Drawing on influences from avant-garde classical music to jazz to Korean film, David Sanford: Black Noise collects three orchestral works by the Amherst-based composer. Black Noise, commissioned by BMOP in 2017, combines elements of spectralism with big band moments inspired in part by the visual lushness in the films of Wong Kar-Wai. Prayer: in Memoriam Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. honours the civil rights leader and reflects on Sanford's own experiences in Pittsburgh following Dr. King's murder. Cellist Matt Haimovitz, a longtime friend and collaborator of Sanford's, joins the BMOP orchestra as soloist on Scherzo Grosso. Originally written for Sanford's big band project the Pittsburgh Collective, this version recasts the supporting ensemble as a full orchestra.