Composer George Gershwin, born in Brooklyn in 1898, produced a body of brilliant, original music that explodes in fireworks of classical, blues, and jazz. He wrote for Broadway, night clubs, and concert halls. He fused styles, spun songs, penned a piano concerto, and created what some have called the greatest American opera ever, "Porgy and Bess."

Then, like Mozart, Gram Parsons, and so many before him, he died at a young age, leaving many to wonder what might have come next.

"I want to think that Gershwin found his voice," says RPO pops conductor and composer Jeff Tyzik. "He was comfortable writing a wonderful song as well as a concerto, and I think he got comfortable with jazz and blues as part of who he was."

Tyzik, who conducted the new Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra CD that features the work of Gershwin, has a lot in common with the composer. Born in New York in 1952, Tyzik has deep roots in jazz and funk. He attended the Eastman School of Music in the mid '70s, studied compositional theory, and left to work with Chuck Mangione and Doc Severinsen.

"I've struggled as a composer," says Tyzik, "I used to get unnerved when jazz-related ideas snuck into my work. Now I embrace them. That's who I am."

Tyzik's trombone concerto premiered in Carnegie Hall in 2005. He's at ease working with such diverse musicians as Tony Bennett, Marilyn Horne, and Lou Rawls. Tyzik's pops arrangements have been recorded by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London.

Both Tyzik and Gershwin have achieved "crossover" status. But they transcend the whole idea through unique musical languages.

The story of how their style and substance came together on the RPO's new CD began in the usual way: late at night, with food.

About five years ago, Tyzik found himself sitting around a dinner table in Vail, Colorado with pianist Jon Nakamatsu, the RPO's former CEO Rick Nowlin, and a few others. The evening's performance of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" had gone very well. Everyone was flushed and happy.

Then someone said, "Wouldn't it be great if we could put that on a CD?"

With a $90,000 gift from patron Al Davis, the project became reality, and Tyzik and Nakamatsu began talking about interpretive issues. Last July, they blocked out three recording sessions in Eastman Theatre.

Tyzik says at first, he and pianist Nakamatsu had different concepts for the album, especially for the flow of the Gershwin concerto. Eventually, the pianist won Tyzik over to his way of thinking.

Then the conductor studied the printed score of Gershwin's "Cuban Overture." It puzzled him. The one-bar ending is too abrupt. It jars. In the past, people have even questioned the composer's judgment. Tyzik decided to go back to the original score and study the Gershwin's writing.

There he made an interesting discovery: in the facsimile score (a copy of the composer's own hand), he found six extra measures of music at the end of the "Cuban Overture." Other clues led Tyzik to the conclusion that someone had hacked out six bars of Gershwin. So he put them back in. He even added a seventh.

"I have nothing to go on except logic and musical sense," says the conductor.

The results of Tyzik's efforts can be heard in the final moments of the RPO's new CD, which features Nakamatsu playing Gershwin's 1925 "Piano Concerto in F," the well-known "Rhapsody in Blue," and the "Cuban Overture." It comes in Super Audio CD (SACD) hi-resolution format.

The Gershwin project is the RPO's third release on the Harmonia Mundi label. Previous discs include recordings of Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto No.1" with pianist Olga Kern and Francesca da Rimini; and Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 3" with Nakamatsu and "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (2001)." The last two CDs were conducted by RPO music director Christopher Seaman.

It's worth noting that with recent changes in technology and music distribution, plus the relatively small market for classical CDs, few American orchestras maintain contracts with recording labels. So for the RPO to be able to release CDs through a company such as Harmonia Mundi USA is a major deal.

Sales are brisk, and reviews are rolling in. By late June, the Gershwin disc had moved up to No. 8 on Billboard's classical charts. The New York Times put it on the front page of its Sunday Arts section, and reviewer Bernard Hollard offered the muted praise, "The Rochester players do very well."

Others have gushed. John Sunier of Audiophile Audition wrote, "Frankly, I was going to skip through the ‘Rhapsody' due to overexposure, but just a short ways into it I was captured for the duration."

David Hurwitz, at Classicstoday.com, described the CD as "unquestionably...the best Gershwin disc to come along in years."

Tyzik is, of course, pleased with such feedback. "These reviewers have no relationship with Rochester or the RPO," he says. "Everyone is jumping on this CD." He believes it has Grammy potential.

"It's not a safe recording," adds Tyzik. "We let it fly."

Brenda Tremblay reports on the arts and hosts radio concerts by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra on Classical 91.5, WXXI.

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates the Gershwin CD with a gala featuring Jon Nakamatsu, vocalist Robin McKelle, and the Gap Mangione Trio Saturday, July 7, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, 5:30 p.m.-midnight. Tickets cost $75-$250. For more information call 454-2100 or visit www.rpo.org.