Jayce Ogren wrapped 2016 leading his home organization, Philadelphia’s Orchestra 2001, and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra in Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky in November. He kicked off the New Year at Casa de Musica in Portugal, leading the film score for Charlie Chaplin’s classic, City Lights, before returning to Orchestra 2001 to lead music by David Lang, Bryce Dessner, Peter Maxwell Davies. He then debuted with Filarmonica de Jalisco (Mexico) in Corigliano and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” In April, Ogren appeared at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust and led Orchestra 2001 in performances of John Luther Adams’s immersive outdoor work, Inuksuit .
“…Ogren’s reading was superb. From a restful tempo and impeccable phrasing, the young American director avoided the easy route to be taken away by the charm of the melodies, especially in the most brilliant passages, and got a deep interpretation, as corresponds to the music ‘absolutely Bohemia’ that Dvorak decided to portray. … This was one of the best Dvorak 9’s in the history of the OFJ.” – Jaime García Alías, Informador, March 18, 2017
Ogren led Orchestra 2001 in a program of “Pocket Symphonies” on April 23. Looking forward, he records Bernstein’s West Side Story (a work he has led in notable international dates) in Nashville; returns to the Indianapolis Symphony, leading Mason Bates’s Liquid Interface, a piece for electronica and orchestra, on May 20 as part of the orchestra’s INFusion Festival; leading the Wordless Music Orchestra in the film score of Jackie in LA on June 3; returning to the Philharmonie de Paris to lead Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna on June 10; and leading the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa in an all-Rufus Wainwright program (with Wainwright joining the performance) for Canada Scene, a festival celebrating Canadian artists.