Conductor Gemma New Returns in Demand to US

New Zealand-born conductor Gemma New and Malaysian pianist Tengku Irfan, “among the leading young lights in the international classical music world”, worked together in July as guest artists at the Aspen Music Festival.

Irfan performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with the Aspen Chamber Symphony under New’s baton, Andrew Travers reported for The Aspen Times.

Along with the Ravel, the programme included New conducting Beethoven’s overlooked Fourth Symphony and opened with a étude by the contemporary Canadian composer Samy Moussa inspired by the Northern Lights. New described the Moussa piece as “an atmospheric extravaganza”.

New, 34, who is the principal guest conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, was in New Zealand earlier this year conducting three programmes with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, including Handel’s Messiah. In June 2022, she will make her debut with the Los Angeles Opera for the West Coast premiere of Kevin Puts’s “The Brightness of Light”.

Original article by Andrew Travers, The Aspen Times, July 23, 2021.

Photo by Roy Cox.