A recording of Waschka’s orchestra piece, Belgrade Overture, has been released (November 2013) on the Australian record label, Ablaze. The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by British conductor Mikel Toms, recorded the work for a compact disc aimed at highlighting some of the best composers of new music for orchestra from throughout the world. The disc is called “Orchestral Masters.” Other composers on the disc come from Japan, Columbia, Greece, China, as well as the US.
Waschka composed the piece in 2008 for the Radio Television (RTS) Symphony Orchestra of Serbia with the help of a computer program he designed based on the concept of genetic algorithms. The work, scored for a standard orchestra, also makes use of a Serbian folk tune.
Belgrade Overture received its world premiere in the Kolarac Foundation Hall in Belgrade, Serbia on November 22, 2008, given by the RTS Symphony Orchestra of Serbia conducted by Bojan Sudjic, as part of the International Review of Composers festival. Belgrade Overture has since been performed in the United States by the Knox-Galesburg Symphony conducted by Bruce Polay.
The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra of the Czech Republic has a long and impressive history of music making including work with conductors such as Kurt Masur and Yehudi Menuhin, and soloists of the caliber of Gidon Kremer and Sviatoslav Richter. Mikel Toms studied at Oxford and has conducted the Royal Philharmonic, the London Chamber Orchestra, and many other groups in the UK and abroad and is now Director of Recordings for the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra. Another note about the recording appears here.