American conductor Na’Zir McFadden is the Assistant Conductor and Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, working closely with Music Director Jader Bignamini. McFadden also serves as Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra. He has performed with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Ballet, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: Creatures of Prometheus
Overture - Act 1: Introduction (La Tempesta) Allegro non troppo - Poco Adagio
STAMITZ, Carl Philipp: Viola Concerto in D Major
Jordan Bak, viola
MONTGOMERY, Jessie: Source Code - For String Orchestra
BIZET, Georges: Symphony No. 1 in C Major (1855)
BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: Creatures of Prometheus
Overture - Act 1: Introduction (La Tempesta) Allegro non troppo - Poco Adagio
STAMITZ, Carl Philipp: Viola Concerto in D Major
Jordan Bak, viola
MONTGOMERY, Jessie: Source Code - For String Orchestra
BIZET, Georges: Symphony No. 1 in C Major (1855)
BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van: Creatures of Prometheus
Overture - Act 1: Introduction (La Tempesta) Allegro non troppo - Poco Adagio
STAMITZ, Carl Philipp: Viola Concerto in D Major
Jordan Bak, viola
MONTGOMERY, Jessie: Source Code - For String Orchestra
BIZET, Georges: Symphony No. 1 in C Major (1855)
Na'Zir McFadden's interpretation was consistently songful, dancing, and attuned to the music’s expressive nuances. For exuberance and extroversion, the Praeludium and Rigaudon snapped—concertmaster Nathan Cole’s solos in the latter were spot-on—while the Musette’s hemiolas were shapely and urgent. Meantime, the Sarabande and Air unfolded as models of restraint. Throughout, conductor and string orchestra paid close heed to the suite’s dynamic range. As a result, the Air, particularly, came across with real poignancy, its central maggiore episode shining like a ray of light between the affectingly dissonant turns of its outer thirds.
