Rocket Shop 1/18/2012: Alan Jordan of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra

Words by Nick Kramer. Photo by James Lockridge.

Alan Jordan, Executive Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, joined Sam in the Radiator studios for Rocket Shop this week. On the show, Mr. Jordan previewed and described a selection of pieces taken from the orchestra's most recent recorded album, ‘Triple Doubles.' The title ‘Triple Doubles' refers to the works that appear on the CD — a trio of double concertos composed especially for violinist and VSO Music Director Jaime Laredo and his wife, cellist Sharon Robinson.

Among the pieces Mr. Jordan chose to play on the air were selected movements from a concerto composed by David Ludwig, the VSO's current New Music Advisor and, as Mr. Jordan notes, the grandson of pianist Rudolf Serkin. According to Mr. Jordan, the process of picking the music for ‘Triple Doubles' began with Ludwig. When the VSO first set out to put together a new recording, Mr. Jordan explains, "the big problem for us was what repertoire to choose." While the process of an orchestra choosing when to record and release music can be difficult, since, as Mr. Jordan points out, "you have got to be pretty confident in the quality of the musicians," the larger choice for an ensemble with as much collected talent as the VSO was what exactly to record. Mr. Jordan explains that, "It started with David Ludwig. He's got an ongoing relationship with us." From there, the orchestra leadership realized that it was important to them to record music that had a special connection to the orchestra. It was then that the idea, "let's do three concertos that were written for Jaime and Sharon," emerged. The actual recording of ‘Triple Doubles' was also an impressive effort. Mr. Jordan recounted that, "it's a pretty grueling process. Each of the concertos took six hours of recording time." Now, all the efforts have paid off, and ‘Triple Doubles' has proved quite a worthwhile project.

In addition to releasing the album, the VSO's performance schedule is in full swing. Among the upcoming chances to see the orchestra in concert that Mr. Jordan mentioned, "Next weekend [1/28] is our next masterworks concert at the Flynn." The show will feature the whole VSO and the VSO chorus performing Mozart's ‘Requiem' and Gabriel Fauré's ‘Requiem.' Earlier that same week, on the 25th, the orchestra will return to the Vermont State House for another addition of their free Farmer's Night Concert Series.

Tickets for these and other VSO events are available online at www.vso.org, and ‘Triple Doubles' is available for sale through the site as well.

Rocket Shop Playlist: Les Racquet, "I'm Not Trying" Vermont Symphony Orchestra, "A Child's Reliquary" Vermont Symphony Orchestra, "Final Movement of the Ludwig Concerto" Vermont Symphony Orchestra, "Con Moto (With Motion)" Vermont Symphony Orchestra, "Masquerade" Les Racquet, "Chimney Pete" Les Racquet, "Oh Yeah!" Les Racquet, "Bruce Li" Rocket Shop playlists are logged with RadioActivity.