Kansas City Star: A cheerful tribute to nature and creation

John Heuertz of the Kansas City Star reviews the Kansas City Symphony’s premiere of Metropolis composer Avner Dorman’s Frozen in Time on April 30, 2011 with percussion soloist Martin Grubinger.

“Creation stories formed the backdrop of the Kansas City Symphony’s inventive concert Friday at the Lyric Theatre… Dorman, a rising young Israeli composer, scored this three-movement work for full orchestra and 23 different percussion instruments, principally marimba and vibraphone. All 23 of which Grubinger played with breathtaking mastery… The audience got so wound up it applauded after every movement, and kept doing it in the second half.”

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Kansas City Star: Symphony to depict Earth’s creative forces

Patrick Neas of the Kansas City Star previews Kansas City Symphony’s premiere of Avner Dorman’s Frozen in Time on April 30, 2011.

The Symphony also will perform the U.S. premiere of Avner Dorman’s percussion concerto Frozen in Time. According to Dorman, the work was inspired by Earth’s geology. “It’s divided into three movements: Indoafrica, Eurasia, and The Americas,” he said. “The percussionist Martin Grubinger asked me to write a concerto for him. He knew my music well and felt that my style was very global, and he thought that reflected our generation’s view of the world. So he asked me to write a truly global concerto.” Indeed, Dorman’s work encompasses the entire planet and its very beginnings.

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