Peter Boyer’s new work Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue, commissioned to celebrate the upcoming 2024 centennial of George Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue, will be premiered by pianist Jeffrey Biegel and the Utah Symphony, conducted by Benjamin Manis, on the opening night of the Deer Valley® Music Festival at the Snow Park Outdoor Amphitheater in Park City, June 30, 2023. That concert will also include Boyer’s Celebration Overture.
More information about the premiere can be found on the Deer Valley® Music Festival website.
The Utah Symphony performance is the first of many for Boyer’s new Rhapsody. Pianist Jeffrey Biegel has launched a “Rhapsody National Initiative,” with the goal of performing the new work with at least one orchestra in each of the 50 United States. Presently, 39 orchestras in 36 states have signed on to perform Boyer’s new work, with Biegel as the soloist. There will be nearly 30 performances of the work around the U.S. in the first year following its premiere.
“In my plan to celebrate the centennial of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, I asked Peter Boyer to create American music echoing the intentions of Gershwin in the 1920s, while embracing our diversity and unity in 2023. The Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue is a vibrant new work reflecting the American landscape, the pulse, energy and beauty of our shared identity as Americans. Peter’s Rhapsody is fun to play, fulfilling for a pianist with exciting rhythmic vitality and soaring, beautiful, songful melodies. I am proud to have created the Rhapsody National Initiative, and excited to bring this to present day audiences.” — Jeffrey Biegel
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- The Utah Symphony at the Deer Valley® Music Festival
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- Pianist Jeffrey Biegel
