New York’s premier period orchestra, the American Classical Orchestra (ACO), hosted a variety of events this summer. From May 6 to July, the ACO offers a range of free digital activities.

In 1984, artistic director Thomas Crawford founded the American Classical Orchestra. Crawford is known for his historically accurate performance styles, as well as his many accolades. As New York’s only large-scale orchestra, ACO devotes performances to the music of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries on period instruments. The group consists of top artists across a range of well-established ensembles.

Throughout May, the Orchestra presents a lively new podcast series: TACOTalk. This podcast explores in-depth conversations between Orchestra musicians, special guests and honorary host Thomas Crawford. In addition to the overview provided on the ACO, members will also examine the vintage instrument movement in the United States. Each episode seeks to analyze the existing duality classical musicians face with historical performance and contemporary culture. Produced by Mark Zaki, all 12 episodes of TACOTalk are available now, with more coming soon.

COA Video Series

Starting in June, the ACO will present Beethoven Sonatas Video Releases. Due to the pandemic, the Orchestra had to cancel its planned recitals with Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas. The ACO’s Sfzp project originally planned for these performances to be part of their program. The Sfzp Project is a three-year cycle of programs and events designed to advance fortepiano performance in New York City and beyond. Events will resume in the fall of 2022, but the Orchestra has something else in store until then.

AOC decided to film the performance of seven of these sonatas. World-renowned keyboardists will lead the performances on original fortepianos and replicas. Two of these instruments come from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum. Films will be released weekly on Thursdays at 11 a.m. from June 3 through July 15. All can be streamed on the COA’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel.

June 3 – Eric Zivian, pianoforte; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major, Op. 26 ‘Funeral march’

June 10 – Shuann Chai, pianoforte; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 ‘Appassionata’

June 17 – Dongsok Shin, pianoforte; Beethoven: First Piano Sonata to be confirmed

June 24 – Jiayan Sun, pianoforte; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 21, in C major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”

July, 1st – Petra Somlai, pianoforte; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27, n° 2 ‘quasi una fantasia’ ‘Moonlight’

July 8 – Shuann Chai, pianoforte; Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G Major, Op. 79 ‘hello’

July 15th – Dongsok Shin, pianoforte; Beethoven: Late Piano Sonata to be confirmed