The Front Porch Blog
Chris Thile pens 'Mandolin Concerto'
Jessica Phillips | September 2, 2009

Chris Thile has grown from one-third of the wonderkids bluegrass ensemble Nickel Creek into a revered solo instrumentalist in the genre. While both his work with the Creek, his latest band The Punch Brothers, and his solo material have often blurred lines into other styles of music (the White Stripes, Radio Head, and even Britney Spears), Thile has always had a weakness for classical music.
In the past, he wrote a four-movement chamber piece, "The Blind Leaving the Blind." He wrote a song for Edgar Meyer that debuted at Carnegie Hall. Now, Thile is jumping headlong into the classical genre with this three-movement concerto, "Mandolin Concerto (Ad astra per alas porci)."
Thile will perform the concerto throughout the fall, with no less than seven different symphonies around the US. These include: the Colorado Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Alabama Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Delaware Symphony, and the Portland Symphony.
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