Symphony Silicon Valley, with guest conductor Paul Polivnick presented the world premiere of Amram's Symphonic Variations on a Song by Woody Guthrie for the gala opening of their new season.

The Guthrie Foundation commissioned Amram to compose this new symphonic work, celebrating the roots musics of Oklahoma Native American Indian stomp dances, Mexican polkas, European classical, African American, Country and Western, Delta Blues, and the immigrant urban sounds heard by Guthrie when he lived in Brooklyn, surrounded by Jewish, Asian, Latino, and Central European musics, all of which were part of Guthrie's experience in his wanderings as he composed This Land is Your Land.

It is modeled after Brahms Variations on a theme by Haydn and Amram's own Theme and Variations on Red River Valley for Flute and Strings, inspired by the time he spent with Guthrie in 1956, and Guthrie's book Bound for Glory.

Two other orchestras are already programming it for the 2008-2009 season.

See the following links for reviews and articles:

• Review from the San Francisco Classical Voice
• Review from the Metro San Jose
• Review from the San Jose Mercury News
• Notes From the Composer

Upbeat : Nine Lives of a Musical Cat published by Paradigm Press as their first trade book, with a forward by Frank McCourt. In the spring of 2008 they will re-release Amram's other two books Vibrations and Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac in paperback editions.

See the following links for reviews and articles:

• St. Petersburg Times review of Upbeat

This 1988 live recording contains the song with lyrics by Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Alan Ginsburg with Amram's music, used as the title song for the classic 1959 film, narrated by Jack Kerouac. For further details, see this Bridge Records page. The all-star band includes Paquito d' Rivera, saxophone; Vic Juris, guitar; Akira Tana, drums and and Victor Venegas, bass along with Amram's scat vocals and his multitude of instruments. Compositions include music by Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Gershwin and Amram.

Amram's symphony Songs of the Soul and excerpts from his Friday Night Sacred Service and Holocaust opera The Final Ingredient has been released internationally by Naxos Records. Sponsored by the Milken Foundation, these three critically acclaimed works were conducted by Kenneth Kiesler and Christopher Wilkins.