A year ago, pianist Jeffrey Biegel and the Utah Symphony debuted composer Peter Boyer‘s “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue” at the 2023 Deer Valley Music Festival.

The work that pays tribute to George Gerswhin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which celebrated its centennial anniversary in February, was the basis of Biegel’s Rhapsody National Initiative, a campaign to recruit symphony orchestras from the 50 states to perform the piece.

Last autumn, Biegel announced he reached the goal and that the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Boyer, was recording the work, which Naxos Music is distributing.

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“The project is finished,” he said then. “We got 54 orchestras from all 50 states.”

I know these projects won’t alter the course of history, but they make a statement.” Jeffrey Biegel, pianist and Rhapsody National Initiative founder

Biegel made performing the piece as accessible as possible by eliminating the “buy-ins,” which are fees orchestras pay to perform a piece of new music.

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“I raised all the money during the silent COVID years,” he said. 

Since its premiere, Biegel has taken “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue” to symphony orchestras throughout the country, and this month the piece will be performed by the East Tennessee Orchestra on July 3 before heading to orchestras – professional, community and youth summer camps —  in Maine, Pennsylvania and California.

Biegel said it has been interesting to take the piece to different orchestras around the country, especially during a time of political unrest. 

“Does it change the divisions?” he said. “It’s hard to say, but the music has a certain power in it that helps a person identify oneself with being an American.”

When Gershwin wrote “Rhapsody in Blue,” he reflected New York City as a melting pot of cultures, Biegel said.

“It also was a reflection of the people coming together to celebrate their unity as Americans,” he said. “That’s the purpose of the ‘Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue.’ It isn’t just about a city. It’s to bring an entire country together to celebrate their unity as Americans through music.”

Biegel is extending the Rhapsody National Initiative through the 2025-26 season, which gives more symphony orchestras a chance to perform the work.

“All who perform it will be listed on a historic roster as part of the initiative,” he said. “I say historic because in the future people will look back to see the orchestras that existed now, who supported the idea and were part of the project.”

If necessary, Biegel will extend the initiative to the end of the 2026-27 season.

“There are some orchestras who weren’t able to be part of the project when I was assembling it, that can be part of it now,” he said. “So if they do it before the end of the 26-27 season, they will be included on the list, and you will see all the orchestras and conductors who performed it.”

The list is an historic record of both the music and the players, according to Biegel.

“I did a (similar) project 25 years ago for the Millenium, and it was the first largest consortium of orchestras and conductors that were assembled for a new work,” he said. “I look at the list and see that some of those orchestras are not around any more and that some of the conductors have moved onto other orchestras.”

Biegel would like to see the sentiment of “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue” spread outside of the United States.

“We share the red, white & blue flag colors with France, so who knows,” he said with a laugh. “Eventually I would like this piece to be performed similarly to how ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ is performed today as an internationally beloved piece of music. That’s all I want.”

Biegel’s work with the Rhapsody National Initiative has opened doors to four new projects, which are all quite different but share a theme that reflects the American spirit, according to Biegel.

The first is the world premiere release of the Jake Runestad composition, “Dreams of the Fallen,” on Aug. 16, by Reference Recordings.

Runestad was 25 when he wrote the piece for piano, orchestra and chorus, and it is about the horrors of war as seen through a soldier’s eyes and its lingering impact.

The text for the chorus are poems by renowned poet Brian Turner, a veteran of the Iraq War. “The Fallen” represent the soldiers, and the “dreams” are the nightmares they have, Biegel said.

“The text is about that and what he and his fellow soldiers feel as they try to fit back into the world they once knew,” he said.

The next project is a world premiere in February 2025 of a new work by Adolphus Hailstork, Biegel said.

“Adolphus is 83 years old and one of the leading and most respected African-American composers in the world,” he said. “He just finished writing his ‘Concerto No. 3’ for me, and the piece reflects on the cruelties of humanity. It has a lot of piercing harmonies, and it also includes a Ukrainian lullaby.”

The Pacific Symphony, with conductor Carl St. Clair will premiere the work, Biegel said.

“Carl, who has been the conductor for a few decades, is slowly stepping down from the post,” he said.

The third project is the premiere of a new work by another African-American composer, James Lee III, Biegel said.

“He is writing a piece called ‘Concerto in A’, and A stands for America,” he said. “It’s a tip of the hat to Gershwin’s ‘Concerto in F’, which celebrates its centennial in 2025.”

Lee has been composing the piece since February. 

“I also raised money for that so the orchestras don’t have to buy in to perform it,” Biegel said. “We’re trying to figure out where and when the world premiere will be.”

The fourth project is a work called “AWAKE!” composed by Melissa Manchester, known for her Top 10 hits “Midnight Blue” and “Don’t Cry out Loud.” 

“Melissa is so respected as a vocalist and songwriter who started out singing for Barry Manilow and Bette Midler, before Clive Davis took her on at Arista Records to be a vocalist in her own right,” Biegel said. “Now, she’s touring the North American tour of ‘Funny Girl’ as Mrs. Rose Brice.”

“AWAKE!” features various movements, moods and characters that reflect the human spirit,  Biegel said.

“It’s very well done, and we’re eyeing a potential premiere in the summer of 2025,” he said. “The plan is I’ll play the concerto, and Melissa will come out, play the piano and sing some of her favorite songs that people know her for with the orchestra.”

That’s the lay of the land through 2026, when the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, according to Biegel.

“For me it’s a labor of love to do these projects because I think it’s important to have compositions that reflect American symphonic music for piano and orchestra and chorus,” he said. “I know these projects won’t alter the course of history, but they make a statement.”