About this user
Orchestra of Our Time was founded by Joel Thome originally in 1965 as the Philadelphia Composers Forum, Inc. It was renamed Orchestra of Our Time (OOT) in 1967 and incorporated in New York State in 1978.
In 1978, OOT settled in the South Bronx forming a consortium with the South Bronx Community Action Theater and Bronx Museum of the Arts. The ensemble has since performed for communities throughout the US - often choosing alternative spaces in schools, colleges, universities, community centers, prisons, and even street corners. They have also given acclaimed performances in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Avery Fisher Hall, Beacon Theater, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Merkin Hall, National Gallery Of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, IBM Auditorium and the Guggenheim Museum.
From the outset, OOT has collaborated with visual artists, and performing artists from other genres.
* Modern dance collaborations with the Erik Hawkins Dance Company where they frequently performed the music of Lucia Dlugoszewski.
* The OOT's major collaboration was with Anna Sokolow, when Anna and the OOT founded Lyric Theater where each program contained new works often commissions of new dance, new theater and new music. Lyric Theater toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
* Orchestra of Our Time presented the National Memorial Tribute to Alexander Calder, at the Beacon Theater on November 10th and 11th, 1977. The result of the OOT's collaboration with Alexander Calder and Virgil Thomson in the creation of Calder's stage sets for SOCRATE by Erik Satie.
* Most recent collaborative visual arts projects include the works of Francois Gilot, future projects include performances with the Hanne Tierne's 'Moving Images'.
Orchestra of Our Time began the first Community-in-Residence projects for the National Endowment for the Arts from 1974-88, which helped establish their reputation for reaching out to communities through imaginative programming and exemplary performances of contemporary music. The ensemble has commissioned over 250 new works from many composers including Virgil Thomson, Henry Brant, Manuel Enriquez, Lucia Dlugoszewski and George Crumb. In 1993, OOT collaborated with rock icon Frank Zappa on his recording "Zappa's Universe" for which, they received a Grammy Award and sold over 125,000 copies worldwide.
In addition to receiving the Grammy Award, OOT has won the Koussevitsky International Recording Prize from the International Music Critics Association, Musical America's Recording of The Month and Musical America's Recording of the Year - for which they received an 'Honorable Mention'.
Orchestra of Our Time is pleased to announce their most recent collaboration with Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center (CSV) on Suffolk Street in New York City. OOT will be "Ensemble-in-Residence" beginning June 1st 2006. During the 2006-07 season, Orchestra of Our Time will give four performances at CSV in December 2006 and March, June and August 2007. The ensemble will also give performances at Merkin Concert Hall in October and Symphony Space in November 2006.
Orchestra of Our Time core members
Conductor: Joel Thome *
Violin: Gregor Kitzis
Viola: Martha Mooke
Cello: Michael Finckel
Bass: Lew Paer
Flute: Linda Wetherill-Smith*
Oboe: Lisa Kozenko.
Clarinet:Ayako Oshima
Bassoon:Evan Kuhlmann
Trumpet:Graham Ashton
Horn: Ann Ellsworth
Tuba: Kyle Turner
Percussion:James Price
Piano: Jenny Lin
Harp: Susan Jolles
Composer: Dary John Mizelle *
* Directors
