VA - Stacy Garrop: Mythology Symphony, Thunderwalker & Shadow (2015)

Flourishing American composer Stacy Garrop’s first album of orchestral music features the world-premiere recording of her Mythology Symphony, a five-movement work inspired by famous female figures from Greek mythology. Characterized by Garrop’s talent for lyricism and vivid storytelling, the symphony receives a typically vibrant and compelling performance by Billboard-charting international conductor Alonda de la Parra leading the Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) Symphony Orchestra of Roosevelt University. Under the direction of Peabody Conservatory-based conductor Markand Thakar, the CCPA Chamber Orchestra delivers world-premiere recordings of Garrop’s mythic Thunderwalker and Shadow, a moving interplay of counterpoint, shifting textures, and profound emotion. Mythology Symphony, composed from 2007 to 2013, is the product of commissions from the Detroit and Albany Symphony Orchestras, and Chicago’s Roosevelt University, where Garrop is associate professor of composition.

Garrop’s music “excites the enthusiasm of performers and audiences alike” (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). She has “a sharp ear for instrumental color and narrative form: She can tell a story” (Detroit Free Press). Gramophone calls her a composer whose work displays “vision and breadth.” The Journal of the International Association of Women in Music proclaims, “Without question, Garrop is poised to make significant and lasting contributions to [the] world of classical music.”