculations on a Rainbow was inspired by NZ artist Judy Millar’s The Rainbow Loop, and Leov describes her musical response as “a shifting canvas of stability and turbulence.” The subtle minimalism of the composition, which begins with shimmering ostinati from marimba and vibraphone, was skilfully managed by composer and conductor, drawing the audience into lovely textures of shifting harmonies and colours.
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