First of two parts

The Allentown Symphony Orchestra wants to inspire residents to write music.

Diane Wittry, Allentown Symphony Orchestra music director and conductor, says the orchestra is embarking on its first-ever Composer-in-Residence program that she hopes will inspire area students and others who aspire to compose music.

“This is a huge new venture for the Allentown Symphony,” Wittry says in a phone interview. “Often, only large orchestras are able to have composers-in-residence.”

The symphony is welcoming as its composer-in-residence, Chris Rogerson, who will work with Lehigh Valley colleges and high schools, curate a new chamber music series, write original pieces for the orchestra during the next two years, and coordinate the ASO’s first-ever Online Composer Workshop, July 28 - Aug. 13.

The orchestra has put together a Composer Consortium of eight Lehigh Valley-based composers to collaborate with Rogerson on some of the projects.

Wittry says the idea sprang from the success the orchestra has had with composition competitions it hosted in recent years.

“We realized we have a lot of composers in the region, and this was a way to connect with colleges in the region and high schools that are art-forward,” Wittry says.

In October 2019, the ASO invited Rogerson and two other composers, Harry Stafylakis and Stephanie Ann Boyd, to give public presentations. The event was filmed and put online.

“I’m excited about the residency as a whole,” says Rogerson in a phone interview from Philadelphia where he teaches at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Rogerson, a 2010 graduate of Curtis who studied at Yale School of Music and Princeton University, has written works that have been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Houston Symphony, Kansas City Symphony and Orchestra of St. Luke’s, as well as Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Ida Kavafian, Anne-Marie McDermott and David Shifrin.

He has also collaborated with the Attacca, Brentano, Dover, Escher, Jack and Jasper quartets and members of the Guarneri and Orion quartets.

“I feel I have been very fortunate to work with a lot of wonderful players,” Rogerson says.

Wittry terms Rogerson a “warm, caring person” she feels will work well with students.

“This is really exciting,” she says. “We are at the forefront of encouraging people to explore their creativity.”

Rogerson will visit and give master classes at Lehigh University, Moravian College, Muhlenberg College, Lafayette College and Kutztown University, William Allen High School, Parkland High School and the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts.

There will be a call for scores and pieces by local and national composers.

“We want to encourage people to write pieces,” Wittry says. “There will be more variety and more opportunities. We are hoping long-term, we can commission larger works.”

Concerts are expected to include pieces for flute, clarinet, saxophone and piano on the theme of nature in April 2021, to be presented in the Rodale Community Room at Miller Symphony Hall; pieces for string quartet, trio or duo on the theme of food and flavors in Fall 2021, to be presented in an area restaurant, and pieces for flute, clarinet, violin, cello or piano, to be presented in Spring 2022, possibly in the Allentown Art Museum.

Rogerson says he is excited about the series.

“I hope a lot of students in the Lehigh Valley will be a part of it,” he says.

Rogerson will write a piece celebrating the ASO’s 70th anniversary in February 2021 and a longer piece for the orchestra to perform in Spring 2022.

He looks forward to getting to know orchestra members so he can “write specifically” for them.

Rogerson, who has been involved with music since he came home from church as a young child and sat down and played the hymns on piano by ear, says his compositions are driven by emotional content. He’s inspired by composers from Mahler and Brahms to Aaron Copeland and John Williams.

“My music is nostalgic and lyrical and has a sense of place,” he says. “It could be Buffalo, where I grew up, or the steppes of Afghanistan. I am inspired by travel, and sometimes by poetry.”

The Composer Consortium with which Rogerson will collaborate includes eight area music teachers and composers.

Andrew Ardizzoia is assistant professor of music and director of composition and instrumental studies at Muhlenberg College, where he directs the Wind Ensemble. He is an affiliate composer of the American Composers Alliance, which publishes his works.

Dr. Larry Lipkis is composer-in-residence and professor of music at Moravian College. He has composed more than 100 pieces for vocal and instrumental ensembles, including several concertos which have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony and Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra. His works are published by E.C. Schirmer and J. W. Pepper.

John Metcalf has been a member of the faculty at Kutztown University since 1990. Metcalf’s primary responsibilities include directing the KU Brass Ensemble, as well as giving applied lessons in composition, euphonium and tuba. Metcalf manages the KU Department of Music Technology Lab, the Electronic Music Studio, and oversees the Recording Studios for the Department of Music.

Kirk O’Riordan is associate professor of music and director of bands at Lafayette College. His music has been performed in Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Finland, Italy, Russia and in nearly 50 states in the United States. He conducts the Lafayette College Concert Band and Contemporary Music Ensemble.

Paul Salerni is the NEH Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Professor of Music at Lehigh University. His one-act opera, “Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast,” received the NOA’s Chamber Opera competition and was recorded for the Naxos label. Two CDs of Salerni’s chamber music and songs, “Touched” and “Speaking of Love,” are released on Albany Records. His works are published by Presser, Fischer, Alfred, New Music Shelf and Berben.

Lawrence Flynn is band director at Louis E. Dieruff High School. Prior to that, he directed an elementary strings program in the Allentown School District and created several after-school performing ensembles for students. Flynn received the Award for Excellence in Arts Education from the Lehigh Valley Arts Council in 2011 and the Allentown Arts Commission Outstanding Educator in the Arts Award in 2016.

Tom Maher is on the staff and is a brass specialist at the Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts. Maher works with the school’s music department, including jazz ensembles, concert band, music theory, pit orchestra and music composition-arranging.

Scott Watson has taught for more than 30 years in the Parkland School District and is an adjunct instructor at Moravian College, Temple University and University of the Arts. Watson, a composer for Alfred Music, has had more than 90 of his concert band, orchestra and chamber works published.

In July 8 Lehigh Valley Press Focus: Preview Allentown Symphony Orchestra Online Composer Workshop, July 28 - Aug. 13.