Fifteen Minutes of Fame Premieres in Grand Rapids Featuring Mary Beth Orr

Saturday, Jan. 27th, Doors at 6pm, Performance at 7pm

Free and open to the public

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame was designed by producer and composer Robert Voisey of New York City to create an opportunity for composers to get their works performed and heard by audiences around the world. The concept is 15 new one-minute works are specifically written for a musician or ensemble to perform. The Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame project finds and empowers talented musicians who are dedicated champions of contemporary new music. This performance will be featuring works written for Mary Beth Orr and her unique talents combining singing with playing the horn.

This event will present 15 one-minute works from composers: Mitch Boucher, Erik Branch, Lydia Lowery Busler, Sara Christie, Andrew Desiderio, Thomas Haines, Brian Holmes, Michael Kosch, Michael Laus, Matthew Murchison, P. F. Strohm, Jean-Pierre Vial, Anneloes Wolters, Justin Writer, and Jianing Yang.

Mary Beth Orr is an elite orchestral musician, soloist, and chamber musician. She premiered as a soloist at Carnegie Hall in May of 2022, was the first prize winner of the Sound Espressivo Competition 2022, Golden Classical International Music Awards 2021, American Protégé International Talent Competition 2021, and the Charleston International Solo Competition 2021, where she was also voted most outstanding performance. She is also a performer with the Grand Rapids Symphony.

Mary Beth sings traditional Appalachian melodies from her childhood to introduce the classical works in the program. So much of classical literature is inspired by, and derived from traditional folk melodies and are far more connected and complementary to each other than many audiences assume. Both of these genres communicate and elevate the human spirit and her hope is to connect with audiences from as many varied backgrounds as possible, and connect them to each other. More can be found at: marybethorr.org

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame gives a variety of new music by living composers to audiences hungry to hear what is being created in today's music scene. The Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame project has featured more than 75 musician/ensembles premiering the works of over 1000 composers in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Rio de Janeiro, Bucharest, and other cities around the globe.

The premiere in Grand Rapids is hosted by AllArtWorks Viewing Studio, providing a backdrop of original one-of-a-kind fine art to the vocal and horn performance. Guests are encouraged to explore the visual art on site before and after the musical portion of the evening.

Doors open at 6pm and the performance begins at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited and arriving early is suggested.

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame is a Vox Novus project and more can be found at the following: http://www.voxnovus.com/15_Minutes_of_Fame/featuring/Mary_Beth_Orr/