Commissioned work by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the BBC Proms. 'The Infant Minstrel and His Peculiar Menagerie' is a symphonic fantasy for solo violin, choir, and orchestra. Violinist Vadim Gluzman performs the lead role of a traveling musical storyteller who introduces a collection of wondrous tales by the mysterious author Erroneous Anonymous. The Infant Minstrel guides listeners in a voyage of imagination. Auerbach's new composition speaks to the young and the young at heart with child-like, yet enigmatic and humorous poems in the tradition of 'nonsense' authors such as Edward Lear, Lewis Carol, Hilaire Belloc, and Mother Goose, as well as Edith Sitwell, Shel Silverstein, Edward Gorey, and Tim Burton. The text is relevant, yet timeless; absurd, yet profound; simple, yet multi-layered. We meet characters such as the Common Corporant, the Moon Rider, and the Flying Pig that enjoys sitting on a cloud watching the crowd. The work embraces with humor the traditions of the British and Gaelic bard and the troubadour, whose songs told embellished and exotic tales. It also finds inspiration in the menagerie - a diverse collection of creatures and curiosities - and the sideshow presentation of oddities and the bizarre. (Lera Auerbach)