Jacksonville Symphony to present ‘EarShot’ and ‘Become Ocean’ concerts for April

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The Jacksonville Symphony recently announced two special concerts coming up in April: "EarShot" and "Become Ocean."

The Symphony will present "EarShot" April 20 at 8 p.m. at Jacoby Symphony Hall. Led by Music Director Courtney Lewis, the performance will be the culmination of a series of private readings, feedback sessions and work with mentor composers Courtney Bryan, Marcos Balter and Steven Mackey.

"Earshot" enables connections between orchestras and emerging composers. Drawing from a national network of advisors and advocates, "EarShot" works with orchestras around the country to identify and support promising composers in the early stages of their careers. Orchestras have relied on "EarShot" to advise them on commissions, competitions and program design in addition to identifying composers consistent with the orchestra's artistic vision.

"EarShot" residencies include established composer mentorship, orchestra readings and musician and conductor feedback sessions, and are customized to the orchestra's aesthetic and/or demographic interests and community and education activities.

Written by American composer John Luther Adams, "Become Ocean" will be performed April 22 at 3 p.m. at Jacoby Symphony Hall. The show was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony and premiered in Benaroya Hall in 2013; it won the Pulitzer Prize for Music as well as the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

Despite being inspired by the oceans of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, Adams originally wrote the piece while surrounded by desert. The performance will be bookended by a presentation with Dr. Quinton White from Jacksonville University and a panel featuring Dr. Jim Gelsleichter, coastal biology program director at University of North Florida, Lisa Rinaman from the St. Johns Riverkeeper and St. Augustine Mayor Nancy Shaver.

For more information on the Jacksonville Symphony and to purchase tickets, visit www.jaxsymphony.org.