After Blue was commissioned by the Paul Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University for the New Millennium Ensemble. Richard Festinger uses the sextet’s diverse instrumentation to create ‘a kaleidoscopic panorama of strongly etched lines of constantly shifting vibrant color.’ The first and last sections of the 16-minute work are thematically related and ‘bright and extroverted,’ while the centerpiece becomes ‘dramatic and atmospheric.’ After Blue is a companion to an earlier work by Festinger, ...