Here are some audience responses to the Carnegie Hall premiere of “When the Orchard Dances Ceased” received by email:

“Your piece was absorbing and I particularly enjoyed the way you got so much out of the orchestra in terms of coloration and mood.”

“We enjoyed the piece enormously – your chanting, too! We didn’t know about that facet of your musicianship.”

“Bravo! I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed ‘Orchard Dances.’ Lano and the orchestra did a remarkable job. Of course, it helped that your music was so exquisite and idiomatic. The players really like it when the composer makes them sound good!”

“Kudos on the concert last night! Your music sounded wonderful. I am so pleased that the ‘new music’ funding circuit is recognizing how innovative your work is. I appreciated the intertwining of the Indian themes. Evocative. I hope this concert leads to new commissions and a whole new public.”

“Be very happy with your accomplishment!”

“I thought the piece was wonderful; I loved all the different thematic elements, the colors, and your singing was quite stunning.”

“A terrific and evocative piece. Congratulations!”

“We have been talking about your concert…I still hear it in my
head…That piece was so powerful, gutsy and tender at the same time,
it hit right into my heart!”

And these from the ACO’s blogspot
SOUND ADVICE
http://acosoundadvice.blogspot.com/2009/12/sound-off-orchestra-underground.html

Yanmei said that ‘When the Orchard Dances Ceased’ “sent chills down my spine.”
December 16, 2009 3:08 PM

Agnes B. commented that Curt Cacioppo is “a scholar as well as a musician and has mastered the idiom.” She also said that composers have a deeper commitment to “get it right” when they are also the soloist. Agnes said she was surprised by the degree to which she responded to “offbeat” works and credited the extreme competence of the musicians in the orchestra.
December 16, 2009 3:11 PM

Susan B. said that Cacioppo was “complex and fabulous, needed rehearing because lots of intellectual effort is needed to follow the intent (as written in the program notes).” She also was surprised by the use of voice as an instrument, and instruments as voice, both as they sound in nature.
December 17, 2009 1:00 PM