“The piece melds thrilling electric guitar solos and a pounding drum kit with the cinematic strings of the symphony. Ibsen’s goal was to bring together the intellectual stimulation of classical music with the physically stimulating aspects of rock. And his distinctive approach has lately garnered much attention.”

“Ibsen supplements the orchestra with drums and electric guitar to add a layer of rock sonorities to his palette, and seems to exult in the wealth of things the resulting instrumental ensemble can do. There are stretches of sinuous balladry, dance grooves in off-kilter rhythms, a lush reverie and one or two snarly, fuzz-laden guitar solos.”

“Ibsen supplements the orchestra with drums and electric guitar to add a layer of rock sonorities to his palette, and seems to exult in the wealth of things the resulting instrumental ensemble can do. There are stretches of sinuous balladry, dance grooves in off-kilter rhythms, a lush reverie and one or two snarly, fuzz-laden guitar solos.”

“I want institutions to start thinking about how there are still other talented people that we might not readily recognize. Let's keep this energy for composers of other backgrounds, queer composers, Asian Pacific Islander composers, all kinds of people that we just traditionally don't hear from.”

“Jens Ibsen was born for music, quite literally. His American father, a lover of West African drumming, thought, why not learn more about it, straight from the source? He traveled to Ghana to study the sound, and that’s where Ibsen’s story starts, some 26 years ago.”

“The 15-minute, electric-guitar-driven work—whose name itself conjures the sublime grandiosity of something a Finnish death metal band or a feedback-drenched ’90s Creation label signee would toss off—delves into both the “intellectual stimulation” of progressive metal and Ibsen’s own diverse musical influences.”

“Ibsen’s musical tastes have always been eclectic. His parents met, he notes, when his father journeyed from the United States to Ghana to learn about West African drumming.”

“A tribute to Nia Wilson, an Oakland teenager killed by a knife-wielding man in 2018, the music washed its own mourning undertones with passages of soulful defiance. It was the evening’s hookiest offering, and somehow one of its most heartbreaking.”

“His is an expansive palette of sound and inspirations…”

“Joyfully multifaceted, the movement comes off as absolute banger. Its vast open vistas and tangible rhythmic mazes convey incessant inspiration and joie-de-vivre, wholeheartedly embraced by Salonen and the SF Symphony, whose dedication and virtuosity filled the music with pure electricity.

“Joyfully multifaceted, the movement comes off as absolute banger. Its vast open vistas and tangible rhythmic mazes convey incessant inspiration and joie-de-vivre, wholeheartedly embraced by Salonen and the SF Symphony, whose dedication and virtuosity filled the music with pure electricity.