NED ROREM WORK PREMIERES

Audiences will hear a musical depiction of world peace when the Boston Symphony Orchestra performs the world premiere of Ned Rorem's 'Swords and Plowshares,' Nov. 14-16. The work is based on poetic texts from Byron, Yeats, Whitman, and the Bible. It contrasts war's horrors with the effects of peace.Classical radio station WCRB commissioned 'Swords and Plowshares' in honor of its 40th anniversary. The late Ted Jones, station founder and Unitarian-Universalist minister, selected Rorem, a pacifist and American composer renowned for his art songs. Hugh Wolff will conduct the symphony, which features soloists Cynthia Haymon (soprano), Katherine Ciesinski (mezzo-soprano), Gran Wilson (tenor), and Andrew Wentzel (bass-baritone). The premiere kicks off the New Music Harvest festival hosted by Boston-area music schools and universities.