New York and San Francisco have their own signature songs, but how many cities have their own fanfare?
And how is it that Akron, population 190,000, is about to premiere its fanfare, newly commissioned for the city’s bicentennial celebration?
The story behind Festive Fanfare (For Akron’s Bicentennial) brings together an acclaimed LA composer, nearly two dozen musicians from The Cleveland Orchestra, and a Grammy award-winning producer through a commissioning project developed by Tuesday Musical, founded in 1887 and an anchor arts organization in Akron.
Composer Peter Boyer will conduct the world premiere of his four-minute brass and percussion fanfare for Tuesday Musical’s Akron Concert Series on Tuesday, April 22, 7:30 p.m. at EJ Thomas Hall. The concert will feature the full brass and percussion sections of The Cleveland Orchestra (TCO), led by orchestra’s principal trumpet Michael Sachs. Mussorgsky’s famed Pictures at an Exhibition and other festive works complete the program.
The choice of TCO musicians is an historic nod to Tuesday Musical’s past tradition of presenting the world-renowned orchestra dozens of times in Akron, starting in 1931.
To help celebrate Akron’s bicentennial, an array of community organizations will showcase their programs at tables in the EJ lobbies starting at 6:30 p.m. before the concert and during intermission.
Tickets for the April 22 concert start at $19 at tuesdaymusical.org and 330-761-3460.
The day after the world premiere on the Tuesday Musical series, six-time Grammy winner Elaine Martone — named Classical Producer of the Year at last month’s Grammy ceremony —will record Festive Fanfare (For Akron’s Bicentennial) with the musicians at Cleveland’s acoustically stellar Severance Hall. The recording will be made available for free, open-access use at Akron civic events.
Coming to Akron to conduct his fanfare and work with local students, Peter Boyer has a musical passion for American history and legacy. His Grammy-nominated Ellis Island: The Dream of America, for actors and orchestra, has become one of the most performed 21st-century American orchestral works, with over 300 performances, including six performances by The Cleveland Orchestra in 2023. The Pacific Symphony’s performance of Ellis Island was televised nationally in 2018 on PBS’ Great Performances.
Boyer’s works have received more than 800 public performances by over 300 orchestras, tens of thousands of broadcasts by classical radio stations around the United States and abroad, and millions of plays on streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify. He has conducted recordings of his music with three of the world’s finest orchestras: the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra. He has received commissions from several of the most esteemed American institutions and ensembles, including the Kennedy Center for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, and “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. Other orchestras which have performed his music include the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.
The commission of Festive Fanfare (For Akron’s Bicentennial) was made possible by Tuesday Musical’s Myers New Music Fund. Tuesday Musical’s recording of the fanfare is supported by Akron’s Bicentennial Commission.