Sacramento Philharmonic’s sold out presentation of “Brubeck Ansel Adams: America” on Saturday night set a new standard for classical music. By commissioning an original composition by one of the premier jazz and classical father-son duos in the world set to a backdrop of images by one of the most famous nature photographers of all time, Sacramento’s orchestra raised the stature of the city and exposed a new audience to the possibilities of classical music.

The April 11 Sacramento debut of a wide-ranging classical piece composed by the legendary Dave and Chris Brubeck was a tribute to the love of the west shared by Dave and the late photographer Ansel Adams. Both men spent relatively isolated childhoods looking for ways to express themselves. They persuaded the world accept new forms of art by reinventing their respective mediums.

As a child, Adams studied Bach and Chopin with plans to be a concert pianist until he visited and fell in love with Yosemite at the age of 14. His black-and-white photos defined the allure of the west for a world that dreamed of following in his footsteps. He credited the attention to detail and discipline of music lessons with teaching him the patience required to compose the perfect photograph.

The 88-year-old Dave Brubeck was a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and Library of Congress Living Legend for his innovative classical and jazz work, including the creation of the jazz standard Take Five. Dave was touched by Adams’ autobiography and, after some hesitation, agreed to create piano sketches his son, Chris, would edit, orchestrate and match to some 93 photos from the Adams collection. Chris, a multi-instrumentalist and leader of the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, composed “Mark Twain’s World: A Symphonic Journey for Orchestra and Genuine Thespians” for the Stockton Symphony in 2005. When approached about the project, he immediately loved the idea, seeing the opportunity to merge music and photography to create something larger than either one alone.

The result is a piece that fills the senses while evoking nostalgia and hope. As majestic images of Half Dome and Horsetail Falls fade in and out on a giant screen, the music builds and then melts to mirror the majesty of a church or echoes the southwestern style as a mission takes the screen. When the final moonlit mountain went dark, the music stopped and the full house erupted. The entire 22-minute piece was underwritten by an architectural beat that repeats the percussion of Ansel Adams’ name. It also includes musical references to Adams’ early mentors, Bach and Chopin and a shared love of California’s grandeur. The effect is both inspiring and humbling.

The pairing of art and music was the brainchild of Sacramento Philharmonic board member Jennifer Basye Sander who three years ago orchestrated the commissioning of an Andre Previn piece honoring artist Wayne Thiebaud as part of California Compositions. For the “America” project, Sacramento Philharmonic teamed with a consortium of six other orchestras – Stockton Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Monterey Symphony, Baltimore Symphony orchestra, Temple University Symphony Orchestra and Abilene Philharmonic along with Meet the Composer and the James Irvine Foundation. The Center for Creative Photography provided the photos and Jack and Dolores Cakebread underwrote the projection design by famed Broadway designer Jeff Sugg. Wells Fargo sponsored tickets for 100-students to fuel the next generation of artists.

America may have been the big draw of the night, but it was not the only high note. Sacramento’s own 19-year-old Levi Saelua debuted his first commission exclusively for Sacramento Philharmonic. His jazz interpretation of Bach’s Suite No. 1 deconstructed a familiar harmony by stretching out the rhythm to create a new narrative that is fresh, yet familiar. Rounding out the pre-intermission offering was Richard Strauss’ Don Juan, a piece Sacramento Philharmonic Executive Director Marc Feldman labeled the grandfather of show music.

The second half of the evening was dedicated to Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 with it’s fateful themes that cycled back to the three generations of artistry that started out the evening.

The night of firsts was the second show of the season that has sold out and Music Director Michael Morgan plans to build on the momentum for the 2009-2010 season with a return of Beethoven’s 9th and Egyptian conductor Nader Abbassi. The combination of original works with traditional favorites and broad crowd and sponsor support puts Sacramento in an elite group on the world musical landscape.