Press
“Experiential Orchestra performed Arvo Pärt's music, itself wide-ranging and strenuous, with immense grace and an ease like breathing. Pärt's work places an unusually heavy demand on the individual performer, with exposed parts-intensified by the acoustic nature of St. James Chapel-perpetually forcing ensemble members to walk a tightrope. Members of the small orchestra, bound together by Blachly, made it seem effortless.” – WKCR Review
“There was the feeling of breathing in and out in each phrase, and an overall sensation of physical stillness giving way to the infinite possibilities of internal contemplation, the music as a guide. The performance, even in the dramatic Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten and Bragle’s delicately articulated Vater Unser—her voice rounded and pleasingly throaty—hit the exact balance of clear, energetic advocacy without expressive dictation. This was a musical ceremony, the Experiential Orchestra presenting Pärt’s ideas about time, space, and inner life, and musicians and audience sharing a regard for his special qualities. In the concluding Da pacem Domine, a feeling of social warmth and beauty seemed to rise out of the orchestra, and when it was done everyone shared in a long, welcome silence.” – New York Classical Review
“The conductor James Blachly elicits splendid work from the vocal soloists, Sarah Brailey and Dashon Burton, and from the Experiential Orchestra and Chorus.” –The New Yorker
“Ethel Smyth, the British suffragist, has found another advocate in the conductor James Blachly, whose recording of her last major work, ‘The Prison,’ from 1931, exudes quality (Chandos) — an album of the year, by any measure.” – New York Times
“The performances by the…Experiential Orchestra (James Blachly, conductor) were laudable, and, as is necessary with this music, technically immaculate…Blachly [had] an understated sense of finesse and reverence, letting the music fill the towering, reverberant space.” – Musical America
“Stewart takes the solo part [of Perry’s Violin Concerto] to the eloquent heights, savouring every gesture in tandem with the vibrant orchestral writing, which Blachly and his players invest with striking lucidity” – Gramophone
“All are performed with passionate commitment by conductor James Blachly’s Experiential Orchestra. But it’s Perry’s Violin Concerto and Perksinson’s Sinfonietta No. 1 which really strike home.” – BBC Music Magazine
“There aren’t too many albums, however good they might be, that make me stop everything all at once to listen to a second time. This is that album.” – Cultural Attaché on American Counterpoints (Bright Shiny Things, 2024)
“Throughout the concert, Blachly displayed an articulate and artistic style, his every gesture finding immediate orchestral response.” – Virginia Gazette
“James Blachly has been a gift to Johnstown, his passion and imagination a blessing for his Johnstown Symphony Orchestra and our region.” – The Tribune Democrat
“Led by conductor James Blachly, the [Experiential Orchestra] takes an unconventional approach to classical music: Think spontaneous swaying, dancing and general revelry—or wherever the music leads you.” – Time Out New York
“The talented orchestra… is splendidly served by the supple conducting of James Blachly, who illuminates the vivacity and the poignancy of Mozart’s score.” – Finger Lakes Times
“Before a December performance of The Nutcracker by the Experiential Orchestra in the ballroom of the Bohemian National Hall in Manhattan, conductor James Blachly urged attendees to experience the music however they preferred. Some members of the audience sat on chairs interspersed throughout the musicians, while others danced in front of the orchestra. A handful of listeners even sprawled out on the floor to listen.” –“Surround Sound,” in Symphony Magazine [link “Symphony Magazine” to: https://issuu.com/americanorchestras/docs/symphony_spring_2019/24]
“‘The nature of the piece is to challenge us,’ Blachly said [of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring]. ‘It’s like a portal you have to go through. If you don’t feel spent or destroyed there’s something wrong.’ Much of the audience seemed to embrace the conductor's philosophy. As the asymmetrical groove of the ‘Ritual of the Rival Tribes’ chugged into motion, men in their 20s and 30s began to bob their heads. Soon, movements grew more demonstrative (aided by a couple of professionals planted in the crowd). In the amorphous sections of ‘The Sacrifice’ a few couples gamely tried to slow dance. The violent ‘Glorification of the Chosen One’ briefly spawned a hardcore-style mosh pit in the increasingly steamy hall.” – WQXR, New York Public Radio