The Berklee Inauguration Symphony Orchestra
Dr. Erica Muhl
The Berklee Inauguration Symphony Orchestra will present the opening event to celebrate the inauguration of Dr. Erica Muhl, Berklee’s fourth president. This vibrant and expressive contemporary classical orchestral concert will feature President Muhl’s original compositions, as well as works reflecting important musical influences on her career, and showcases Berklee as a place where creativity and achievement flourish.
The concert will include three of Muhl’s orchestral compositions. The collaborative orchestra of student, faculty, and staff performers from the college and conservatory will perform Muhl’s Burn the Box; a string orchestra piece, Elegy: Disinherited Souls, in remembrance of the victims of the Shoah, featuring Saúl Bitrán, Julianne Lee, Owen Young, and Paul Laraia; and Variations for Orchestra and Piano, which is based on Muhl’s solo piano variations and was arranged specifically for piano virtuoso Kris Davis.
The Berklee Inauguration Symphony Orchestra will also include two pieces by composers who had an influence on Muhl’s career: Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 6, and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. The orchestra is conducted by Lucinda Carver, interim executive director of Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Vimbayi Kaziboni, assistant professor, Boston Conservatory at Berklee. The evening is a landmark event in the life of the institution.