United States ‘US at 250’ [2] – Various: Golda Schultz (soprano), Yarn/Wire (Russell Greenberg, Dustin Donahue [percussion], Laura Barger, Julia Den Boer [pianos]), New York Philharmonic / Kwamé Ryan (conductor). David Geffen Hall, New York, 9.4.2026. (DS)
Ives – The Unanswered Question
George Lewis – …ohne festen Wohnsitz (World Premiere)
Barber – Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op. 24; Second Essay for Orchestra, Op.17
Stravinsky – ‘No Word from Tom’ (from The Rake’s Progress)
What is the best way to introduce American modernism to audiences? Answers will inevitably vary. But in the New York Philharmonic’s recent ‘US at 250’ concert, an eclectic sampling pointed to a range of American styles that nearly verged on the random but ultimately proved viable. Under the baton of visiting conductor Kwamé Ryan, it all came together like a myriad-colored quilt – Americana at its best.
Opening with Ives’s The Unanswered Question was appropriately self-reflective, signaling American modernism’s undefinable, continuously evolving center. Ryan’s command of its distinct layering of dialogue made for a clear setting up of contrasts, and the Philharmonic captured the work’s spirit magnificently. Strings elegantly maintained a thread of tension in long-held, reflective notes against the energetic bursts of dissonant cacophony by wind instruments.
The centerpiece of the concert’s first half was the much-anticipated premiere of George Lewis’s …ohne festen Wohnsitz for orchestra and piano/percussion quartet – namely, the new-music powerhouse Yarn/Wire. Lewis explores the decentering of colonialism and rejects the inherently binary concept of inclusion. These tenets led his compositional hand along with taking inspiration from the ideas of Anton Wilhelm Amo, an 18th-century philosopher, born in Ghana but raised in Germany – a pioneer in the ideas of global hybridity.
Lewis too is a messenger of global hybridity – bringing to New York the influence of postwar European modernism from his time at IRCAM in France and marrying it with American compositional experimentation. While he usually integrates software – often now with AI generation – to great acclaim, this work was more an experiment in neoclassical form (the concerto grosso) clashing against decentralized instrumentation and ensemble fracture. Rather than building to a peak climax, a listener could make out blocks of material building and reacting to one another. Competition was the evident theme, and even the quartet’s soloists were left to fend for themselves (deliberately) against waves of ever-increasing volume – itself an individual ‘player’ in the piece (a nod to Serialist separation of musical elements). However, it would be remiss to not mention that the bongos from the orchestral percussion section held a place of sonorous acclaim, distinct in voice above all else.
The piece landed heavily in the language of broad, avant-garde percussive textures while pianists shifted heroically between numerous instruments: grand piano, harpsichord, celesta, harmonium and melodica. At three points, Lewis provided for cadenza-like improvisation which the quartet plunged into. However, for the sake of compositional congruity, a future iteration of …ohne festen Wohnsitz would benefit from through-composed solo sections. If not, the life of the work must evolve over numerous performances to give the Yarn/Wire musicians a chance to refine their musical decisions against the hulking power of the work.
Which brings me back to Ryan, who was the glue that held together the evening’s diversity of sound. He propelled the Lewis forward like a rider skilled at taming a wild horse, and shifted with ease to the sultry and demure, as proved in the post-intermission works which transitioned to the lyrical, storytelling aspects of American modernism.
Soprano Golda Schultz came on stage with an apology – to inform us she would have to skip singing the Carlisle Floyd song that had been listed in the program due to her recovery from bronchitis. But we would have been none the wiser, for whatever might have forced her to hold back only made Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 that much more intimate and quietly nostalgic.
With impeccable command of vibrato stylings, Schultz masterfully shifted into the neo-classical shimmer required of Stravinsky’s ‘No Word from Tom’ from The Rake’s Progress. Even mildly hindered by illness, her voice rippled across the melody, reminding us of her exceptional approach to mixing artistry with storytelling that reaches the hypnotic.
To close, Ryan conducted Barber’s Second Essay for Orchestra. It was a lesson in glorious phrasing, and his debut here as a subscription concert conductor closed to thunderous applause. Ryan is currently Music Director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and one hopes more of the world gets to hear his impassioned contributions to musical interpretation.
Daniele Sahr
Featured Image: Soprano Golda Schultz with the New York Philharmonic © Fadi Kheir