In this interview, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, discusses Tod Machover’s “Philadelphia Voices,” a work commissioned for 2018. The orchestra is featuring American composers during its 2017-2018 season. 

Composers will also be delving into the fabric of Philadelphia. Tod Machover has been creating a series of "crowd-sourced" pieces that are meant to capture the flavor of a particular city, and will be doing so with the premiere of Philadelphia Voices in partnership with various choirs, conducted by Nézet-Séguin, on April 5-7, 2018. Composer in residence Hannibal Lokumbe will be in similar dialogue with different parts of the community, such as the Philadelphia Detention Center, for the creation of Healing Tones that will be heard in the 2018-19 season.

Other works included the Bernstein Centenary featuring “West Side Story,” “Chichester Psalms,” and Symphony No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra (“The Age of Anxiety”); Wynton Marsalis’s Violin Concerto; and Michael Tilson Thomas’s “Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind.”