After an unexpected and far too lengthy hiatus, Feminist in the Concert Hall is back for the New Year. And what better way to start than with great news from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

I posted last year about the changes that the ensemble was going to have this season, both in conductor, as well as with programming.

New conductor Arild Remmereit was very clear in his intentions to diversify programming in the Season Announcement released in March 2010:

One of my passions is searching for under-appreciated or overlooked pieces that trigger in me an immediate emotional connection – works, which while unknown, are ones I believe musicians will love to play and audiences will love to hear. This is what I mean by ‘creating classics’.

His enthusiasm for this music is also evident when he speaks of the works:
 

 
The season opened with Amy Beach’s “Gaelic” Symphony in September. In October the RPO joined with the Eastman School of Music to present Fanny Mendessohn Hensel’s Hiob, (the review of which can be found here). November brought Gabriela Lena Frank’s Three Latin American Dances, and being presented the past two weekends is Peggy Stuart Coolidge’s Blue Planet.

Still to come are works by Karen Tanaka, Clara Schumann, Sofia Guabaidulina and a new piece by Margaret Brouwer.

I am delighted not only in the range and number of pieces being performed, but of the enthusiasm of Remmereit, which I have a feeling will continue. It was just announced that the RPO has been selected for the 2014 Spring For Music festival at Carnegie Hall.

The concert, scheduled for May 7, 2014, will feature Beach’s Symphony.