Shepherd: On a Clear Day Jan Vogler, Hamburger Alsterspatzen, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg & Kent Nagano

• Sean Shepherd (b. 1979): On a Clear Day, Part I:
• 1 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part I: I. 02:58
• 2 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part I: II. Lied der Amsel 01:37
• 3 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part I: III. Anticipation / Forboding 03:39
• 4 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part I: IV. Morgenlob 02:48
• 5 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part I: V. Meccanico 02:44
• On a Clear Day, Part II:
• 6 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part II: VI. Somber 05:55
• 7 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part II: VII. 03:31
• 8 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part II: VIII. Cheeky 02:01
• 9 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part II: IX. Die Erde Rief 09:05
• 10 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part II: X. Very slow, dreamy 02:57
• 11 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part II: XI. Lilting at first. gathering intensity 07:45
• 12 Shepherd: On a Clear Day, Part II: XII. Spacious 05:22
• Piano Trio – Auf dem Meer:
• 13 Shepherd: Piano Trio – Auf dem Meer: I. Im Hafen 01:49
• 14 Shepherd: Piano Trio – Auf dem Meer: II. Seereise 04:01
• 15 Shepherd: Piano Trio – Auf dem Meer: III. Zuhause angekommen 04:02
• Total Runtime 01:00:14

Info for Shepherd: On a Clear Day

Kent Nagano and Jan Vogler, the American in Germany and the German in the United States, perpetually crossing the Atlantic and calling both continents home, embody and live this once so powerful transatlantic ideal in every respect. For they are bound by much more than a deep artistic friendship and their collaborative work. They share—even more comprehensively—a worldview and understanding of life based on the Western, humanistic canon of values that Europeans once carried across the Atlantic to their new world...…

"It was precisely this transatlantic idea that drove me when Jan and I developed this project a few years ago," says Kent Nagano. "Hamburg was the link to the New World not just for the people of Hamburg, but for millions of Europeans." This was to be reflected in a musical work capable of carrying this idea into the future. For good reason: for years, the continents have seemingly been drifting apart.

The world-renowned conductor does not hide his concern about this development. "It was also important to me to anchor the transatlantic idea in the next generation through children's and youth choirs on both sides of the ocean, who could work together and spend time with each other."

The result is the oratorio "An einem klaren Tag – On a Clear Day" for cello, choir, and orchestra.

The participants in the project underscore the thematic concern: the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, texts by the well-known German poet Ulla Hahn set to music by the young American composer Sean Shepherd, who made a name for himself in the United States at a very early age, various youth choirs from Germany and New York, along with the German star cellist Jan Vogler and Nagano as the American conductor of the Hamburg State Opera, who grew up where America is farthest from Europe—in a fishing village on the American West Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles...... (Excerpts from booklet notes by Inge Kloepfer)

Jan Vogler, cello
Mira Wang, violin
Matthias Kirschnereit, piano
Young Persons' Choral Academy
The Young ClassX Ensemble
Dresdner Kreuzchor
Hamburger Alsterspatzen
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Kent Nagano, conductor

Jan Vogler
Jan‘s distinguished career has brought him together with renowned conductors and internationally acclaimed orchestras around the world, such as London Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. His great ability allowed him to explore the sound boundaries of the cello and to establish an intensive dialogue with contemporary composers and artists. This includes regular world premieres, including works by Tigran Mansurian (with WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Semyon Bychkov), John Harbison (with Mira Wang and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), Udo Zimmermann (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra), Wolfgang Rihm (Double Concerto with Mira Wang), Jörg Widman (Cello Concerto Dunkle Saiten, dedicated to Jan Vogler himself), Nico Muhly, Sven Helbig and Zhou-Long (Drei Kontinente – Konzert für Cello und Orchester, composed for Jan Vogler) and Sean Shepherd (On a Clear Day based on a cycle of poems by Ulla Hahn, for cello, choirs and orchestra, which was premiered in 2023 with the Philharmonic State Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano).

