A major new concerto by George Lewis receives its world premiere April 8–10 with the New York Philharmonic. Titled …ohne festen Wohnsitz ("without a fixed abode"), the piece features the piano-and-percussion quartet Yarn/Wire as soloists and is conducted by Kwamé Ryan. Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and Philharmonie Luxembourg, with support from the Arlene and Larry Dunn Fund for Afrodiasporic Music, the work marks a significant addition to Lewis's expansive catalog.
Lewis has long explored improvisation, technology, and intercultural aesthetics as central elements of his musical language. …ohne festen Wohnsitz forms part of his broader Amo series, which reflects on themes of displacement and transformation. The series includes Amo (2021), Disputatio (2023), The Faculty of Sensing (2024), …and other spirits (2025), and now …ohne festen Wohnsitz. As Lewis notes, the series “represents my own contemporary experience with the struggles over decolonization and creolization in contemporary music and culture more generally. I aim to remind listeners of our endemic condition of instability, to foster not only a subliminal psychological discouragement of complacency, but also a celebration of mobility.”
Alongside this landmark premiere, soprano Golda Schultz joins the Philharmonic to perform Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 — a lyrical meditation on childhood memory setting text by James Agee.
The pairing places Lewis's bold cultural inquiry in dialogue with Barber's intimate lyricism, tracing the breadth of the American musical landscape. Concluding the program is Barber’s Second Essay (for orchestra), a masterclass in counterpoint, contrast, and formal ingenuity.
For specific inquiries about George Lewis, please contact Allen Pearcy Galeana.
