Stephen Lias Commission “It Stands Alone”

Auburn Symphony is partnering with the National Park Service to honor Mount Rainier National Park’s 125th anniversary! Stephen Lias was the Composer in Residence for Mount Rainier National Park which resulted in the work It Stands Alone which will be premiered by the Auburn Symphony March 29, 2026.

A self-styled “adventurer-composer,” Lias has established a long track record of creating park-inspired concert and chamber music and has served as Artist-in-Residence at Rocky Mountain, Gates of the Arctic, Glacier, Denali, and other national parks. The resulting pieces have been premiered in places as far-flung as Alaska, Taiwan, and Australia, and his orchestral music has been programmed by symphonies around the US, including the 2017 premiere of “All the Songs that Nature Sings” at Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Lias’s activities at Mount Rainier National Park includes multiple visits to the park in different seasons, immersive backcountry and alpine exploration, and public presentations in the park and area communities. He began writing the piece in the fall of 2024, with its premiere on Sunday, March 29, 2026 | 2:30 PM.

Upcoming Commisions

Viet Cuong Saxophone Concerto Consortium

Auburn Symphony is excited to announce we will part of the commission of a new concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra by composer Viet Cuong featuring Timothy McAllister in the spring of 2027.

Described as “alluring” and “stirring” by The New York Times, the music of Vietnamese-American composer Viet Cuong has been performed on six continents by musicians and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Eighth Blackbird, Sandbox Percussion, Kronos Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Dallas Winds, among many others. Cuong’s music has been heard at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center, as well as on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk and PBS NewsHour, and his works for wind ensemble have garnered over a thousand performances worldwide. In his music, Cuong also enjoys exploring the unexpected and whimsical, and he is often drawn to projects where he can make peculiar combinations and sounds feel enchanting or oddly satisfying. His works thus include concerti for tuba and dueling oboes, percussion quartets utilizing wine glasses and sandpaper, and pieces for double reed sextet, cello octet, and solo snare drum. This eclecticism extends to the variety of musical groups he writes for, and he has worked closely with ensembles ranging from middle school bands to Grammy-winning orchestras and chamber ensembles. He is currently the Pacific Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence and serves as Assistant Professor of Music Composition at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Cuong holds degrees from Princeton University (MFA/PhD), the Curtis Institute of Music (AD), and Peabody Conservatory (BM/MM).

Previous Commissions

Jessica Meyer Consortium Commission

Auburn Symphony Orchestra is honored to be working with composer and violist Jessica Meyer in the commissioning of a new work for orchestra. To fund the work’s creation, Meyer and ASO are forming a consortium of orchestras. The new piece, titled Turbulent Flames, will be approximately eight minutes in length and is meant to be a concert opening type of work. ASO will give the world premiere in the fall of 2024 and consortium partners will perform the work in the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons. 

ASO Music Director Wesley Schulz has previously championed several of Meyer’s works on Auburn programs including Go Big or Go Home (performed on the orchestra’s 2022 Link Up program) and Grasping for Light in April 2021. Meyer’s music explores a wide variety of styles and techniques and is known for its visceral use of colors and rhythms. Ensembles such as Roomful of Teeth and Vox Clamantis have commissioned works from Meyer and orchestras such as the Phoenix, North Carolina, Charlotte, and Vermont Symphonies have performed her music. In the fall of 2023 Meyer joined the viola faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.

Consortium Orchestras

Learn more about Jessica Meyer at her website.

Download an information sheet on the Meyer Orchestra Consortium.

If your orchestra is interested in joining the consortium, write us at: info@auburnsymphony.org

Works Commissioned by the Auburn Symphony Orchestra

Tania León: West Coast Premiere of Pasajes on October 29, 2022. Co-commission through NewMusic USA’s Amplifying Voices project. 

Jennifer Higdon: Washington State Premiere of Cold Mountain Suite on January 28, 2024. Co-commission through New Music USA. 

Jessica Meyer: World Premiere of Turbulant Flames performed October 13, 2024. Music Director Wesley Schulz formed a consortium of orchestras, led by Auburn Symphony Orchestra, to commission Turbulent Flames. 

Saunder Choi, arranger - Sana Ngayong Pasko, for tenor vocalist and orchestra. December 9, 2024. Commissioned by Auburn Symphony Orchestra. 

Mateo Acuña, Auburn Poet Laureate - World Premiere of a new poem “Meditation on La catedral engloutie, or the Sunken Cathedral”. January 26, 2025. Commissioned by Auburn Symphony Orchestra. 

Stephen Lias, World Premiere of It Stands Alone to be performed March 29, 2025. In partnership with the National Parks Service to honor Mount Rainier National Park’s 125th anniversary.

Viet Cuong, Premiere of a new saxophone concerto with Timothy McAllister in the spring of 2027.