The New York Times praises his “soulful, richly hued playing” and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung grants him the ability “to make his cello speak like a singing voice”.

In addition to his classical concert activities as a soloist, Jan Vogler is constantly looking for new ways to combine music with other arts. In February 2024, he gave a highly acclaimed concert with inaugural-poet Amanda Gorman, performing Gorman‘s contemporary poems with cello suites by J.S. Bach in the Isaac Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall. The duo appeared on the popular ‚Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert‘ in March 2024. Jan Vogler has also collaborated with actor Bill Murray for their joint musical-literary project “Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends – New Worlds”. The innovative programme drew international attention and brought together works by Twain, Hemingway, Whitman, Cooper, Bernstein, Bach, Piazzolla, Mancini, Gershwin and Foster for an unexpected and exciting exploration of the relationship between literature and music.

Highlights of Jan Vogler’s career as a soloist are concerts with the New York Philharmonic – both in New York and Dresden at the occasion of the reopening of the rebuilt Dresdner Frauenkirche under the direction of Lorin Maazel in 2005 –, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh and Montréal Symphony Orchestras, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra dell’ Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic as well as with The Knights. He collaborates with conductors such as Andris Nelsons, Fabio Luisi, Sir Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Thomas Hengelbrock, Manfred Honeck and Kent Nagano.

Jan Vogler has been Intendant of the renowned Dresdner Musikfestspiele since October 2008 as well as Artistic Director of the Moritzburg Festival since 2001. In 2017 the Moritzburg Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary as one of the most established chamber music festivals internationally.

In 2006, he received the European Award for Culture and in 2011 the Erich-Kästner Award for tolerance, humanity and international understanding. In June 2018 he received the European Award for Culture TAURUS as Director of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele. 2021 Jan Vogler was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Jan Vogler plays the Stradivari ‘Ex Castelbarco/Fau’ 1707 cello.

Kent Nagano
is considered one of today’s outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. From September 2015 until August 2025, he was General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg. From September 2026, Kent Nagano will be Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in Madrid and will take on the role of Principal Artistic Partner of the Filarmonica Toscanini from the 2025/2026 season. In addition, he is committed as Artistic Director of the Ring project “The Wagner Cycles” of Dresdner Musikfestspiele with Dresdner Festspielorchester and Concerto Köln, and as patron of the Herrenchiemsee Festival. He has been Honorary Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin since 2006, Concerto Köln since 2019, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 2021 and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg since 2023.

As a much sought-after guest conductor, Kent Nagano regularly works with leading international orchestras worldwide, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique Radio France, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Chicago and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest and the Wiener Symphoniker.

Nagano was awarded Grammys for his recordings of Busoni’s Doktor Faust with Opéra National de Lyon, Prokofjew’s Peter and the Wolf with the Russian National Orchestra and Saariaho’s L’amour de Loin with the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin. He has worked with labels such as BIS, Decca, Sony Classical, FARAO Classics and Analekta for many years, and has also recorded CDs with Berlin Classics, Erato, Teldec, Pentatone, Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi.

In September 2021, Kent Nagano published his second book with Berlin Verlag. In “10 Lessons of my Life”, he recalls ten deeply personal encounters from which he learned important lessons, not only for his career but for his life more broadly. Among those experiences are encounters with the Icelandic pop artist Björk, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and the Nobel Prize winner in physics Donald Glaser.

Kent Nagano was awarded an honorary doctorate from McGill University in Montréal in 2005, an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal in 2006, and an honorary doctorate from San Francisco State University in 2018. Since 2017, Kent Nagano has been a „Compagnon“ of the “Ordre des arts et des lettres” of Québec and in the fall of 2023, Kent Nagano was also awarded the title of “Chevalier” in the “Ordre des art et des lettres” of France.

In February 2024, Kent Nagano was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Federal President and in June 2024 he was awarded the Order of Canada, Canada‘s highest civilian honor. Kent Nagano is the recipient of the 2024 Brahms Prize of the Brahms Society of Schleswig-Holstein.

Booklet for Shepherd: On a Clear Day