Rolling River (Sketches on “Shenandoah”)

— Premiered by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, David Charles Abell, conductor, at Riverbend Music Center, July 4, 2014
— Performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, July 18, 2014
— Performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, September 10 & 11, 2014
— Performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, at Music Hall, Cincinnati, January 23, 24, & 25, 2015; recorded live by these performers for American Originals album, released on Fanfare Cincinnati (#FC-005, distributed by Naxos), September 2015
— Performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, July 1, 2015
— Performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, at the Lumenocity Festival, August 5-9, 2015 (five performances)
— Performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, September 18 & 20, 2015
— Performed by the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York, Phil Preddice, conductor, at Carnegie Hall, May 15, 2016
— Performed by the National Festival Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, at the National Orchestral Institute and Festival, May 28, 2016
— Performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, November 4, 5 & 6, 2016; filmed live in concert by CET Public Television for release in the American Soundscapes video series, July 2017
— Performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, at the United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., September 3, 2017
— Performed by the Kansas City Symphony, Jason Seber, conductor, June 9, 2018
— Performed by the Utah Symphony, John Morris Russell, conductor, June 29 & 30, 2018
— Performed by the Denver Pops Orchestra, Ron Argotsinger, conductor, April 6, 2019
— Performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, May 24 & 25, 2019
— Performed by the Kennett Symphony, Michael Hall, conductor, August 17, 2019
— Performed by the Summerville Orchestra, Wojciech Milewski, conductor, September 6, 2019
— Performed by the Crane School of Music Alumni Festival Orchestra, Phil Preddice, conductor, November 9, 2019
—Performed by the West Texas A&M University Symphony Orchestra, Mark Bartley, conductor, October 1 & November 7, 2020 (online streamed performance)
— Performed by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, at Riverbend Music Center, July 4, 2021
— Performed by the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, Barbara Schubert, conductor, August 28, 2021
— Performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, September 11, 2021
— Performed by the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, February 6 & 7, 2022
— Performed by the Byron Nelson High School Orchestra, Gary Keller, conductor, at the TMEA Clinic/Convention, February 11, 2022
— Performed by the Philly POPS, David Charles Abell, conductor, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, July 3, 2022
— Performed by the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, October 21 & 21, 2022
— Performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, John Morris Russell, conductor, May 26 & 27, 2023
— Performed by the Culver City Symphony Orchestra, Steven Allen Fox, conductor, June 24, 2023
— Performed by the Westerville Symphony, Peter Stafford Wilson, conductor, July 2, 2023
— Performed by the Caltech Orchestra, Glenn Price, conductor, November 11-12, 2023
— Performed by the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, Erik Ochsner, conductor, March 10, 2024
— Performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Jacob Joyce, conductor, November 20, 2024
— To be performed by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (conductor TBA), April 12, 2025

— Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recording broadcast regularly on WGUC, Cincinnati, 2015–present
— Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recording featured on Living American with Peter Boyer, SiriusXM Symphony Hall, April 2021 and subsequent dates
— Recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, Peter Boyer, conductor, at Henry Wood Hall, London, January 28 & 29, 2022; released by Naxos in its American Classics Series (#8.559915), July 2022
— Naxos recording broadcast on more than 60 radio stations throughout the United States, Canada, and the UK; featured on stations including SiriusXM Symphony Hall (Album of the Week), WCLV Cleveland (Recording of the Week), WGUC Cincinnati, KUSC Los Angeles, KDFC San Francisco, WFMT Chicago, WXXI Rochester (CD Spotlight), WWFM New Jersey, Classic 107 Winnipeg, RTÉ Lyric FM Ireland
— Naxos recording featured on Living American with Peter Boyer, SiriusXM Symphony Hall, July 2022 and subsequent dates
— Naxos recording has received over 55,000 plays on Apple Music

Though I’ve composed many original orchestral works, I’d never before created an orchestral setting of an American folk song, so this invitation from John Morris Russell and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra came as something of a surprise, and a challenge. I was aware of Shenandoah, and had heard various vocal versions of this folk tune, but had never studied it. My approach in creating Rolling River (the title comes from a lyric in the song) was to put this beautiful tune front and center, and to use the richness and colors of this marvelous symphony orchestra to surround and highlight that tune. JMR asked for something sweeping and “cinematic,” and I attempted to deliver that in my setting, including some “tone painting” suggesting a rolling river in the woodwind writing. — PB

“Rolling River has become a new American classic and core repertoire for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Peter’s eloquent variations on Shenandoah are masterfully woven into a work of profound beauty and heart. The centerpiece of the latest Cincinnati Pops recording “American Originals,” Rolling River displays sophisticated orchestration that is both virtuosic and subtle, and an innate sense of quiet drama that has left no audience unmoved.” — John Morris Russell