Teddy Abrams: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

November 30, 2015 by TOM HUIZENGA If we re relying on the younger generation to help boost interest in classical music, look no further than Teddy Abrams. The 28yearold pianist, clarinetist, conductor and composer has just begun his second season as music director of the Louisville Orchestra and he s brimming with ideas on what to do with Bach, Beethoven and music made today. For his first week on the job in Louisville, Abrams played jazz piano in the streets and took his orchestra players into nightclubs and AfricanAmerican churches. PBS made a web series on his first season. Earlier this year, he put two first symphonies on the same program Brahms First and a debut symphony by Sebastian Chang, a composer still in his 20s just to gauge audience reaction. Abrams filled the hall by giving out free tickets to firsttime symphonygoers. He was happy to hear that many of them liked the new piece best, saying they appreciated hearing the composer introduce it onstage. Abrams doesn t treat composers like