Rounds (2022) 15'
for piano and string orchestra
piano solo and string orchestra
Commissioned by Art of the Piano Foundation for pianist Awadagin Pratt; Co-Commissioned by Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, IRIS Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Upcoming PerformancesPerformance HistoryPress
Upcoming Performances 
Press
Violinist.com Interview with Composer Jessie Montgomery
Published March 13, 2025
Violinist.com
“The point is that the act of creating live music brings people together. ‘There’s the attraction of the music and the attraction of the people who are making the music,…
Programming Announcement: Awadagin Pratt loves how the ‘groove comes back’ in Montgomery’s ‘Rounds’
Published December 30, 2024
Experience CSO
“Pratt said of the concerto, ‘it’s kind of addictive and intoxicating. People get into a groove with the material as it comes back, and you‘ve got this really beautiful middle…
Review: Masterworks 1, with Grammy-award winning pianist Awadagin Pratt, is strong beginning to 2024-25 season
Published September 15, 2024
The Spokesman-Review
“It cannot be denied that what we heard on Saturday night was an immediately and persistently engaging work for piano and strings that was rhythmically vital, melodically attractive and emotionally…
Review: See Awadagin Pratt’s Incredible ‘Rounds’ While You Can (Awadagin Pratt and the New Century Chamber Orchestra)
Published May 3, 2024
KQED
“The jaw-dropping highlight of the program, which repeats Friday at the Green Music Center and Saturday at the Presidio Theatre, was pianist Awadagin Pratt’s performance of Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds. Re-reading my…
Feature: Jasmine Barnes’ “ListN Up Playlist”
Published May 2, 2024
I Care if you Listen
“Rounds by Jessie Montgomery, who is one of my good friends, is not only the piece that made Jessie a recent Grammy Award winner for best contemporary classical composition, but…
Announcement: The string-player winners of the 2024 Grammy Awards
Published February 5, 2024
The Strad
Composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery won the category for the Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her work Rounds, performed by pianist Awadagin Pratt and A Far Cry chamber orchestra.
Announcement: Harlem Quartet, Jessie Montgomery Win 2024 Grammys
Published February 4, 2024
Violinist.com
Composer Jessie Montgomery was awarded the GRAMMY in the category of Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her composition “Rounds,” performed by pianist Awadagin Pratt and the A Far Cry chamber orchestra on the album Stillpoint…
Announcement: Black women composers featured in local concerts, South Florida Symphony Orchestra to perform works of Florence Price and Jesse Montgomery
Published January 16, 2024
The Miami Times
“Pratt points out that the concert will also be a unique experience, particularly for fans of Montgomery’s work. ‘A lot of times music is just played once. You know, there’s…
Review: Pianist Awadagin Pratt wows Utah Symphony audience with Utah premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds, Bach keyboard concerto
Published December 6, 2023
The Utah Review
“The three standing ovations that Pratt received immediately after Rounds, a Grammy-nominated piece for piano and strings, reinforced the consistently enthusiastic affirmative response the 2022 work has received in more…
Feature: NPR Best Albums of 2023
Published December 6, 2023
NPR
“Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds, a mini-piano concerto, is built on a traditional foundation, allowing a stormy cadenza and flourishes of high Romanticism. It’s got legs. Pratt has already performed the work with…
Review: Pianist Pratt provides the highlights at Utah Symphony program
Published December 3, 2023
Utah Arts Review
“Montgomery’s Rounds and the Bach Keyboard Concerto No. 4 pair exceptionally well, and both are suited to Pratt’s unique technical and interpretive gifts, which include a strong, percussive tone and the…
Review: BSO opens new season to a full house
Published September 23, 2023
The Boston Globe
“The Bach made a felicitous pairing with Jessie Montgomery’s “Rounds,” a work scored for similar forces and premiered earlier this year. In her comments from the stage, Montgomery, who is…
Review: Eliot Inspired Awadagin Pratt and A Far Cry
Published November 20, 2023
The Boston Musical Intelligencer
“Jessie Montgomery’s Grammy-nominated Rounds for solo piano and string orchestra created a dappling watery world, as Debussy met Glass in repeating figures. At times we heard a very strong metric four…
Announcement: Grammy Awards 2024: The Full List of Nominees
Published November 10, 2023
The New York Times
Nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition: “Montgomery: Rounds,” Jessie Montgomery, composer (Awadagin Pratt, A Far Cry and Roomful of Teeth)
The Best Contemporary Classical on Bandcamp: August 2023
Published September 14, 2023
BandCamp
“The music is new, but it’s rooted in classical traditions, and it’s fascinating to hear compositional voices that routinely push forward, earnestly engaging in traditional approaches. On Jessie Montgomery’s stirring…
Review: After 12 years, pianist Awadagin Pratt rediscovers his sweet spot
Published August 25, 2023
NPR
“Pratt handed each of his composers some lines from Eliot’s poem as a jumping-off point. Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds, which opens the album, already has a life of its own — Pratt…
Review: BSO Opens New Season to a Full House
Published September 23, 2022
Boston Globe
“Inspired by patterns in nature, from fractals to the routes of migratory birds, “Rounds” takes the form of nesting Rondos interrupted by a big virtuoso cadenza. Perhaps also inspired by…