FESTIVALFOCUS YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ASPEN TIMES
MONDAY, JULY 4, 2022
VOL 32, NO. 2
McGegan Conducts Goosby’s Festival Debut PIPER STARNES
Festival Focus Writer
On Friday, July 8, the young violin virtuoso Randall Goosby makes his Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) debut with the Aspen Chamber Symphony (ACS), led by longtime Festival friend and revered conductor Nicholas McGegan. The concert includes two works by Felix Mendelssohn: the Violin Concerto and scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream with singers from the Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS program. The first movement of AMFS alumnus Miles Walter’s Symphony is also on the program. AMFS Vice President for Artistic Administration Patrick Chamberlain says, “This concert is another perfect example of Aspen presenting the hottest up-and-coming young artists on the cusp of brilliant careers. Bringing a work like Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto to Aspen, that’s a big deal. All the great violinists in the world have played Mendelssohn in Aspen, and now we get to look forward to seeing how Randall interprets this piece.” Goosby is a decorated violinist with accolades from the Sphinx Organization, Young Concert Artists, and Young Classical Artists Trust. As Chamberlain explains, “There’s so much to talk about with Randall. He is the rising star in the violin world right now. He’s had many important debuts including, of course, his Aspen debut this summer, but next season sees him at the LA Philharmonic
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ELLE LOGAN
Nicholas McGegan, a world-renowned conductor who has long been involved in the AMFS, will lead the Aspen Chamber Symphony in a concert on Friday, July 8.
and with the Cincinnati Symphony and the Dallas Symphony.” AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher notes, “Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto is one of the great showpieces. It’s light virtuosity as opposed to heavy virtuosity. We’re looking forward to how Randall will bring that across for us.” While Goosby, 26, is a first-time performer in Aspen, he’s no stranger to this concerto. “I learned it when I was maybe 11 or 12. With the
opportunity to learn it at such a young age, it lives with you and in you, and every time you hear it or play it, you discover something new. It’s an open book with unlimited possibilities to explore, and I’m really excited for the next chapter of that exploration to be happening at Aspen,” he says. A self-proclaimed golf addict, Goosby compares the sport to classical music. “It
Superstar soprano and AMFS alumna Renée Fleming joins two-time Grammy nominee, singer, and actor Rod Gilfry for a benefit performance of Broadway and operetta favorites. VIP tickets include an exclusive postconcert reception and dinner with the artists. Wednesday, July 6 | 6:30 PM Harris Concert Hall Tickets are $120. Masks are required.
See Mendelssohn, Festival Focus page 3
Recitals Present Best of Solo, Ensemble Strings PIPER STARNES
Festival Focus Writer
The second week of the Aspen Music Festival and School’s (AMFS) summer season sees two strings recitals combining beloved repertoire with a little something fresh and new. On Tuesday, July 5, violinist Esther Yoo showcases sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy, and Grieg, and adds a piece that pays homage to her Korean heritage. On Thursday, July 7, the Pacifica Quartet makes its appearance with iconic works by Haydn and Dvořák, and a work by Pulitzer-Prize-winning living composer Jennifer Higdon. Yoo made her Aspen debut in 2018 with the Z.E.N Trio and returned in 2019 as a soloist for a performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. For this recital, Yoo performs with pianist and Z.E.N. Trio colleague, Zee Zee, in a program of violin classics—Beethoven’s virtuosic Violin Sonata No. 8, Grieg’s Norwegian folk-inspired Violin Sonata No. 3, and Tchaikovsky’s Valse-scherzo in C major.
LISA-MARIE MAZZUCCO
The Pacifica Quartet will perform a recital on Thursday, July 7.
