Gil-Ordóñez Directs “Russian Gershwin”

Angel Gil-Ordóñez, director of Private Lessons, Chamber Music and Ensembles, director of the Wesleyan Orchestra and Concert Choir, adjunct professor of music, was featured in the Sept. 27 Washington Post.

Gil-Ordóñez also directs the Washington D.C.-based Post-Classical Ensemble. The orchestra performed a program titled “The Russian Gershwin” at the Clarice Smith Center.

“Gershwin is overdue for a fresh look, and that’s the ensemble’s specialty: turning familiar music on its head, providing context and fresh perspectives and generally pulling the rug out from under listeners,” the article states.

“Pianist Genadi Zagor opened the evening with an introspective and elegant improvisation on Gershwin’s Prelude No. 2, then seamlessly slid into an ultra-sophisticated and altogether gorgeous account of the concerto-like “Rhapsody in Blue.” … Vakhtang Kodanashvili took a jazzier and more extroverted approach to the Piano Concerto in F, a too rarely heard wonder from 1926. Kodanashvili’s lean, exuberant playing contrasted nicely with Zagor’s more lush approach, and — backed by razor-sharp playing from the ensemble, led by Music Director Angel Gil-Ordóñez — resulted in a terrifically exciting account.”