ROUND TOP — “God is loud. A clangoring, clattering clamor. A roiling wind and pounding wave. A din of jangling bells and blasting thunder.
James MacMillan's "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel," an astonishing concerto for percussion and orchestra, exploded from the stage Saturday night at the International Festival-Institute at Round Top. A Led Zeppelin concert would have been tame by comparison.
One of the enduring truths in the arts is that the particular is the surest path to the universal — in this case, a human longing to overcome finitude through unification with a glorious and incorruptible realm beyond space and time. MacMillan's specific faith led him to address that universal feeling in this radical, deeply satisfying work.
The amazingly assured soloist was Thomas Burritt, the sympathetic conductor Grant Llewellyn, who got polished and enthusiastic work from the Texas Festival Orchestra.”


Mike Greenberg, San Antonio Express News Senior Critic