by Bobbi Lazzarone
The September world premiere of “Chasing Light,” a new musical work by Pulitzer Prizewinning composer Joseph Schwantner claims a unique local Reno connection. Not only is Reno's intimate orchestra, the Reno Chamber Orchestra (RCO), the first to play the piece but principal oboe player, Andrea Lenz, is actually named on the sheet music. The third movement of “Chasing Light”, entitled A Kaleidoscope Blooms, is dedicated to Lenz, Chair of the University of Nevada Reno's Department of Music and Dance and wife of the RCO's executive director, Scott Faulkner.
“I've had a couple of composers write with me in mind but this is incredibly exciting,” said Lenz. “I am really touched.”
When Schwantner learned that the RCO would premiere his composition for the Ford Made in America project, he asked Faulkner to send him recordings of several performances by the orchestra. Schwantner listened until “the orchestra's sound was in my ear.”
Lenz requested that Schwantner consider writing a good oboe part. “The more I thought about her request,” said Schwantner, “the more intrigued I became with the notion.” 
He decided to expand the idea into a full fledge oboe solo. The oboe, according to Schwantner, became the “perfect expressive vehicle to articulate the evocative and haunting quality” in the slow 3rd movement that is dedicated to Lenz.
Schwantner's new composition is the product of the second round of the Ford Made In America project (FMIA). FMIA is the largest orchestral commissioning consortium in our country's history. It has created access to resources that normally are not available to small orchestras like he RCO, with a budget of approximately $600,000.
It is cost prohibitive for small orchestras to consider the commission of an original musical piece. But in 2000, a group of small orchestras, meeting at a League of American Orchestras conference, strategized about how to commission new pieces of music for their musicians to play. Their idea, guided by Bob Rossoff, the executive director of the Glens Falls orchestra in New York, was to form a consortium, pool their financial resources and hire a composer to produce an original work. Each would contribute a couple thousand dollars.
Through the involvement of the League of American Orchestras, the Ford Motor Company in Michigan was contacted. The consortium submitted a request which was granted and the Ford Made In America program was formed. In addition to funding by Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company, support is also provided by the National Endowment of the Arts, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts and The Amphion Foundation. The expertise of two national music service organizations, the League of American Orchestras and Meet the Composer help guide each cycle of the two-year program.
The first FMIA project awarded the commission to Joan Tower for her symphony, “Made in America”. In 2005, the RCO gave the Pacific Time Zone premiere of Tower's “Made In America”, which has been performed by more than 60 orchestras in all 50 states.
With Faulkner's current chairmanship of the FMIA project came the opportunity for the RCO to host the premiere of the second cycle winning composition. “This is a big honor not only for the RCO but for the Reno community,” said Faulkner.
FMIA has partnered with 58 small budget orchestras, representing all 50 states. Schwantner's work will be performed more than 70 times within an 18 month period. He was the unanimous choice of the consortium that reviewed the submissions. Faulkner explained that Schwantner creates great music and is also interested in the FMIA project. He was willing to personally visit several orchestra locations, be part of their performance, grant interviews and engage the community to enhance the concerts. As part of the educational component of the FMIA, Schwantner will speak to UNR music history classes and conduct panel discussions that will be open to the public.
According to Faulkner, Schwantner has a “distinct tonal language.” His music is melodic, rhythmic, and focuses on percussion. A classical guitarist, Schwantner is comfortable with the crisp plucking sounds of the strings. “(His music) is not going to make you run for the hills,” said Faulkner.
Schwantner often uses poems as a “guide for each movement,” said Faulkner, “and he uses words and poetic images to guide his vision and shape the music.” Schwantner writes that “one of the special pleasures of living in rural New Hampshire is experiencing the often brilliant and intense early morning sunrises.” He states that his composition “draws its spirit, energy and inspiration from the celebration of vibrant colors and light that penetrate the morning mist as it wafts through the trees in the high New England hills.”
Schwantner's poem “Chasing Light” helped inspire his musical composition.
Chasing Light…
Beneath the sickle moon,
sunrise ignites daybreak's veil
Calliope's rainbowed song
cradles heaven's arc
piercing shadowy pines,
a kaleidoscope blooms
morning's embrace
confronts the dawn.
The four-movement work, about eighteen minutes in duration, proceeds from one movement to the next without pause or “attacca”, which literally means not to stop between movements. This is unusual but not unknown. Beethoven's 5th Symphony has this same style as the third movement blends into the fourth without pause. Each of Schwantner's movements, similar to chapters in a book, has a subtitle that is associated with a pair of lines from his “Chasing Light” poem.
Under the direction of Conductor Theodore Kuchar, the RCO performs Schwantner's “Chasing Light” and his “New Morning for the World,” plus Beethoven's Symphony No.5 and “Creatures of Prometheus” Overture on Saturday, September 20 at 8p.m. and again on Sunday, September 21 at 2p.m. Performances are in Nightingale Concert Hall in Church Fine Arts on the University of Nevada Reno campus. Parking is free in the Brian Whalen Parking Garage. Tickets and additional information are available by contacting the RCO office at (775) 348-9413 or their Web site at www.renochamberorchestra.org You can hear excerpts of Schwantner's composition, view photos and see live video at http://youtube.com/user/fordmadeinamerica.
(Bobbi Lazzarone is a free lance writer with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in human community sciences. She currently serves on several Reno arts boards and is director of corporate underwriting for KNPB, northern Nevada's public television station.)