Asheville Symphony Hosts U.S. Premiere of Groundbreaking Minimoog Synthesizer Concerto by Gabriel Prokofiev

(Asheville, NC) - October 6, 2026 - On Saturday, November 14, 2026, the Asheville Symphony, in collaboration with the Bob Moog Foundation and the Moogseum, will bring a groundbreaking new work for Minimoog synthesizer and orchestra to the city that became home to one of electronic music’s most influential pioneers. Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Minimoog Synthesizer and Orchestra will be performed at 2 and 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Asheville as part of Masterworks 3: Double Take, with conductor Darko Butorac and pianist and synthesizer soloist Inna Faliks.

Co-commissioned by the Asheville Symphony, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música and Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Prokofiev’s work is the first concerto written for a single monophonic synthesizer in the traditional soloist position. The work places the iconic Minimoog at the center of the orchestra, where its sounds are manipulated and transformed in real time as it interacts with the musicians around it.

The piece’s Asheville performance carries particular resonance. The Minimoog helped launch the electronic music revolution when it was introduced in 1970, and its creator, pioneering synthesizer designer Bob Moog, later made Western North Carolina his home. Today, Asheville remains closely connected to Moog’s legacy through the Bob Moog Foundation, the Moogseum and the continuing presence of Moog-related electronic music culture in the city.

The Bob Moog Foundation will have a Minimoog Playground set up in the Atrium of First Baptist Church for concert attendees to explore at intermission, and before and after the performances.

In conjunction with the Masterworks performances, the Moogseum is offering “Minimoog Through the Ages,” a special temporary exhibit bringing together nine Minimoogs spanning more than five decades of the instrument’s history, from early models of the 1970s to the 2026 reissue. The exhibit runs November 12–16. Joe Silva, author of the award-winning The Minimoog Book, will be at the Moogseum throughout the exhibit to answer visitors’ questions. Tickets are available at https://bit.ly/moogseumtickets.

“It is fantastically exciting to see an acoustic ensemble like the Asheville Symphony embrace and feature the power of an electronic musical instrument such as the iconic Minimoog synthesizer,” said Michelle Moog-Koussa, executive director of the Bob Moog Foundation and Moogseum. “While the groundbreaking Minimoog has been used in almost every genre of popular music over the past 55 years, it is seldom featured within the realm of classical music, making this performance notable in its own right.”

“This performance represents a meaningful intersection of Asheville’s musical identity and the symphony orchestra,” said Daniel Crupi, executive director of the Asheville Symphony. “We strive to present work that is uniquely Ashevillian, and that authentically intersects with our musical heritage. Having the opportunity to present the U.S. premiere of this exciting new concerto, especially in partnership with the Bob Moog Foundation and Moogseum, is an honor and a thrill.”

For composer Gabriel Prokofiev, the concerto grew from a desire to explore the possibilities of electronic music within a traditional symphonic form. "I hope [audiences] enjoy the coming together of electronic music rhythms and textures with classical forms," he writes. "And ultimately I hope they will enjoy a really engaging and inspiring musical journey: one of my main aims is to pull the audience into a deep and exhilarating experience."

The result moves through a striking range of sounds, including acid house, techno, expressive theremin-like passages, complex multiphonics, drum-machine sounds and distorted bass lines. Throughout the work, the orchestra shifts roles from traditional symphonic accompaniment to imitating the synthesizer, taking expressive solo moments and creating rhythmic gestures reminiscent of a DJ.

Faliks, an acclaimed concert pianist and professor of piano at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, premiered the concerto in November 2025 with Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música under the direction of Andrew Gourlay. For the Asheville performance, she will perform the demanding solo part on a Minimoog.

The concerto also represents an unusual musical family connection. Gabriel Prokofiev is the grandson of celebrated Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, whose music closes the program with selections from Romeo & Juliet. The pairing places the grandson’s radically different musical language alongside his grandfather’s iconic symphonic writing.

That juxtaposition gives Masterworks 3 its title, Double Take: two generations of Prokofievs, two very different musical traditions and an instrument that seems almost impossible to find in the traditional position of a concerto soloist.

The program opens with Dmitri Kabalevsky’s Overture from Colas Breugnon, followed by Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Minimoog Synthesizer and Orchestra and Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet Suite.

Minimoog Through the Ages

special temporary exhibit bringing together nine Minimoogs spanning more than five decades of the instrument’s history, from early models of the 1970s to the 2026 reissue.

Tickets are available at https://bit.ly/moogseumtickets.

Masterworks 3: Double Take

Saturday, November 14, 2026 | 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

First Baptist Church of Asheville

Darko Butorac, conductor

Inna Faliks, Minimoog

Program

Tickets are available at www.AshevilleSymphony.org.

About the Asheville Symphony
​The Asheville Symphony performs and promotes symphonic music for the benefit, enjoyment, and education of the people of Western North Carolina. Related organizations include the Asheville Symphony Guild, Asheville Symphony Chorus, Asheville Symphonettes, and education initiatives such as the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra, Music in the Schools, and pre-concert lectures. Learn more at www.ashevillesymphony.org.

Asheville Symphony media contact
​Alex Hill
​amhill@ashevillesymphony.org
​Phone: 828-254-7046

About the Bob Moog Foundation and the Moogseum
​Founded in 2005, the Bob Moog Foundation is dedicated to carrying on the innovative legacy of synthesizer pioneer Bob Moog. Through programs like Dr. Bob’s SoundSchool, the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, and the Moogseum, the organization inspires the next generation of musicians and innovators by blending science, music, technology, and education. For more information, visit https://moogfoundation.org. ​

The Moogseum, which opened in May 2019, brings Bob Moog’s legacy, and those he worked with, alive to inspire people from all walks of life. The Moogseum features a variety of experiential, one-of-a-kind exhibits suitable for ages seven and up. Located in downtown Asheville at 56 Broadway Street, the Moogseum is open every day from 11-5. Tickets are available at: www.moogseum.org.

About the Minimoog
​Introduced in 1970, the monophonic Minimoog Model D translated key elements of the large-format Moog modular synthesizer into a revolutionary portable instrument designed for performance. Its three oscillators, iconic voltage-controlled ladder filter, and immediately accessible control panel helped establish an instrument architecture that became an archetype in synthesizer design. The Minimoog was quickly adopted by musicians spanning genres, such as Sun Ra, Stevie Wonder, Rick Wakeman, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Dick Hyman, Bernie Worrell, Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Giorgio Moroder, Keith Emerson, Rick Wright, and many more, and is widely regarded as the most iconic analog synthesizer of all time.

Hunter Williams

Public Relations, Hummingbird Media, Inc.

• hunter@hummingbirdmedia.com

• www.hummingbirdmedia.com