Ice Field, a spatial composition for over 100 musicians arranged throughout the concert hall, was premiered by the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, December 12-13-14-15, 2001, at Davies Symphony Hall, with the composer improvising on the mighty Ruffatti pipe organ. You can hear excerpts from the December 15 performance here.

Other Minds extends special thanks to the Rockefeller Foundation MAP Fund and the members of Other Minds' donor circle, A Gathering of Other Minds, whose support helped make possible the commissioning of Ice Field.

Henry Brant with Michael Tilson Thomas at Davies Hall, August 2001

Composer Neely Bruce reviews Henry Brant's Ice Field, as premiered by the San Francisco Symphony. Mr. Bruce is a composer, writer and member of the music faculty of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He journeyed to San Francisco for the premiere of this Other Minds-commissioned work and filed this report.

Click here to see a Quicktime™ movie of Henry Brant trying out the Ruffatti organ and its low 32- and 64-foot stops.

Click here to read an interview with Henry Brant. He discusses his new work and his collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony with Other Minds' Charles Amirkhanian. View a 1926 photo from his personal scrapbook and hear why his first glimpse at age 13 of a fractured glacier still haunts him.

Henry Brant died peacefully at his home in Santa Barbara, California, April 26, 2008. He was 94.