Doug Lofstrom with Misha Rachlevsky & the Russian String Orchestra

Music for Strings

Origin Classical 33027

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An aesthetic risk-taker, Lofstrom straddles too many categories to be easily classified.
Chicago Reader

Chicago composer Doug Lofstrom has been writing prolifically since the 1970s, with his wide-ranging style reflecting ongoing involvement in dance, film, theater and symphonic music. He has been composer-in-residence for the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra and musical director of Chicago's Free Street Theater, while his works have been performed by numerous American Symphony Orchestras and chamber ensembles over the decades. Music for Strings is comprised of four pieces Lofstrom began work on in the late '70s, starting with the three movement composition by the same name, which was originally recorded in 1984 and premiered by the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra. Here, Lofstrom presents these pieces together for the first time with fresh interpretations by Moscow's Russian String Orchestra. Conducted by the orchestra's founder, Misha Rachlevsky, the ensemble is now in its 3rd decade.

"Simply beautiful!" - The Intermezzo


Track Listing:

Music for Strings (I-III)
1. I 3:51
2. II 3:31
3. III 6:14
Concerto for String Orchestra (I-III)
4. I 7:49
5. II 3:23
6. III 4:21
August Diary (I-IV)
7. I 6:29
8. II 3:22
9. III 6:34
10. IV 7:17
11. Midsummer Passage 7:31

Compositions by Doug Lofstrom,
published by Little Miracles Music, ASCAP

Performers:

RUSSIAN STRING ORCHESTRA
Conducted by Misha Rachlevsky

Violin I
Evgeny Pravilov
Oksana Koliasnikova
Valeriia Sidorenko
Veronika Roshchina
Irina Freeman
Violin II
Galina Yurchenko
Vera Butysina
Anna Tsypel
Daria Nazarenko
Viola
Fedor Vetrov
Daria Motovilova
Nikita Keyman
Anastasia Bakulina
Cello
Andrey Berezin
Alla Pitirimova
Vladislav Almakaev
Double bass
Alexander Pavlov
Nikita Kekher
Harp
Olga Logacheva

Production Info:

Produced by Maria Soboleva
Executive Producer: Doug Lofstrom
Recorded by Ilia Karpov at
Choral Arts Academy 'V.S. Popov,' Moscow, Russia
Edited by Elena Sych
Recorded on Dec 17, 19, 21, 2018 & Feb 12, 2019
Mastered by Brian Schwab, Schwab Music, Chicago, IL
Back cover photo by Margaret Norton with
stage & lighting design by Ken Bowen
Lofstrom photo by Tanya Tucka
Cover Design & Layout by John Bishop


Reviews of Music for Strings

Jazz Weekly (George W Harris)
Music composed by Doug Lofstrom is deliciously performed by the Russian String Orchestra, conducted by Misha Rachlevsky on this rich collection of original and fresh classical works. There are four major pieces, all of which brim over with musicality and grace. A three piece "Music For Strings" includes rich Britten-esque lilts, rich pizzicato'd sw ...

WDR3 Radio (Berlin) (Daniela Ziemann)
(Radio Broadcast) The American composer Doug Lofstrom spent five years working on his opera "Two soldiers". After that he was burned out and started an experiment to get his creativity back to life. In August 1989 he wanted to write one piece of music - for a lunar cycle. As he himself says, the results were widely different. From the best ideas he ...

Textura (Ron Schepper)
The earliest material on this thoroughly appealing collection of classical material by Chicago composer Doug Lofstrom dates back to 1971, yet Music for Strings sounds as fresh as the day it was born. How the Russian String Orchestra and its conductor founder Misha Rachlevsky came to perform the four Lofstrom works on the release isn't clarified; re ...



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