Crosscut
Seattle, the City of Music, has a wide variety of genres represented in its scene. But one area that has previously received little attention is Modern Classical music. No longer! The Seattle Modern Orchestra (SMO) debuted last weekend, playing its first of three concerts this year. Rather than a fixed ensemble, the SMO is a sort of curatorial project organized by musicians who are passionate about exposing audiences to the marvelous range of composers over the last century. Their mission is “to provide Seattle audiences with live performances of the best in contemporary chamber and orchestral music, music seldom if ever performed in Seattle until now.” The focus, though, seems naturally to gravitate toward chamber-size works, not only for practical reasons of economy but because so many representative pieces of modern music rethink the template of the traditional orchestra. To learn more about the new orchestra, follow the link.