The Deep Has Always Known Me Brandon Patrick George & Bryan Wagorn

• William Grant Still (1895 - 1978): Pastorela:
• 1 Still: Pastorela 09:32
• Carl Reinecke (1824 - 1910): Flute Sonata in E Minor, Op. 167 "Undine":
• 2 Reinecke: Flute Sonata in E Minor, Op. 167 "Undine": I. Allegro 07:05
• 3 Reinecke: Flute Sonata in E Minor, Op. 167 "Undine": II. Intermezzo. Allegretto vivace 03:38
• 4 Reinecke: Flute Sonata in E Minor, Op. 167 "Undine": III. Andante tranquillo 03:40
• 5 Reinecke: Flute Sonata in E Minor, Op. 167 "Undine": IV. Finale. Allegro molto agitato ed appassionato, quasi Presto. 05:56
• Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918): Nocturne:
• 6 Boulanger: Nocturne 02:33
• Florence Price (1887 - 1953): Five Songs:
• 7 Price: Five Songs: No. 1, A White Rose 01:13
• 8 Price: Five Songs: No. 2, The Moon Bridge 02:15
• 9 Price: Five Songs: No. 3, Night 01:49
• 10 Price: Five Songs: No. 4, Song to the Dark Virgin 01:45
• 11 Price: Five Songs: No. 5, Travel's End 01:56
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Introduction, Theme, and Variations on Trockne Blumen, D. 802:
• 12 Schubert: Introduction, Theme, and Variations on Trockne Blumen, D. 802 20:25
• Total Runtime 01:01:47

Info for The Deep Has Always Known Me

Grammy Award-winning flautist Brandon Patrick George and pianist Bryan Wagorn present “The Deep Has Always Known Me”, a programme that draws thematically on the myth of the Undine. The selection, developed from 2022 onwards from joint concert programmes, revolves around themes such as transformation, intimacy and loss. The focus is on Romantic literature for flute and piano: works by Franz Schubert and Carl Reinecke combine narrative elements, images of nature and lyrical forms of expression. Compositions by Lili Boulanger, Florence Price and William Grant Still expand this framework to include early modern musical languages, characteristic timbres and diverse cultural influences. George and Wagorn present the repertoire as a chamber music dialogue that brings together the stylistic contrasts of the selected works and highlights their thematic connections.

Brandon Patrick George, flute
Bryan Wagorn, piano

Brandon Patrick George
is a GRAMMY-winning flutist whose repertoire extends from the Baroque era to today. He is the flutist of Imani Winds and has appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta, Baltimore, and Albany symphonies, American Composers Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, among others. He has been praised as “elegant” by The New York Times, as a “virtuoso” by The Washington Post, and as a “knockout musician with a gorgeous sound” by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Brandon has performed at the Elbphilharmonie, the Kennedy Center, the Dresden Music Festival, and the Prague Spring Festival. In addition to his work with Imani Winds, Brandon’s solo performances include appearances at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 92nd Street Y, Tippet Rise, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. In 2021, Brandon was part of the inaugural class of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab, a program designed to advance the careers of early and mid-career artists and support the future of classical music. During his yearlong residency at WQXR, Brandon guest hosted Evening Music, interviewed Ford Foundation president Darren Walker about diversity and equity in the performing arts, and recorded with pianist Aaron Diehl and harpist June Han.

Prior to his solo career, Brandon performed as a guest with many of the world’s leading ensembles including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. He has appeared as guest principal flute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, performing at Walt Disney Concert Hall and at the Hollywood Bowl with Music Director Gustavo Dudamel. His ensemble work allowed him to work closely with some of the foremost composers of our time including John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Tania León, Steve Reich, and George Lewis.

Brandon has collaborated with many illustrious musicians and composers in chamber settings, including with the Escher Quartet, pianists Aaron Diehl and Lowell Liebermann, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, harpist Bridget Kibbey, and composers Valerie Coleman and Sullivan Fortner. His recent and upcoming performance highlights include the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Phillips Collection, Morgan Library and Museum, Chamber Music San Francisco, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, the Civic Music Association, and a special solo flute plus electronics performance at Little Island in New York, curated by Cécile McLorin Salvant.

