Gathering Song

Tazewell Thompson (E)

"a new work by Courtney Bryan ... was so transporting"

"Bryan’s work proved thrilling in its polish and expressive range. In its early going, triumphal writing for brass was tugged at — and moodily complicated — by descending string motifs that traipsed across unpredictable intervals. It had the calmly challenging poise of the composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter."

"There are fillips of Afro-Cuban rhythm and moments of thick orchestral modernism, as well as traces of stentorian, post-Minimalist American opera … Though prismatic, it feels carefully woven as it touches on gospel and jazz traditions as well as contemporary idioms."

— New York Times