CONCERTO FOR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA was commissioned by River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) for its 11th season, “Side by Side,” with generous support from the Wortham Foundation.

In discussing the commission with Alecia Lawyer (founder, artistic director, and principal oboist of ROCO), she expressed great fondness for the second movement of Béla Bartók’s iconic Concerto for Orchestra, and asked if I might consider using it as inspiration. Bartók presents the wind instruments of the orchestra in pairs in that movement, and, in the first movement of my Concerto (“Epigraph”), I follow suit, although the musical content is otherwise quite different. The second movement (“Variations”) presents a simple theme in the winds that I mine for potential twists and turns, the stately minuet gradually accelerating into a stomping scherzo. The driven finale (“Ostinato”) features a persistent one-measure rhythmic idea that I hope generates momentum and excitement toward the end of the work.

CONCERTO FOR CHAMBER ORCHESTRA is dedicated to my husband, Michael J. Muña, who, once upon a time, spent countless hours mastering the opening bassoon passage of Bartók’s masterwork.

Composition Date: 2015

2(pic).2.2(bass).2 2.0.0.0 perc(1) strings

Approximate duration: 18’

I. Epigraph (5’15”)
II. Variations (8’00”)
III. Ostinato (4’30”)

Performance History

  • 13 Feb 2016; ROCO (conductor-less); Houston, TX (World Premiere)

  • Moores School Symphony Orchestra

  • 16 Nov 2025; Baltimore Chamber Orchestra/Robert Moody; Baltimore, MD

  • 14 & 15 Nov 2026; ROCO/Rei Hotoda

Recordings

    • “…Maroney owns up to having both Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and the Sibelius Symphony No. 5 in mind when he was composing, but those influences are pretty well disguised in all but the tense, dark, occasionally angular final movement, which channels both composers as well as Shostakovich. The first two movements, though, are lighter in spirit, with Impressionistic wind writing catching the attention in the first, and an elegant minuet serving as the basis for an inventive variation set as a surprising central movement, in which Maroney ultimately chafes against the format (both the dance rhythm and the neoclassical restraint.)” (Allan Kozinn, San Francisco Classical Voice, 8 Jan 2019)

  • “…a thoughtful, deliberate work…this piece rewards careful listening.” (Jeffrey Young, I Care If You Listen, 7 Dec 2018)