In a departure from her European repertoire, Yoo takes the opportunity to introduce listeners to Jeong Kyu Park’s Toad, a piece derived from a well-known Korean children’s song. “I’ve known Jeong Kyu for a long time and have worked on multiple musical collaborations with him. I love introducing audiences
to traditional music with a twist—either made contemporary or jazzed up! You can clearly hear the simple melody of the song at the beginning, and then it develops in a thrilling manner with variations and contrasting rhythms,” Yoo explains. AMFS Vice President for Artistic Administration Patrick Chamberlain notes, “We’ll see a vast stylistic range in this recital, what a violin and a piano can do together. Esther brings a real sense of technique and warmth and is deeply communicative artist, so it should be enjoyable from start to finish.” Thursday’s recital by the Pacifica Quartet—AMFS artist-faculty members Simin Ganatra, Austin Hartman, Mark Holloway, and Brandon Vamos—opens with Haydn’s String Quartet in C major, Hob. III/32, op. 20, no. 2, followed by Higdon’s Voices for string quartet. Voices was recorded and released on the Quartet’s 2020 album, Contemporary Voices. However, this was not Higdon and the Quartet’s first collaboration. Still early
See Higdon and Dvořák, Festival Focus page 3
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MONDAY, JULY 4, 2022
FESTIVALFOCUS | YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
Supplement to The Aspen Times
Instilling a Love of Music with Free, Family-Friendly Events JESSICA MOORE
Director of Marketing
Young Gerald hasn’t had it easy in life. Instead of words, Gerald only speaks in sound effects. Despite boasting an extraordinary repertoire of sounds, Gerald’s schoolmates tease him. However, when a radio station needs sound effects for on-air programming, Gerald proves to be the perfect hire, lending his unique voice to the radio shows and becoming a beloved radio hero. So goes the story of Gail Kubik’s Gerald McBoing Boing, based on a children’s book by beloved author Dr. Seuss, which comes to musical life in a free Family Concert presented by the Aspen Music Festival and School at 3 pm on Saturday, July 9. This lively, short concert introduces children to the world of classical music in a casual, engaging environment that does away with restrictive concert etiquette. As the AMFS Dean of Education and Community Katie Hone Wiltgen explains, “So often, if you’re coming to a classical concert with a small child, it’s a terrying experience as a parent. As a mom of two kids myself, I wanted a concert where people could come with their kids and experience the concert together, see the orchestra on stage, have the full, real Music Festival experience without feeling like it was going to be the end of the world if their child laughed, yelled, or got up to dance.” This piece is particularly well suited to a family concert because “it’s hilarious, it’s flashy, and, at only 12 minutes, it’s
really doable for kids,” she says. The story is brought to life through narration by local actor Graham Northrup and a percussion-heavy ensemble of Festival students. Before playing the work, each member of the ensemble introduces their instrument, showing off both what it looks and sounds like to better connect the children with what they’re about to see and hear. Says Hone Wiltgen, “We know that if kids are really going to learn things, they need to have pre-exposure to the content, then the content itself, and finally they have to have some sort of wrap-up to evaluate what just happened.” That crucial pre-exposure component is offered at the Kids Notes event prior to the performance at 2 pm on the Karetsky Music Lawn. Designed by music educators, the Kids Notes activities are specifically crafted to prepare children for what they will experience at the concert and range from composing music for various percussion instruments, to coloring in pages of percussion instruments, to the always-popular instrument “petting zoo.” While kids of all ages are welcome, the pre-concert activities are best enjoyed by pre-school to early elementary ages. As Hone Wiltgen explains, the Family Concert is “your one chance to have a concert that really feels like it’s for kids.” This exposure is a valuable introduction to an orchestral environment, from the instruments on stage to the Benedict Music Tent venue, in a way that is completely appropriate and tailored to a child’s needs.
RYAN CUTLER
All ages are welcome at Gerald McBoing Boing, the family-friendly concert on Saturday, July 9 at 3 pm. Entry is free.
“We all want to find ways to make our kids appreciate and become lifelong lovers of the arts,” says Wiltgen. “These early concert experiences are so important and so formative. If enjoying music together as a family is just normalized within your children’s reality, they can continue to explore and appreciate music throughout their entire lives.” Other free family-friendly options throughout the summer include the early children music education program Gotta Move!, and the popular Tunes & Tales readings at the Pitkin County and Basalt Regional libraries. Details on all programs can be found on the Festival website.
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FESTIVALFOCUS | YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
Supplement to The Aspen Times
MONDAY, JULY 4, 2022
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EARLY MENDELSSOHN TO HIGHLIGHT CONCERT
Continued from Festival Focus page 1
takes a second to make a golf swing, but there are many tiny details and angles. Like with violin, you don’t know the minutiae that makes it so special. To the untrained eye or ear, it’s almost like a magic trick.” Yet most magical of all, Goosby says, is “connecting with people without words through music.” The evening continues with selections from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a work Fletcher places at the “pinnacle of the repertoire.” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Mendelssohn Octet are the most astounding works by a young person in the whole history of music, including all of Mozart,” he says. “He was a teenager when he wrote them, and they’re both
just perfect.” For Chamberlain’s part, he considers this concert an “exciting opportunity to see Nic work his magic.” He continues, “What I think draws audiences to [McGegan] is the same thing that draws musicians to him. There is such an infectious sense of joy about the way he makes music. He has a way of really drawing the most sparkling elements out of music. What better composer than Mendelssohn, who might be our happiest great composer.” ACS audience members will also be the first to hear a commissioned orchestral piece by Miles Walter, winner of the
2019 Jacob Druckman Award. A noted Baroque scholar and enthusiast, McGegan jokes, “It’ll be nice to turn around during the rehearsals and ask him, ‘Is that what you were expecting? How’s that sound to you?’ I don’t get to do that with Baroque music. I have to second-guess what somebody might think because they’ve been in their grave a couple of hundred years.” Before the concert, enjoy a free chamber music performance of Prokoviev’s Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet. Tiger Yang and Youlan Ji, students of Yoheved Kaplinsky, will perform.
