New England Phil without the Phil

The Boston Music Intelligencer
Gareth Cordery
Published November 9, 2020

Instead of broadcasting prerecorded videos or a livestream to open its Covid season, the New England Philharmonic chose live programming on a small scale. Philadelphia-based composer TJ Cole’s Nightscape had been slated for an October performance with the full forces; in its place, NEP invited Cole to its (virtual) stage.

From her living room, Cole engaged in an hour-long discussion co-hosted with the Boston New Music Festival. NEP’s concertmaster Danielle Maddon and composer-in-residence Eric Nathan, familiar to Boston audiences from his past work with the Boston Symphony, served as interlocutors. Between functioning as sonic tour guides for sections of Nightscape and Cole’s recent composition Playtime, all three lent helpful insights and background.