Maha Mantras for Soprano/Alto Saxophone and Orchestra

Cast in one movement with many “subplots,” Maha Mantras is a concerto for saxophonist switching between Soprano and Alto, featuring a dazzling tour-de-force cadenza in which the soloist plays both instruments simultaneously.

A profound synthesis of Prangcharoen’s native Thai soundworld and Western symphonic tradition, Maha Mantras is based on pentatonic themes tinged with highly ornate and chromatic shadings. The work’s title indicates a magnification and development of the composer’s earlier work Mantras, both compositions inspired by the creation of music as a healing force. For advanced performers. Dur.: 17'

The music of NARONG PRANGCHAROEN has been called “absolutely captivating” (Chicago Sun Times). Still in his early years, Prangcharoen has established an international reputation and is recognized as one of the leading composers of his generation. He has received many international prizes including the Alexander Zemlinsky International Composition Competition Prize, the 18th ACL Yoshiro IRINO Memorial Composition Award, the Pacific Symphony’s American Composers Competition Prize, the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award, and the Annapolis Charter 300 International Composers Competition Prize. In 2007, the Thai government named him a Contemporary National Artist awarding him the Silapathorn Award, one of Thailand’s most prestigious honors.

Prangcharoen’s music has been performed around the world by many renowned ensembles such as the Tokyo Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, and Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic, under many celebrated conductors such as Carl St. Clair, Carlos Kalmer, Jose-Luis Novo, and Mikhail Pletnev. His music has also been presented by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Ensemble TIMF, New York New Music Ensemble, Imani Winds, and pianist Bennett Lerner.

In addition, his music has been performed at many important festivals, such as the Grant Park Music Festival (Millennium Park, Chicago), Asia: The 21st Century Orchestra Project (Nagoya, Japan), MoMA Music Festival (Museum of Modern Art, NYC), Maverick Concerts: “Music in the Wood” (the oldest continuous summer chamber music series in the USA), Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and the Library of Congress.

Mr. Prangcharoen’s earliest composition studies were with Narongrit Dharmabutra in Thailand. He later studied with Stephen Taylor and David Feurzeig at Illinois State University. Prangcharoen went on to study at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, where his teachers included Chen Yi, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, and Paul Rudy.

Narong Prangcharoen has taught in the Western Music Department of Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok. He has served an Instructional Assistant Professor of Music in Composition at Illinois State University and taught at the Community Music and Dance Academy of the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri in Kansas City. Prangcharoen founded the Thailand Composition Festival in Bangkok, now in its fifth year, and has been awarded a Music Alive composer residence with the Pacific Symphony for the 2013-2016 seasons.