George Lewis has two new works premiering in October in the form of Your Network is Unstable and The Reincarnation of Blind Tom.
On 5 October, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and conductor Roland Kluttig will premiere Your Network is Unstable at Radio Österreich 1’s Musikprotokoll. Lewis describes his intention for the orchestral work (a co-commission with Music Biennale Zagreb) to "foster not only a subliminal psychological discouragement of complacency, but also a celebration of mobility."
On 18 October, saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, SWR Sinfonieorchester and an AI-pianist will premiere a new double concerto, The Reincarnation of Blind Tom, at Donaueschinger Musiktage, conducted Susanne Blumenthal. The concerto revisits Lewis’ interest with the music and life of Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins, a composer-pianist who was born under slavery but nonetheless became one of most famous American musicians of his age. In this new piece Lewis states that “Wiggins is metaphorically reincarnated as an AI” using the latest version of the Voyager system. The Reincarnation of Blind Tom was commissioned by SWR for the Donaueschinger Musiktage.