PRESS


THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Exquisite.”

THE BOSTON GLOBE

“An American response to Sibelius.”

BBC MUSIC

“Soul-stirring music.”

“Hypnotic ... an air of considered quietude.”

GRAMOPHONE

“Arresting originality.”

“Beautiful choral opera…exquisite in every way.”

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“Haunting and beautiful new multimedia work…operates within an expansive sphere that combines art and journalism.”

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

“A marvel.”

“A quiet work that says it all.”

“Elegiac…great emotional impact…the ultimate symbolic return.”

GOOD TIMES SANTA CRUZ

“Scott Ordway is a 21st-century auteur. His eclectic creations involve music, video, performative installations, poetry and photography. All of this handmade rigor dissolves boundaries while lifting symphonic music into a realm that has no name.”

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

“The experience for the audience felt complete and meaningful. The Clearing and the Forest is a work that deserves continued performances elsewhere in the world of contemporary music.”

SAN ANTONIO CURRENT

“An immersive landscape.”

CLASSICAL VOICE NORTH AMERICA

“A musical score of admirable discipline and integrity, and with great heart.”

THE BROAD STREET REVIEW

“The work resonated with humanist spirituality, haunting the imagination long after the last echo died away.”

AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE

“This music is not to be ignored.”

NEW YORK MUSIC DAILY

“Sprightly and immersive, old and new ... beautiful in its own austere way.”

BOSTON CLASSICAL REVIEW

“Wild and distant, austere and stalwart ... Ordway’s writing was both confident and delicate, and the women of Lorelei flourished in the evocative soundscapes and velvet harmonies.”

THE BROAD STREET REVIEW

“An architectural triumph ... moments of wistfulness, ecstasy, and graciousness sharing a single musical phrase ... a grand and beautiful story is told.”

NEW MUSIC BOX

“Phenomenal purity: clean clarity as cold as ice.”

BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER

“Haunting and really lovely.”

STAGE AND CINEMA

“Nineteen Movements for Unaccompanied Cello ... invokes solitude and deep introspection ... quite possibly the best example of minimalism breaking new ground—redefining the form while making it wholly accessible ... an astounding, commanding, essence-shaking work.”

NEW YORK MUSIC DAILY

“Mesmerizing beauty.”

TEXTURA

“Sublime.”

“[Nineteen Movements for Unaccompanied Cello] is a magnificent addition to the contemporary repertoire that should have cellists salivating at the prospect of taking it on.”

COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

“…A piece that explores the feeling of gradual awareness of something magical.”

The Outer Edge of Youth [review]
OperaNews (New York, 2023)

Composing During the Climate Crisis with Scott Ordway [podcast]
Climate Change and Happiness Podcast (Helsinki, 2023)

The Grievers of Climate Change [feature]
Noema Magazine (Los Angeles, 2022)

The Outer Edge of Youth [review]
Gramophone (London, 2022)

The Clearing and the Forest [review]
BBC Music Magazine (London, 2022)

The Outer Edge of Youth [review]
Textura (Ontario, 2022)

Cabrillo Festival springs back into action with a beautiful climate elegy [review]
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, 2022)

Scott Ordway’s ‘The End of Rain’ Makes World Premiere at Cabrillo Festival [feature]
Good Times Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, 2022)

Cabrillo Festival returns with collection of works that touch on social, political issues [feature]
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, 2022)

Santa Cruz composer reflects on California’s new climate normal in ‘The End of Rain’” [interview]
Lookout Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, 2022)

Songs of the Earth [feature]
Symphony Magazine (New York, 2022)

The Thirteen premieres a haunting, heartening fable with ‘Outer Edge of Youth’ ” [review]
Washington Classical Review (Washington DC, 2022)

Scott Ordway: The Clearing and the Forest [review]
Textura (Ontario, 2022)

Nineteen Movements for Unaccompanied Cello [review]
BBC Music Magazine (London, 2021)

Contemporary Classics: Interview with Arlen Hlusko & Scott Ordway. [radio interview]
WRUU (Savannah, GA, 2021)

Composer Scott Ordway and Cellist Arlen Hlusko: The Evolution of a Vibrant Solo Piece [interview]
Interlude (Hong Kong, 2021)

‘Girl in the Snow’ and ‘Nineteen movements for unaccompanied cello’ by Scott Ordway: Music of memory, dreams, and love [review]
Broad Street Review (Philadelphia, 2021)

Nineteen Movements for Unaccompanied Cello [review]
Gramophone (London, 2021)

Girl in the Snow: a mysterious song cycle [review]
Schmopera (Toronto, 2021)

Scott Ordway: Girl in the Snow
Textura (Ontario, 2021)

Philadelphia’s choral students sing out 2020 with a quiet work that says it all [review]
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, 2020)

The Clearing And The Forest Explores Migration Through Music, Movement, Scenery [radio interview]
Texas Public Radio
, 2019

Composer Scott Ordway and Designer Erica Eliot Discuss Innovative Concert The Clearing and the Forest [interview]
San Antonio Current (San Antonio, 2019)

Immigrant-Led SOLI Chamber Ensemble Crosses Borders with The Clearing and the Forest [feature]
The San Antonio Report (San Antonio, 2019)

The Penn Museum’s ‘Black Angels and Secrets: An Extraordinary Evening with the Daedalus Quartet’ [review]
Broad Street Review (Philadelphia, PA)

Acoustics in Penn rotunda reveal ‘Secrets of the World’ [radio feature]
WHYY NewsWorks Tonight (Philadelphia, 2017)

Modern resonances in 'Ancient Echoes' at Penn Museum's Chinese Rotunda [review]
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, 2016)

Pérotin and Lang, 800 Years Apart, at Trinity Church [review]
The New York Times (NYC, 2015)

Scott Ordway [interview]
interlude.hk (Hong Kong, 2015)

Lorelei opens season with Americana [review]
The Boston Globe (Boston, 2014)