Steven Mackey on Composing "Aluminum Flowers"

Composer Steven Mackey introduces his new electric guitar concerto "Aluminum Flowers," which features the soloist playing both an electric guitar and a classical nylon-string guitar. The 24-minute work is divided into five movements, each featuring a different guitar effect with the help of digital processing and pedals. The solo guitar effects are amplified by the orchestra, which Mackey calls "the mother of all effects pedals."
The piece was written for two different guitarists of different backgrounds: classical guitar virtuoso JIJI-who gave the world premiere in March with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra-and Gretchen Menn, an electric guitar "shredder," who performs the work with the Utah Symphony and David Robertson on April 20.
Learn more about "Aluminum Flowers": bit.ly/AluminumFlowersConcerto
Music:
Aluminum Flowers for electric guitar and orchestra
Composed by Steven Mackey
Performed by JIJI, guitar, Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and Robert Spano
Courtesy of the Curtis Institute of Music
Images: JIJI by Cheonga Kim, Gretchen Menn by Larry DiMarzio
Film by Jesse Yang

[@gretchenmenn]

I am absolutely in love with this piece, and Steve is one of my greatest heroes. Getting to work with him (and Jiji!) and play this piece is one of the biggest honors of my life.