A conversation with Music Director José Luis Gómez
On April 10 and 12, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director José Luis Gómez, will premiere Robert Muczynski’s Symphony No. 1 (1953), honoring the composer’s deep ties to Tucson and the University of Arizona, where he taught composition.
The project began during the 2020 pandemic, when Gómez set out to explore American composers connected to Tucson. Already familiar with Muczynski’s woodwind works, he discovered a wealth of manuscripts archived at the University of Texas at Austin and began researching unperformed pieces.
Gómez discovered the TSO had performed several of his works during the 60s and 70s, but none had been recorded. One was the Symphonic Memoir.
“It was first performed by the TSO in January 1979. It was one of his last orchestral pieces, so the Symphony this week is going back to the beginning.”
Working with TSO librarian Carrie White Carder, Gómez spent years preparing the symphony and securing approval from Muczynski’s estate. The work survives as a complete, fully orchestrated manuscript written early in the composer’s career, likely set aside as Muczynski began focusing on other projects, and was never performed.
For Gómez, the premiere is both a musical and cultural milestone. “It has been a lot of work, but it’s important to do this the right way,” he said, “and to pay tribute to a composer who is significant not just in American music, but to Tucson. It’s a great story to tell.”