On Sept. 27, University of Southern Maine alumnus Travis Ramsey ’03 will witness his own music brought to life by a 70-piece orchestra and full choir during the Portland Symphony Orchestra’s (PSO) 102nd season-opening concert. Ramsey’s piece, “FIRE!,” will close a program spanning classic and contemporary American composers.
Ramsey started writing “FIRE!” about two-and-a-half years ago, after ChoralArt commissioned a new work from him to accompany a Mozart composition. The commission came with two conditions: the piece had to use the same instruments as the Mozart piece, and it had to connect to Maine.
USM professor emeritus Bob Russell, who commissioned the piece on ChoralArt’s behalf, recalled the moment Ramsey landed on his subject.
“Travis told me he was sitting around the kitchen table batting around ideas with his wife, and she came upon this very dramatic historical event: the Great Fire of 1866,” Russell said.
Ramsey built the piece’s libretto from firsthand accounts of the fire, alongside poetry by Henry Wasdworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson. “FIRE!” premiered in its original, scaled-down version 18 months ago.
“At the premiere, the reception from the audience was astonishing to all of us,” said Russell.
In the months that followed, Russell pitched the piece to PSO for a performance at Merrill Auditorium, and the orchestra agreed to take it on. Ramsey then reworked the piece to fit PSO’s full 70-piece orchestra.
EVENT: Resurgam: American Folktales & Hymns
WHEN: Sept. 27 at 2:30 p.m. and Sept. 29 at 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle St, Portland, ME 04101
“I heard the PSO several times when I was a student at USM, but I never imagined I’d be commissioned for a work this large,” said Ramsey. “It’s thrilling!”
Russell, who commissioned “FIRE!,” was one of Ramsey’s professors.
“I’m very grateful for the time I spent at USM, and especially grateful for Dr. Russell and my composition teachers,” said Ramsey. “The connections and friendships I made with them remain with me today.”