QUICK TAKES - Feb. 26, 2009

Four American composers have been commissioned to write new pieces for the next two seasons of the Pacific Symphony, the orchestra announced Wednesday. A choral composition by Michael Daugherty, to Carl Sandburg texts, will be a highlight of the orchestra’s American Composers Festival, titled “The Greatest Generation,” in early February 2010. Two weeks later, a piano concerto by Richard Danielpour will have its premiere with Jeffrey Biegel as soloist.

Works by William Bolcom and Zhou Long, both highlighted in earlier American Composers Festival programs, will premiere in the 2010-11 season.

Among the soloists featured in the 2009-10 season will be Midori, who will play Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto on opening night, Sept. 24; her fellow violinists Leila Josefowicz and Joshua Bell; pianist Andre Watts; cellist Jan Vogler; and organist Paul Jacobs.

Four guest conductors will be on the Pacific Symphony podium in 2009-10: Grant Llewellyn, Giancarlo Guerrero, Daniel Hege and Michael Stern.

-- Mark Swed