ARTS & CULTURE
Missy Mazzoli P H O T O : M A R Y L E N E M AY
New Music Composer Missy Mazzoli’s world premiere concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra puts the violin at center stage BY A N N E A R E N ST E I N
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issy Mazzoli is no longer “the 21st century’s gatecrasher of new Classical music,” as NPR proclaimed in 2018. She’s now firmly inside the seemingly intractable fortress — an acclaimed composer whose works are commissioned and performed by major ensembles throughout the world. On March 11 and 12, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will present Mazzoli’s violin concerto — “Violin Concerto (Procession)” — a co-commission with the National Symphony Orchestra, performed by Mazzoli’s frequent collaborator Jennifer Koh. During the concert, the May Festival
Chorus will also sing Mozart’s “Mass in C Minor.” “This is the first orchestral piece I’ve written with the violin specifically in mind,” Mazzoli tells CityBeat, although she has several works for solo violin, including a commissioned fanfare for CSO concertmaster Stefani Matsuo. Mazzoli’s concerto is also the latest in a series of collaborations with Koh, which began in 2010 when Koh asked Mazzoli to participate in her “Bach and Beyond” project, a program combining Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for violin with newly commissioned works referencing specific Bach pieces. Mazzoli’s response was “Dissolve,
O My Heart,” commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, based on Bach’s “Chaconne from the Partita in D minor.” Mazzoli writes on her website that although the task was “utterly terrifying,” she was inspired by Koh’s approach to Bach through the lens of contemporary music. In the last decade, Mazzoli has written several short solo pieces for Koh. Most recently she penned “Hail, Horrors, Hail,” commissioned by the ARCO Group — Koh’s Classical music inclusivity nonprofit — as a response to COVID-19 isolation, as well as the 2020 “Alone Together” series. A violin concerto seemed like the obvious next step, but Mazzoli says the composition evolved over years of discussion, shared coffee and Chinese food. Speaking from her apartment in Brooklyn, Mazzoli says that conversations began with what form a concerto would take. “I asked Jen what her role feels like
when she stands in front of an orchestra in a dramatic sense. And over the years, an idea began to take shape,” she says. Mazzoli and Koh continued scrutinizing the concerto form itself, questioning the soloist’s role, and gradually the concerto began to develop. At that point, the composition was purely an independent project, and Mazzoli credits both her and Koh’s managements with helping to secure the CSO and the National Symphony as co-commissioners. Attendees shouldn’t expect to hear a conventional concerto with themes, variations and elaborate cadenzas and orchestral accompaniment. “Missy’s work questions whether the soloist is leading the orchestra or within the ensemble,” Koh says. “It’s musical questioning that’s communicated in a very musical way.” Although “Violin Concerto (Procession)” is purely instrumental, Mazzoli’s work in opera serves as a powerful influence. She says “creating
FEBRUARY 23, 2022 - MARCH 8, 2022 |
CITYBEAT.COM
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