Elliott Carter’s 103rd Birthday Celebration
From New York Times, December 09 2011
It also offered the premiere of the major new score he composed last year, “A Sunbeam’s Architecture,” an inventive, urgent 12-minute work for tenor and a 19-piece instrumental ensemble, which sets six poems by E. E. Cummings, offering Mr. Carter’s astute take on the elusive, seemingly fanciful words. The young tenor Nicholas Phan sang with sweet, full sound; rhythmic punch; and impressively clear diction. The excellent conductor Ryan McAdams drew a vibrant performance from an ensemble that featured major artists long associated with Mr. Carter and younger musicians who seemed thrilled to be a part of the evening.