For ROCO’s debut album, it was important for the selection of works to be a collaborative process. We surveyed our musicians and asked them to select their favorite pieces from ROCO’s repertoire over our first twelve seasons. They selected pieces by Karim Given our long history of commissioning, it was not surprising that five of our then fifty-eight world premiere commissions rose to the top. The recording session were originally scheduled for August 2017 in the Texas Hill Country, just outside of Houston. Unfortunately, Hurricane Harvey struck just days before, resulting in an eight month delay of the project. The sixth piece, Anthem of Hope: Houston Strong, by Anthony DiLorenzo, commissioned in honor of the resiliency of the Houston community in the wake of the storm, was added to complete the story of the album.
Music includes Karim Al-Zand’s haunting Visions from Another World, Reena Esmail’s pulsing, unpredictable Teen Murti, Derek Bermel’s tender Murmurations (hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “delightful and often intriguing”), Anthony DiLorenzo’s whimsical Jabberwocky, and Marcus Maroney’s Bartók-inspired Concerto for Chamber Orchestra.
The recording sessions, conducted by Mei-Ann Chen with Grammy-winning producer Blanton Alspaugh, were originally scheduled for August 2017 right when Hurricane Harvey struck, resulting in an eight month delay of the project. The sixth piece, Anthem of Hope: Houston Strong, also by Anthony DiLorenzo, was commissioned in honor of the resiliency of the Houston community in the wake of the storm.
