Azica Records will release American Rapture featuring harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Ward Stare. This album includes the world premiere recording of Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto, written for and dedicated to Yolanda Kondonassis; Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1 in One Movement, Op. 9; and the world premiere recording ofPatrick Harlin’s Rapture. The album is designed to highlight three generations of American composition and, as defined by Harlin in the context of his work, to depict rapture not as a religious event, but as an experience of extreme human emotion.
Gene Clark was one of the most gifted singers and songwriters of his generation, but bad luck and self-destructive habits followed him like a shadow, and it seemed sadly appropriate that he died in the spring of 1991 as he was working on a follow-up to the biggest success of his solo career, So Rebellious a Lover, his 1987 collaboration with Carla Olson of the Textones. Clark's poor health (aggravated by drinking) and fear of flying prevented a full-scale tour in support of So Rebellious a Lover, but he played scattered live dates after its release, and In Concert gathers recordings from shows Clark gave in late 1988 and early 1990.