What they are saying about Firebird…

PRESS QUOTES

"These intense chamber symphonies sometimes have a hard jazz swing to them, but the most abiding impression is that of lustrous, lyrical melancholy; the Firebird Ensemble performs them not only with expertise but with the sympathy of devoted colleagues." -Russell Platt, The New Yorker

“The performance was superb, robust and grand” BOSTON GLOBE, December 2009

“Energetic and precise..” BOSTON GLOBE, March 2008

“It’s hard to imagine another group doing so well as the intrepid and energetic Firebirds..” BOSTON GLOBE, December 2007

“They have the chops, the energy, the style…” BOSTON GLOBE, February 2006

“In the free spirited Firebird Ensemble, Boston has its equivalent to such prominent, genre busting new-music ensembles as Eighth Blackbird and Alarm Will Sound” BOSTON GLOBE, December 2005

“The holiday seasons most offbeat musical event, Firebird Ensemble’s performance of Jon Deak’s The Passion of Scrooge proved to be one of the most captivating” BOSTON GLOBE, December 2005

“The compositions were perfectly performed by the excellent Firebird Ensemble from Boston” IAMIC Newsletter, reporting on a performance in Symphony Space, NYC.

“Ambitious and eclectic..” and “The groups strengths as an ensemble were most evident…” NEW YORK TIMES, February 2003

“Performances were flat out terrific”, “Mature and highly professional, a most welcome addition to the local scene” and “A strikingly memorable performance of the Martino that mastered its formidable technical challenges while conveying its special lightness of being” NEW MUSIC CONOISSEUR, September 2003

“Since its inception in 2001, I have watched this vibrant ensemble develop into the kind of group truly needed to reach the next generation of serious music audiences. It takes an unusual blend of serious musical technique, creative repertoire selection and a sense of style and fun to reach new audiences and wake them up to the possibilities of our country’s composers” JOEL GORDON, Audio Producer

"Firebird's performances of my works are the kind of virtuoso realizations that any composer dreams about: They take a work - and beyond performing it impeccably - make it truly come alive. The word 'fire' in their name is apt. They are HOT!” - JON DEAK Composer

“Highly eclectic and virtuosic” LEE HYLA, Composer, Faculty - Northwestern University

Reviews

The New Yorker - April 1, 2013 - Russell Platt

Classical Notes: Close Encounters

In contrast, Lee Hyla, a distinguished veteran academic, seems to yearn for a world not of his own making—the suburbs of Vienna, where the ghosts of Berg and Webern still lurk. It’s a classic predicament for a postwar American composer to have, one that Hyla, on his new album, “My Life on the Plains” (also on Tzadik), solves by forcing his post-Expressionist paradise to interface with sounds derived from personal experience, such as the Niagara Falls of his childhood (“Polish Folk Songs”), the treasury of North American birdsong (“Field Guide”), and the vast empty stretches of Wyoming (the title composition).