Symphonic Blues
BREAKING NEWS! 3-7-2024: The first three movements of my Symphonic Blues #6 composition, have been recorded and are being mixed. But you can hear the unpolished version which is pretty cool. Just scroll down to the playstation. Also check out the on-line credits to see the players and producers, as well as the crowdfunding friends that made this all possible. If you are inspired to be part of this project you can join the list HERE.
HISTORY 1966 to Date
Siegel (and harmonica), William Russo, & Maestro Seiji Ozawa - Chicago Symphony at Ravinia - July 1968
Street Music - on Deutsche Grammophon -Winner of the Grande Prix Du Disque Award
Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra - Deutsche Grammophon recording - An “American Classic”
São Paulo, Brazil - Orquestra Experimental de Repertorio - Maestro Jamil Maluf conducting
“When Corky Siegel cupped his harmonica and the pavilion microphone together and began a half saxophone half blues trumpet wail, even the least conservative Chicago Symphony Orchestra member might have shivered at the hand-writing on the crumbling walls.” – Chicago Tribune – Chicago Symphony – 1968
“A grand success in a multitude of ways; box office, new audience, and artistically … A remarkable virtuoso, a refined musician with imagination … I would go as far as to call him a poet … The music he makes is like witnessing a miracle.” – La Presse – Montréal – Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal – 1999
“American Bluesman Corky Siegel was the hit of the evening. Certainly, the pathos and poetry of Siegel’s opening harmonica sighs were a tough act to follow. The second movement, however, with Siegel dishing up the blues from the Steinway with the strings was edge-of-the-seat stuff.”– New Zealand Herald – Auckland Philharmonic – 2015
In 1968 Corky Siegel brought blues harmonica to ornate concert halls with ground breaking compositions and world class symphony orchestras. Thanks to Seiji Ozawa, William Russo, and Corky Siegel, Symphonic Blues was born and continues through today. The historic recordings on Deutsche Grammophon were among DG’s biggest sellers, and the continuing symphonic performances provide a large and growing audience for Chamber Blues.
William Russo’s Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony was recorded on the paramount of classical labels, Deutsche Grammophon with the San Francisco Symphony, Seiji Ozawa and the Siegel-Schwall Band in 1971, and prompted a second release by William Russo with Ozawa and the San Francisco Symphony in 1979 with Siegel as soloist titled: Street Music: A Blues Concerto. Phil Ellwood, critic for the San Francisco Examiner, describes the collaboration as: “Magnificent. An adventure in rhythm, harmony and solos. It is a memorable musical joy ride.”
With the mentoring of Seiji Ozawa, William Russo, and the support and inspiration from the blues masters like Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, Corky Siegel began adding his own compositions to this blues/classical repertoire. In 1975 he was offered a commission from the San Francisco Symphony, followed by the National Symphony & multiple commissions from the Grant Park Symphony and the 2007 commission for Symphonic Blues #6 from Steven Gunzenhauser with the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra. The latest commission [Symphonic Blues #7] also from Steven Gunzenhauser premiered May 2017.
Lancaster Symphony Orchestra with Maestro Stephen Gunzenhauser
“One of the thrills of attending the world premiere of a major composition is the possibility that it will go on to become an international hit. This may be the case with Siegel’s [Symphonic Blues #6]. We heard an artist of the highest caliber lead the orchestra in an extraordinary piece of music ..”– Lancaster News – 2008 - read more
“The music he makes is like witnessing a miracle” - La Presse - Montréal
Number 6
Please note, that at the end of movement 2 and 3, we have included the live performance of the cadenzas from the 2008 premiere. The original orchestra has been digitally removed from the recording and replaced with the new players (see on-line credits). I love the way the listener is transported from their listening space and into the auditorium with audience. The extended applause in the 3rd movement is followed by some quips by me that I think puts a punctuation on the whole event. The three works are based on some of my favorite Chamber Blues moments. - Corky Siegel
Symphonic Blues #6 was Corky Siegel's 5th symphonic commission, and has been performed around the world, most recently in 2016 in Mexico and New York. - The latest commission, Symphonic Blues #7 premiered in 2017, and a work for string orchestra in Austria in 2019. Two scheduled performances of #6 in New York and Pennsylvania with the Wellsborough Festival Orchestra was cancelled in 2022 for Covid related concerns.
