Fall 2023
The new season is upon us! Time to pause, reflect, and look forward…
Last season, I was honored and thrilled to be appointed Associate Conductor of The Knights! My first performances in that capacity were with the orchestra and legendary singer/songwriter Natalie Merchant at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and then stepping in very last-minute to conduct at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, and at Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood in July. Audio streaming of the Central Park concert can be found on my Watch & Listen page.
I also made my conducting debut with Ensemble Connect and Dance Heginbotham at the Guggenheim Museum’s Works and Process Series. We joined forces with actor, narrator, and designer Issac Mizrahi to present his production of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
You may remember Coppélia, which I co-composed with longtime friend and collaborator Mikael Karlsson for choreographer/directors Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple which had a critically-acclaimed premiere at the 2022 Edinburgh International Festival. It had a London premiere at Sadler’s Wells in March 2023 and went on to win two UK National Dance Awards! We hope to bring this revolutionary production to the USA soon.
Coming up in 2023-2024:
October will see the premiere of Melancholia at the Royal Swedish Opera – a new opera composed by Mikael Karlsson with libretto by Royce Vavrek which I orchestrated with the composer.
The Knights will begin their first of a two-year residence being featured at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, and we kick off this series with a new work by mandolinist and musical phenom Chris Thile on October 26, 2023.
And, I’m thrilled to return in December 2023 to Guggenheim Works and Process to conduct Issac Mizrahi’s Peter and the Wolf with Ensemble Connect and Dance Heginbotham, along with Third Bird by Nico Muhly, a piece that continues the tale told in the Prokofiev. Click here for tickets and more information.
Other upcoming projects include a new arrangement of Keith Jarrett’s Book of Ways for The Knights and Aaron Diehl, and an original piece for The Knights in the 2025-26 season. Michael and Karlsson are currently writing another jointly composed ballet for Scottish Ballet, choreographer Sophie Laplane, and director James Bonas to be premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2025.
I hope to see you at an upcoming performance! For the very latest updates, please follow me over on Instagram @michael_p_atkinson