New York in Five Voices: The ASO's Bryant Park Summer Finale
On a crystalline September evening, Bryant Park transformed into something more than an outdoor venue. Framed by glass towers that caught the last glow of daylight, the park became a mirror of New York itself—its history, its diversity of voices, its unquenchable spirit—captured in sound. Families spread blankets, couples leaned into one another, and children darted across the grass as the American Symphony Orchestra, under Maestro Leon Botstein, prepared to perform.
The program, fittingly titled New York Profiles, offered more than music. It was a journey through the city’s cultural DNA, each work carrying its own link to New York. Botstein, never content to let music speak in a vacuum, introduced every piece with insight that was both scholarly and accessible, guiding the audience through history, context, and meaning. His commentary, coupled with the orchestra’s radiant playing, turned the evening into a living portrait of New York in five voices.
Maestro Leon Botstein introducing each musical work in a concert entitled New York Profiles by the American Symphony Orchestra at Bryant Park. Photo by Edward Kliszus Julia Perry — A Short Piece for Small Orchestra
The journey began with Julia Perry, whose career traced both triumph and adversity. In 1965, her Short Piece became the first work by an African American woman performed by the New York Philharmonic—a historic achievement largely ignored by critics of the time. Botstein urged the audience to listen for Perry’s bold blend of neoclassical rigor and personal intensity.
The music leapt to life with trumpet scales, angular strings, and syncopated brass punctuated by the shimmer of xylophone. Contrasting sections of vigor and lyricism circled back in rondo-like form, before tightening into a gripping coda. In Bryant Park, Perry’s music resonated as both reclamation and triumph, her voice returning to the city that once received it with indifference.
Percussionists of the American Symphony Orchestra in a concert entitled New York Profiles at Manhattan's Bryant Park. Photo by Edward Kliszus Henry Cowell — Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 10
Cowell’s ties to New York were equally deep. After scandalizing Europe with tone-cluster piano works, he taught at Columbia and the New School, becoming an evangelist for the avant-garde. Yet in his later years, he turned to colonial American hymnody, finding in it a new wellspring of inspiration.
“This piece,” Botstein opined, “is the avant-garde returning home.” Oboe and strings opened with a flowing hymn, followed by a contrapuntal fuguing tune—elegant, supple, and distinctly American. Heard in New York, where innovation and tradition have always collided, Cowell’s music became a parable of reconciliation, proving that modernism can find beauty in its roots.
Ulysses Kay — Joys and Fears from The Quiet One
Kay’s contribution was a portrait of the city itself. His score for the 1948 documentary The Quiet One, filmed in Harlem, accompanied the struggles of a young boy navigating poverty and temptation. “Kay writes not in sentimentality but in empathy,” Botstein explained to the audience.
The orchestra unfolded Kay’s music with luminous grace—long, arching melodies, harmonies rich with inner motion, rhythms pulsing like restless streets. What began as a film score here stood as elegy and prayer, a reminder that New York’s greatest strength lies in its humanity. In the park where strangers sat shoulder to shoulder, Kay’s music felt like homecoming.
Violins of the American Symphony Orchestra in a concert entitled New York Profiles by the American Symphony Orchestra at Bryant Park. Photo by Edward Kliszus Aaron Copland — Appalachian Spring Suite
Although often associated with the frontier, whereupon Botstein quipped, "Copland likely spent little time in Appalachia," Copland was a Brooklyn native, and Botstein took delight in the irony. "What we think of as the sound of America’s open landscape was shaped in the apartment blocks of New York,” he noted.
The suite began in misty stillness before blossoming into joyful dances and fervent hymns, culminating in the Shaker tune Simple Gifts. Variations swelled into an anthem of affirmation, pastoral imagery transfigured in the heart of Manhattan. In that moment, Copland’s vision returned to its birthplace, recharged with meaning.
Norman Dello Joio — New York Profiles
The evening closed with Norman Dello Joio’s New York Profiles, a work that gave the concert its title. A New Yorker through and through, son of an organist at the Metropolitan Opera, Dello Joio captured the city in four movements: chant-like serenity at The Cloisters; mischief and laughter in The Park; solemn dignity at Grant’s Tomb; and exuberant festivity in Little Italy.
“This is New York itself, in music,” Botstein declared. The orchestra brought the portraits to life—solemn, playful, mournful, exuberant—culminating in a tarantella that swept the audience into celebration.
Epilogue: The City in Sound
As the last notes faded, Bryant Park exhaled. Blankets folded, children gathered, and the city beyond the park seemed momentarily transformed. The evening had traced New York through resilience, reconciliation, empathy, hope, and exuberance, each work a facet of the city’s profile.
Botstein’s eloquent introductions had bound the journey together, ensuring the audience heard not just music but meaning. The concert was less a sequence of works than a single portrait: New York seen through sound.
Low strings of the American Symphony Orchestra in a concert entitled New York Profiles by the American Symphony Orchestra at Bryant Park. Photo by Edward Kliszus A Season of Discovery
As the ASO looks to its 2025–26 season, Botstein’s programming promises to continue this spirit of discovery. Rarely heard masterworks will appear beside beloved classics; new collaborations, premieres, and thematic explorations will engage literature, history, and social justice. With venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to the magnificent St. Bart's and outdoor stages, the ASO remains committed to making exceptional music accessible to all who seek beauty and meaning.
For those who have experienced the magic of Bryant Park, the promise of a full season feels irresistible—an invitation to join a journey of exploration that enriches not only our understanding of music but also of ourselves.
Maestro Leon Botstein describing one of the musical works performed by the American Symphony Orchestra in a program entitled New York Profiles at Manhattan's Bryant Park. Photo by Edward Kliszus
American Symphony Orchestra
1330 Avenue of the Americas Suite 23A, New York, NY 10019 212.868.9276 For information and tickets, email [email protected], or click HERE.
RELATED
https://youtu.be/JI6RYZygevA?si=k-wZBu7MUQzPTdNA