The album is here. The Year of Silence — performed by the Louisville Orchestra, Teddy Abrams, and Dashon Burton — is out today on PENTATONE. Stream or buy it here.

Curtain call after the world premiere of The Year of Silence, Louisville Orchestra, Whitney Hall
Curtain call after the world premiere, Louisville Orchestra, Whitney Hall. Photo: Carrie Sun

The piece began with a Kevin Brockmeier short story I first read in 2010 and rediscovered in April 2020, wandering the quiet streets of Flatbush during the earliest weeks of the pandemic. What had once felt like elegant fiction suddenly felt like documentation. I’ve written about how the work came together — from that first rediscovery to the dot-dash-dot “listen well” that closes the piece — in an essay for Musicians’ Journal, out today.

The album also features Andrew Norman’s Split, performed by Jeffrey Kahane.

If you’d like to follow along with the score, there are videos on YouTube for “Shortly after two in the afternoon” and “The Year of Silence, III.”

Teddy Abrams, Christopher Cerrone, and Dashon Burton backstage in Louisville
Teddy Abrams, Christopher Cerrone, and Dashon Burton, Louisville. Photo: Carrie Sun

This one is close to my heart, and it exists because of the Louisville Orchestra, Teddy, the Pentatone team, and the executive producers whose support made it possible:

Victoire and Owsley Brown, III · Ruth L. Eliel and William N. Cooney · Gill Holland · Raulee Marcus · Susan Erburu Reardon · Nancy & Barry Sanders · David Thomas Tao · The Welch Family Foundation

Teddy also sat down with Gramophone this week to talk about the Louisville Orchestra and its long history of championing new music.

Looking ahead to July, Sandbox Percussion and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City premiere The Only Way Is Through at Caramoor (July 19, free) and Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara (July 31 & August 1).