Chelsea Music Fest fetes Finns, leaves you ‘Hungary’ for more Food and music, June 12-20 BY SEAN EGAN
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EastVillagerNews.com
COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS
ince its inception in 2010, the Chelsea Music Festival (CMF) has been steadily gaining ground as must-attend event for serious music lovers. Using local landmarks such as St. Paul’s Church (315 W. 22nd St.) as performance venues, the Festival brings world-class music from around the globe to New York City. With events ranging from galas, to late night shows, to family friendly activities, there’s something for everyone. This time around however, as the Festival enters its fifth season, its focus has turned to the music and culture of Hungary and Finland. “The Chelsea Music Festival highlights a different theme every year, a choice that is often based on composers’ anniversaries,” said Artistic Directors Ken David Masur and Melinda Lee Masur in a conversation with Chelsea Now. They note that this year, in particular, they are celebrating the 150th birthday of the influential Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius. As for Hungary, the focus will be on works from a handful of masters, including Béla Bartók, Ernö Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály, Joseph Joachim and Karl Goldmark. But why Finland and Hungary of all places? “The juxtaposition of the two cultures as well as their shared linguistic heritage,” assert the artistic directors. In order to pay tribute to these unique musical cultures, the Masurs set out to assemble a program of diverse and talented musicians from abroad — the first of which is the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, whose
The players of Avanti! Chamber Orchestra will be featured heavily in this year’s CMF.
members will kick the Festival off at June 12’s Opening Night Gala. Avanti!, who describe themselves as “an ensemble consisting of anything from a single player to a symphony orchestra,” that “operates freely over different eras and genres” was selected to be CMF’s Ensemble-in-Residence this year. The Masurs recalled that they wanted to offer the ensemble the position after they “Witnessed the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra in their native Finland and were thoroughly
taken by their fiery music making and unorthodox interpretation,” back in 2009. “Each concert with Avanti! promises to be a breath of fresh Finnish air,” they assure, including their participation in a June 13 “Fiddle Off,” and June 15’s “Carte Blanche” evening. One of the most interesting acts booked for this year’s CMF is Loop Doctors. Representing a slight (or perhaps drastic) change of pace from the classical music and jazz that dominates the program, the Loop
Doctors offer something different, and a little difficult to peg down. The Masurs describe the group’s sound as “A medley of different styles, including jazz, drum ‘n’ bass, jungle, hip-hop and rap. An overall category could be nu-jazz, but Loop Doctors can also be seen in clubs, where people actually dance to the music.” The group is set to play on June 19, at what is known as the “Late Night” event, which serves up a MUSIC, continued on p.18 June 11, 2015
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