And here’s a Chamber Blues extra that is going on the Symphonic Blues album
PARTIAL LIST OF SYMPHONIES WITH CORKY SIEGEL AS GUEST SOLOIST
New York Philharmonic
Lincoln Center
Chicago Symphony
Ravinia
Boston Symphony
Tanglewood
Philadelphia Orchestra
Saratoga Springs PAC
National Symphony
Kennedy Center, Washington DC
San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Opera House & Civic Center
& Zellerbach Auditorium - Oakland
Suisse Romande
Grand Theatré
Genevé, Switzerland
NHK Symphony
Tokyo & Nagoya, Japan
Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal
Montreal, Canada
Belgrade Symphony Orchestra
Belgrade, Serbia
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Winnipeg, Canada
Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra
Grand Music Center of Strathmore Hall
Baltimore MD
Miami Symphony Orchestra
Miami, Florida
Phoenix Symphony Orchestra
Phoenix, Arizona
Rochester Philharmonic
Rochester, New York
Mendocino Symphony
Mendocino, California
Grant Park Symphony
Chicago, Illinois
Milwaukee Symphony
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sinaloa National Symphony Orchestra
Mexico
Buffalo Symphony Orchestra
Buffalo, New York
Camellia Symphony Orchestra
Sacramento, California
Birmingham Symphony
Birmingham Alabama
Kentucky Symphony Orchestra
Covington, Kentucky
Orquestra Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico
Mexico City, Mexico
Nederlands Philharmonisch, Orkest
Tilburg, Netherlands
Auckland Philharmonic
Auckland, New Zealand
Australian Experimental Orchestra
Melbourne, Australia
Boston Pops - Arthur Fiedler
PBS - TV Great Performances
Orchestra Experimental de Repertorio
Sao Paulo, & Campos do Jordao, Brazil
Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa
Lisbon, Portugal
Minnesota Orchestra
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Colorado Symphony Orchestra
Denver, Colorado
Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie
9 performances throughout East Germany
Ecole Nationale de Musique
Mantes la Jolie, France
Univ. of Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra
Guanajuato, Mexico
Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec
Quebec City, Canada
Alabama Symphony Orchestra
Birmingham, Alabama
Lancaster Symphony Orchestra
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Arpeggione Kammerorchester
Hohenems, Austria
Regensburg Symphony Orchestra
Theatre Regensburg - Regensburg GERMANY
PARTIAL LIST OF CONDUCTORS
Seiji Ozawa
Stephen Gunzenhauser
Charles Dutoit
Arthur Fiedler
Jean-Marie Oberson
George Cleve
Eckehard Stier
Stefan Veselka
Jamil Maluf
Marcel Geraeds
Doc Severinsen
David Amram
Gordon Campbell
Kenneth Schermerhorn
Allan Pollack
Eric Kunzel
Miguel Graca Moura
Paul Polivnick
Kristofer Sanz
Patrick Flynn
William Russo
OTHER SYMPHONIC BLUES COMPOSITIONS BY CORKY SIEGEL
San Francisco Symphony - 3 short sonatas for Arthur Fiedler - performed at the Civic Auditorium - 1975
Grant Park Symphony and National Symphony - 2 more short sonatas - performed at Grant Park and Kennedy Center - 1985 & 1986
Grant Park Symphony - Blues for a Green Planet - 1994 (or was it 1991)
Lancaster Symphony Orchestra - Symphonic Blues #6 - 2007
Lancaster Symphony Orchestra - Symphonic Blues #7 - Workshop Preview August 2016 - World Premiere - May 2017
QUOTES
Headline: Blues at the Philharmonic. They Love Corky Siegel in Lincoln Center. - Cheers rang through Philharmonic Hall - New York Times, Harold C. Schonberg (The first to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism)
Siegel appeared in a recent New York symphony subscription concert, and it took a week for a jumping Philharmonic Hall to settle back on it's foundation. - Chicago Tribune
An instant standing ovation and a tremolando encore. - San Francisco Examiner
Note: Corky Siegel is the winner of the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Meet the Composer National Award for Chamber Music composition.
New York, 1966. Jack Myers, Jim Schwall, Howlin’ Wolf, Me (having just swallowed a canary), and Russ Chadwick. In 1965 we had at residency a Pepper’s (across the tracks) where all the blues masters came and took us under their wing. Howlin Wolf wanted to take my band Siegel-Schwall on the road with him. We did it. The blues masters are behind everything I have experienced as a musician.