Reno Philharmonic Announces New Partnership And Future Symphony 'Altered Landscape'

The Reno Philharmonic is partnering with an environmental organization and the Nevada Museum of Art for a special symposium. It's meant to highlight environmental issues, including the effects the pandemic has had on society.

The Reno Phil and Nevada Museum of Art have had a long partnership, but officials say now is the time to bring in another partner: The Nature Conservancy, which exemplifies Reno Phil's newest symphony by composer Jimmy López Bellido entitled "Altered Landscape."

“It’s a symphony, it's a symphony that we are going to premier in May of 2022, so we are going to have conversations and activities and things happening all along up until that performance," said Laura Jackson, Conductor for the Reno Phil.

The symphony is based on a photographic collection at the Nevada Museum of Art and showcases the impact humans have had over the planet’s ecosystem and geology. It also tells the tale of the great pause, due to the pandemic.

"We were going to premier this a year ago, but because of the pandemic we had to delay it and it was at that point that we realized we were living in an altered landscape -- there's no way we can go forward with our lives other than by taking into account what was happening to us at that moment," said Jackson. "The pandemic stops everything and it was just this remarkable moment globally where we were all stopping and figuring out how to navigate this pandemic."

It will end with what Jackson calls the alignment, the possibility that we can come together and work with the earth and each other. After the world premiere, the symphony will be available to orchestras across the globe without a fee. “We are able to give it as a gift and ask those orchestras to have real impact on the environmental well-being of their communities by giving what would be a commissioning fee to the Nature Conservancy instead of the Reno Phil."

It's something Mickey Hazelwood with the local Nature Conservancy says is invaluable. “A lot of people might see this as an unusual partnership, but these two organizations share values and concerns about our environment, our desires to contribute to our communities."

At the end of the presentation, Reno Phil donated $1,000 dollars to The Nature Conservancy.

Again, the world premiere of "Altered Landscape" will be in May of next year.