Mason’s new production of his Grammy award-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs saw its East Coast premiere by The Atlanta Opera last weekend, conducted by Michael Christie.

“To say the audience greeted the work joyfully would be an understatement.”

“With its compelling score by Bates that combines the melodic and the technologic, the driving and the calm, the sound and the solemn, it melds with the libretto, created by Campbell. That consists of a series of vignettes that jump back and forth in Jobs’ life-one that is not linear at all but circular–and show the human part of the man’s story, which was important to his philosophical growth.”

Broadway World

“The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs proves the not-to-be-missed opera of the season”

“These digital video elements, which occasionally include some exceptionally fast-paced montages and animations, are sequenced beautifully with Bates’ music, which beautifully merges live and electronic components, including sounds generated by a 1980s Macintosh computer as well as digitally appropriated sounds such as the drones of brass Buddhist prayer bowls. The electronic sounds do not go about drawing attention to themselves simply for being “electronic”; they instead come across as an impressively organic extension of the orchestra.”

EarRelevant

“The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” is a magnificent, wondrous opera”

“Contemporary classical composer, 45-year-old Mason Bates, shaped from his mind a dazzling Grammy Award-winning opera around the life of Steve Jobs, with libretto by Mark Campbell (both of whom were in attendance at opening night). The opera is a wondrous and dramatic entry point for those who don’t think the opera is for them and a ground breaking path forward for those who have remained comfortable with the traditional trappings of what opera has been. The music is challenging, the stage design is a visual feat, and the opera is thought-provoking.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The world premiere of Mason’s The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs, performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra and conducted by Eun Sun Kim will be broadcast on WRTI as part of ‘The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert’ on May 8th & 9th.

The broadcast will open with Mason’s The Rhapsody of Steve Jobs (co-commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra), an orchestral suite from Mason’s Grammy-winning opera, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, inspired by the visionary who presided over the creation of the iPhone.

Listen to the full broadcast on the WRTI website.

Broadcast dates:

Sunday, May 8th at 1pm EDT on WRTI 90.1

Monday, May 9th at 7pm EDT on WRTI HD-2

As The Atlanta Opera prepares for its opening night of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs this Saturday, Mason talks to Mark Gresham at EarRelevant for an interview about the new production and his inspiration for the opera.

“Bates: In 2003, I was just starting to integrate electronic sounds into the orchestra. At the time, I hadn’t realized that this world of electronica would go beyond rhythms and beats and into more theatrical space. This new element coming to the symphonic space, coming to the opera house, was a revelation for me.

“The original production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs had some incredibly novel elements of stagecraft that were important for its premiere.”

“We’re now going into the new life of this piece with a new production. It’s multi-level, so we’ve got a couple of different levels on the stage. One of the most incredible parts is that the video design is extremely synced up with the music. It almost feels in some places like you’re watching a music video.”

“[The creative team] found a way to tell the story and lean into both the technological and the human element by giving us a set that is both abstract – just a bank of flat video screens – while also being able to become incredibly realistic, like in the wedding scene in Yosemite with trees and mountains”

Read the full interview on EarRelevant’s website.

The Atlanta Opera opens its production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs this Saturday, April 30, at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, with three more performances scheduled for May 3, 6 & 8.

For more information and tickets visit The Atlanta Opera website.

On May 6th, The Atlanta Opera will Live Stream The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs on Spotlight Media. 

For more information and tickets visit The Atlanta Opera Stream.

Last Friday, Mason hosted the first Mercury Soul show since the pandemic at the incredible Saint Joseph’s Society for the Arts. Performing under the name DJ Masonic, Mason featured alongside DJs Rob Garza (Thievery Corporation) and Justin Reed and classical performers, International Orange Chorale and the SFCM Baroque Ensemble and SFCM Percussion.

Bates says, “While the event features our characteristic mix of DJs and classical ensembles, the repertoire is the opposite of the more high-energy sound of our club shows. In between groovy downtempo DJ sets, we’re performing lush ambient music from across music history — from Erik Satie to Steve Reich, from Arvo Pärt to Brian Eno, plus some Renaissance string and choral music to fill the resonant space. It’s fascinating to hear Satie’s ‘furniture music’ next to Brian Eno, or Reich played alongside his favorite Perotin choral works.”

The world premiere of Mason’s Piano Concerto performed by Daniil Trifonov, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin will be available to stream on Philadelphia’s Digital Stage next week.

You will be able to watch the world premiere live on April 27th at 8pm ET and the performance will be available on demand until May 4th.

For more information and tickets visit The Philadelphia Orchestra website.

Out today, “Finale & Rebirth of Sprite” the first single from Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Edwin Outwater. 

Co-commissioned by six of America’s top orchestras – Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and the American Youth Symphony – Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of The Orchestra is a 25 minute concerto with animated film featuring a magical Sprite who flies through instruments to see how they work.

Mason’s Liquid Interface received its UK premiere by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Edward Gardner last week at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

David Nice of The Arts Desk writes, “Mason Bates’ Liquid Interface is a much more arresting journey through various plays of water, a lovable crowd-pleaser.”

“Recording of Antarctic glaciers breaking and electronic beats flowed seamlessly with luminous orchestral sounds – full marks to the clarinet department – and on to the pointillist play of “Scherzo liquid”.

Read the full article on The Arts Desk.

The world premiere of Mason’s Piano Concerto, performed by Daniil Trifonov and the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will be broadcast as part of ‘The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert’ on April 3rd & 4th.

The broadcast will feature Mason’s Piano Concerto (co-commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony) and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade conducted by music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

“The repertoire on this concert makes the most of the Orchestra’s varied sonic colors, from the fascinating timbres that American composer Mason Bates has created in his new Piano Concerto, to the symphonic tone painting of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade.”

Listen to the full broadcast including interviews with Mason Bates and Daniil Trifonov on the WRTI website.

Broadcast dates:

Sunday, April 3rd at 1pm EDT on WRTI 90.1

Monday, April 4th at 7pm EDT on WRTI HD-2