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SLSO Gives World Premiere of Anna Clyne’s PALETTE

By Eric Dundon

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was draped in a variety of colors for the world premiere of Anna Clyne’s PALETTE, a concerto for Augmented Orchestra. SLSO Music Director Stéphane Denève led the world premiere on February 14-15, 2025, at UMSL’s Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Introducing the piece before the premiere, Clyne explained the Augmented Orchestra: a sonic technique that incorporates live electronic processing of the orchestra’s performance to subtly expand the sonic landscape. Throughout the performance, the Augmented Orchestra could be heard through manipulated sounds, including basses dropped an active, slight echoes, and instruments changed up an octave.

Clyne also explained the genesis of PALETTE as an intersection between different forms of media. This included visual art in the form of paintings she created, which informed the various movements titles and compositions, and lighting design created by Luke Kritzeck. PALETTE is an acronym for the seven movements of the piece—Plum, Amber, Lava, Ebony, Teal, Tangerine, and Emerald. Each movement featured a different section of the orchestra as Clyne’s painting were displayed on a wall-sized display.

Photos by Virginia Harold

Music Director Stéphane Denève and composer Anna Clyne take a bow after the world premiere performance of PALETTE.
SLSO percussion and brass are draped in red during the “Lava” movement.
Principal Keyboardist Peter Henderson played the first notes of the piece.
Winds play during the “Teal” movement.
“Lava” featured the strings section.
Principal Percussionist Will James.
“Amber” featured the woodwinds.
SLSO violinists play during the “Plum” movement.

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