Warner Classics has signed the U.K.'s Aurora Orchestra to a three-album deal. This is the first announced signing for Warner under the new regime (since the acquisition of what was the EMI and Virgin Classics catalogs, and an artists and repertoire process that is now run by Alain Lanceron and Jean-Philippe Roland, both from the EMI ranks).
Aurora has built a fine reputation for innovative programming and for reaching out to new audiences. Its principal conductor Nicholas Collon is seen as good news, and the orchestra's series at LSO St. Luke's in particular--where they work with artists from other genres such as horror novelist Peter Straub, klezmer musicians, Brazilian capoeira dancers and breakdancers--has been well received.
Aurora are the newest winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society's Ensemble Award.
The first recording for Warner will be entitled Road Trip. It will include Chamber Symphony by John Adams, The Brown Girl arranged by Nico Muhly, Charles Ives' "The Housatonic at Stockbridge" from Three Places in New England, Reynardine arranged by Muhly, Copland's Appalachian Spring and Paul Simon's Hearts and Bones arranged, again, by Muhly. A second recording will be made in November 2014 for release in 2015. And the third will, of course, follow.
Personally, I'm rooting for a disc of their concert Klezmahler...
