Inbal Segev commissioned Anna Clyne’s DANCE after being introduced to the composer by conductor Marin Alsop. Segev’s winter tour of the work with the UK National Youth Orchestra (Jan 4–7) followed performances of the piece around the world since its premiere in 2019, led by many conductors, including Alsop. In 2020, Segev and Alsop released a recording of the work on the Avie label with the London Philharmonic that topped the Amazon Classical Concertos chart and has received more than twelve and a half million listens on Spotify, while its opening movement was chosen as one of NPR Music’s “Favorite Songs of 2020.”

Praising this month’s performances of the work with NYO, The Guardian writes:

“Accompanying Inbal Segev’s crooning, coaxing cello, the orchestra mirrored her shifting moods: now a courtly baroque group, now a klezmer or jazz band – leader Aki Blendis and principal cello Charlotte Shlomowitz each duetting stylishly with Segev.”

Yahoo!News reports: 

“…The spotlight fell on solo cellist Inbal Segev’s magnificently impassioned rendition of Clyne’s evocations of Celtic and Jewish folksong.”

Says The Times (UK):

“It’s a signature work for soloist Inbal Segev, and the cellist ladled majestic tone on its long, prayerful lines, which blur Jewish and Irish influences.”

While Reviews Gate took notice of Segev’s performance in particular:  

“Inbal Segev’s cello sang a poignant, searching melody which managed to suggest both personal experience and, at the same time, reached into the universal. After a sequence of intensely emotional movements the final ‘dance, when you’re perfectly free’ created a sense of warmth and joy with the cello singing serenely.”