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MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 2021
FESTIVALFOCUS | YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
Supplement to The Aspen Times
Jonathan Haas Leads Percussion Ensemble Recital explains. “When you’re a percussionist, you must learn up to 300, 400 different types of percussion instruments. The timOn Wednesday, August 11, timpanist and longtime Aspen pani extend unto themselves, although they’re part of the perMusic Festival and School (AMFS) artist-faculty member cussion family, but are regarded in orchestras as having their Jonathan Haas leads the Percussion Ensemble in a free own principal chair, which makes it very special.” Spotlight Recital at 2:30 pm in Harris Concert Hall. As a student at the AMFS for three years in the 1970s, Haas is AMFS’s Vice President for Artistic Administration and Artistic now in his 39th summer as a faculty member. His favorite thing Advisor Asadour Santourian and Haas worked together to about the Festival is the opportunity to perform side-by-side develop the program for this specific performance. “This is with his students. “It’s the reason I’m a musician,” Haas conthe first year that the program is basically going to be chamber veys. “I came here as a student and played side-by-side with music—percussion with solos,” Haas explains. “Usually, we do some of the most iconic teachers, and then paying that forlarge works for up to 18 percussionists, sometimes 20, but with ward, I now have the opportunity to do the same thing. There’s only 8 percussion students this nothing better than playing next summer, the obvious choice to your students. It’s the best was to select chamber music experience you could have.” pieces.” Also performing Wednesday The overarching theme of are Haas’s longtime collabothe concert “centers around rators and friends, and fellow protesting, as well as recogartist-faculty members, Nadine nizing current events in the Asin and Timothy Adams, Jr. world that are essential to all “Nadine and I have known each of us moving forward in a uniother throughout our careers, fied manner,” Haas says. “This and whenever there’s an opporis a statement for this particular tunity to play with Nadine, I conconcert, and I think it’s a very sider it to be the most importpositive statement.” ant and fun-filled opportunity,” AMFS artist-faculty member Jonathan Haas Haas’s professional interest Haas says. hinges on bringing the timpani from its location behind the Adams and Haas follow somewhat of the same story. “We orchestra up to the very front. “With a percussion ensemble, haven’t known each other quite as long, but Tim is one of the there are usually only four or five timpani on the stage,” Haas most influential percussionists in the world,” Haas reveals. SHANNON ASHER
Festival Focus Writer
“During the pandemic, and especially during the time in which Black Lives Matter took place, I needed a colleague to be able to discuss, plan, and find ways in which to create this repertoire and celebrate the lives of important musicians of color, and Tim Adams was my first call.”
AMFS artist-faculty Timothy Adams Jr. and President and CEO Alan Fletcher during a summer 2020 virtual High Notes Discussion.
Haas continues, “He and I have deepened our relationship because of this. Most interesting, and I think important, is that the AMFS and NYU commissioned a very large percussion ensemble piece from Tim as a tribute to George Floyd called the Music 8:46 Project. It will receive its world premiere next summer at the AMFS. It’s written to both memorialize and commemorate, and to bring to everybody’s attention all that’s gone on in the past year. Hopefully, having composers such as Tim writing these significant pieces is going to be part of our future. It’s opened up a whole new world for us.”
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