Symphony Number One delivers a “couture, customized” premiere of Ben Goldberg’s latest composition: “Catalyst” for chamber orchestra. With dazzling colors and rhythmic verve, this brand new work was written specifically for the TEDxMidAtlantic audience in this performance at Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, D.C.
Hailed by Baltimore STYLE as “brazen…like an indie rock band,” chamber orchestra Symphony Number One performs substantial works by emerging composers, riveting masterworks, and a twist of pop. Symphony Number One brings together great composers of the past, virtuoso performers of the present, and the leading compositional voices of the future. Praised for presenting “full-length freshness on each program,” by the Baltimore Sun, Symphony Number One has premiered over forty compositions, released four “must get” albums, and awarded the “Category Buster” prize by Baltimore Magazine for Best of Baltimore 2016. Award-winning conductor Jordan Randall Smith is the music Music Director of Symphony Number One and Music Director at Govans Presbyterian Church.
Smith was formerly Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Dallas Festival of Modern Music and Assistant Conductor of the Peabody Opera Theater. Currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in conducting at the Peabody Conservatory, Smith is a student of Gustav Meier, Markand Thakar, and Marin Alsop.
In 2016, Jordan was named a Baltimore Social Innovation Fellowship and received a prestigious Bruno Walter Fellowship at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2010 where he studied with Marin Alsop, Gustav Meier, and Jennifer Higdon and conducted the festival orchestra in concert. He has mentored hundreds of young musicians in ensembles across the country including the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Cross Timbers Youth Orchestra.