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Aspen Festival Unites Ukrainian Musicians JESSICA MOORE
Director of Marketing
With approximately 470 students representing 31 different countries and 40 states, the Aspen Music Festival and School class of 2022 brings a small microcosm of the global community directly to Aspen. For eight weeks, these gifted young musicians will be hard at work, honing their skills in private lessons, studio classes, and in concerts where they perform side-by-side with today’s top music professionals. Among these impressive musicians are pianist Illia Ovcharenko, 21, and violinist Anastasia Dziadevych, 22, Anastasia Dziadevych, violin, and Illia Ovcharenko, piano, are both from Ukraine. Both are performing and studying at Aspen over the both from Ukraine. Illia grew up in Chernigov, but moved summer—Anastasia’s first time and Illia’s third. to Kyiv at the age of 12 to study at the prestigious Kyiv Special Secondary Music School for Gifted Children, where they’re going to say.” Watching the global events unfold in their home country he met Anastasia. She then moved to Tel Aviv to pursue her bachelor’s at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, from afar is not easy. “I think we all became a bit older,” and one year later Illia followed. While the pair have known says Illia. But, they both remain closely connected with each other since childhood, they’ve been dating for a year friends and family, receiving regular updates as to the situation on the ground. and a half. The pair recently performed This summer will be Illia’s in Paris, France to “raise money third attending the Festival, so we can transfer funds to hubut Anastasia’s first. Speaking manitarian organizations,” says together from Zurich, Anastasia Illia. He continued, “That way says, “Last summer it was really we try to help our country in difficult to not be together for our own way, in a musical way.” two months and be in different The two acknowledge how time zones, so when he said very lucky they are to not be he definitely wanted to go to in Ukraine now, but note that Aspen again this summer, I apthis major life event hangs over plied as well. Not only is this an their heads, even affecting incredible opportunity for me how they perform. “When you as a musician, but we’re incredplay something emotional, you ibly lucky to be together for immediately begin to think two months in the same place, about this tragic event,” says finally.” Anastasia. While this hopscotching Illia Ovcharenko Just ten days after the start around the world is not unusual of the war, Illia participated in for a musician, what’s of particthe Hilton Head International ular note is the one place they can’t travel to—home. Illia explains, “If I go in, I will have to Piano Competition and recalls, “It was one of the best receive hundreds of approvals to leave the country. It’s a performances of my life. I almost had tears running down big headache to go, get the permissions, wait for confir- my face.” This summer, see Illia in A Mozart Evening with Arie Vardi mation. Even my mother doesn’t consider this an option although I would love to go.” Anastasia jumped in to add, on July 23, and Anastasia performing weekly with the As“it’s a bit risky for men to go back. You never know what pen Festival Orchestra.
“If I go in, I will have to receive hundreds of approvals to leave the country. It’s a big headache to go, get the permissions, wait for confirmation. Even my mother doesn’t consider this an option although I would love to go.”
HIGDON AND DVOŘÁK
Continued from Festival Focus page 1
in their careers, they were matched together as a young string quartet-composer pair at a summer music festival in 1997, working on this very piece. Fletcher notes their long-standing relationship and how prolific Higdon is. “Artists just love working with her,” he comments. Says Chamberlain, “There’s an authenticity to her style and to her sound world. Her music really has that quality that defines all great composers. It’s that no one else could have written this music. I can’t wait to hear what the Pacifica do with this work for string quartet.” Voices is divided into MARCO BORGGREVE three movements: “Blitz,” Esther Yoo, violin, will perform a “Soft Enlacing,” and “Grace.” diverse program in her recital on Higdon describes each as an Tuesday, July 5. intentionally ambiguous image dependent on the listener’s “viewing.” She says, “The telling of these images is from manic and frenzied to calm and quiet, from specific to vague, and from dark to light.” Higdon’s American contemporary sound juxtaposes nicely with the recital’s closing piece, String Quartet in A-flat major by Dvořák. In 1895, the composer had just returned from the United States to his homeland, Bohemia (present-day Czech Republic), when he completed this quartet piece. With interesting folk themes around every corner, Pacifica’s Brandon Vamos describes Dvořák’s piece as “good, rustic mountain music,” perfect for listening to surrounded by Aspen’s natural beauty. Chamberlain notes any program by the Pacifica is a joy to hear. “A thing that stands out about the Pacifica is there’s a real sense of spontaneity about the way they perform,” he says. “When you see them and hear them you don’t get the sense that they’re delivering the piece they recorded on their album a couple years ago. You get the sense that they’re deeply living in the moment and that what you’re experiencing is something that will never be experienced again.” Don’t miss this week’s opportunities to experience the possibilities of strings and live performance.