In September 2023, Brandon's latest album, Twofold, was released on In a Circle Records. Twofold, Brandon's second solo album, explores musical dialogues that transcend space, time, and identity by pairing canonical works for solo flute with new compositions. The recording features music by C.P.E. Bach, Claude Debussy, Reena Esmail, Saad Haddad, Shawn E. Okpebholo, Ruth Crawford Seeger, and Toru Takemitsu. BBC Music Magazine gave Twofold a four-star rating for both the performance and recording, calling the album "a superb collection." Twofold follows the success of Brandon Patrick George’s debut solo album, which includes music by Kalevi Aho, J.S. Bach, Pierre Boulez, and Sergei Prokofiev, and was released in 2020 on Haenssler Classics. Brandon was profiled in The New York Times around the album’s release, in an article titled “A Flutist Steps into the Solo Spotlight,” which described the album as “a program that showcases the flute in all its wit, warmth and brilliance." His next album will be released on Pentatone in 2026, featuring works by William Grant Still, Carl Reinecke, Lili Boulanger, Florence Price, and Schubert.

Brandon Patrick George regularly serves on panels about diversity in classical music, being repeatedly asked what institutions can do to support and reflect the communities they serve. The many conversations, and desire to use his platform for change, inspired him to create his latest commissioning initiative, BPG: The Community Concerto Project. Brandon proposes a new concerto which features students that he will mentor during his collaboration in the community. Having a new commission which tells the story of that community, while also representing the community on stage, encompasses Brandon’s vision of helping orchestras deepen their connections with their audiences, inspire young musicians of color, and expand the repertoire with programming that reflects the community in which they serve. In June 2024, the Albany Symphony presented BPG: The Community Concerto Project in a new concerto performed by Brandon and the Albany High School Choir composed by Michael Gilbertson. Brandon will continue to work with symphonies and students across the country in future seasons, helping to build connections between various communities and orchestral institutions.

Raised by a single mother in Dayton, OH, Brandon is the proud product of public arts education. He draws on his personal experiences in his commitment to educating the next generation, performing countless outreach concerts for schoolchildren every year, and mentoring young conservatory musicians of color embarking on performance careers. Brandon trained at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Michel Debost, in Paris with Sophie Cherrier, and received a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Marya Martin. He continued his studies under the guidance of Lorna McGhee, now principal flutist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Brandon serves on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music since 2021 and was appointed to the flute faculty at the Mannes School of Music in January 2025. He has spent many summers on the faculty of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada. In 2024-25, he was the Music Consultant at The Morgan Library & Museum, where he oversaw the development and implementation of its music program.

Bryan Wagorn
Canadian-American pianist Bryan Wagorn serves as Assistant Conductor at The Metropolitan Opera where he holds the Shinn Lee Chair. He has performed internationally at leading venues including the United Nations in New York, Carnegie Hall, the Teatro Colòn, and the Vienna State Opera, and has also appeared on such television and radio stations as Good Morning America, WQXR and CBC Radio. He regularly performs with the Met Chamber Ensemble in concerts at Carnegie Hall and performed as pianist in the Met’s Grammy-winning productions of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in my Bones and Champion. He recently performed the role of pianist Boleslao Lazinski onstage at the Metropolitan Opera in their 2023 production of Giordano’s Fedora directed by David McVicar, the role having been last performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet. As a conductor, he collaborated with Angel Blue and the LA Opera on a digital short film with music by David Lang directed by Bill Morrison. He also performed and recorded on the Met Museum’s Cristofori fortepiano, the oldest such instrument in existence. In 2022 he performed in Carnegie Hall’s gala fundraiser for Ukraine in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium along such artists as Angel Blue, Denyce Graves, Isabel Leonard, Midori, and Evgeny Kissin.

Mr. Wagorn has been engaged by summer festivals including Tanglewood, Ravinia, Salzburg, Glyndebourne, Marlboro, Seiji Ozawa’s Matsumoto festival, and has served on the faculties of the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada’s Summer Music Institute, Youth Orchestra of the Americas, and Carnegie Hall's National Youth Orchestra. He has performed with internationally acclaimed artists including Angel Blue, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Lise Davidsen, Joyce DiDonato, Midori, Nadine Sierra, and Pinchas Zukerman. He has been a guest teacher at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto, the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Glyndebourne’s Jerwood Young Artist Program, and the McGill Schulich School of Music.

He made his solo recital debut at New York's Carnegie Hall in 2009 and has also appeared at the Library of Congress, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Teatro di San Carlo in Napoli, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Hamburg Opera, Summer Stage in New York’s Central Park, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and he has also toured extensively with Jeunesses Musicales. He has also performed recitals for the Marilyn Horne Foundation, Richard Tucker Foundation, and George London Foundation.

Booklet for The Deep Has Always Known Me