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WOOD RIVER WEEKLY
YOUR VOICE IN THE WOOD RIVER VALLEY
Free | July 27 - August 9, 2022 | Vol. 3 - No. 15 | woodriverweekly.com
“One upside of the heat. Kind of cool to see a cat pant.” – Jonah Goldberg
THE SIGHT OF MUSIC
The Sun Valley Music Festival’s Big Screen, a fixture on the lawn since 2010, needs an upgrade. The Festival has announced a fundraising campaign in the hopes of installing a new screen in 2023. Image credit: Sun Valley Music Festival
SVMF launches $500K capital campaign to improve ‘lawn audience’ Big Screen experience By Ken Stokes
Editor’s note: What follows was originally intended to run as a guest opinion piece in ‘The Republic’—Wood River Weekly’s regular column aimed at focusing on current events in society, culture and politics through the lens of the arts. With the Sun Valley Music Festival and its new capital campaign to improve the ‘lawn audience’ experience now under way, we’ve asked Ken Stokes—a former Los Angeles Philharmonic consultant and business development executive for The Walt Disney Company, and a current Boise Philharmonic board member—to share his perspective on classical music and, more specifically, the SVMF’s attempt to instill a lifelong love for it right here, right now. The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of … ? I opened the Sun Valley Music Festival’s website and, as was no doubt intended, the first thing that caught my eye was the headline: “Instilling a Lifelong Love of Classical Music.” ‘Classical Music’ … For a lot of folks—even those in the fold—it conjures up images of mandatory piano lessons, dark cavernous spaces, elitism, formal wear and “shhhhhh!.” That the SVMF features activities and programming targeted at children and aspiring musicians is to be applauded, but the phrase “instilling a lifelong love of classical music” is tantamount to the task of instilling a lifelong love of proper etiquette, good oral hygiene, or kale. Instilling any behavior begins at home and requires more-than-occasional reinforcement in popular culture. And, to quote no less an expert on excellent parenting than Mary Poppins, “a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.” Nobody took her advice more to heart than that celebrated expert on music, regardless of genre, Leonard Bernstein. Welcome to the ’60s Disney and Warner Brothers animation constantly employed symphonic music in the most delightful way. We had Beethoven introducing the evening news and Rossini riding horseback with the Lone Ranger. And then there was Bernstein, whose televised
Young People’s Concerts (many available on YouTube) were entertaining, informative, comprehensible and never condescending. Kids begged to attend a concert in person. Wall-to-wall exposure. Those were indeed the good ol’ days. And then, seemingly, there was none. None packaged for easy consumption, anyway. In an age of comic book movies and video games, is there any chance of instilling a lifelong love of music—any music—in kids? Absolutely. If a child is old enough to use a crayon without eating it, then it’s time to color to music, including the symphonic repertory. Pull up iTunes and have at it. Use a SVMF program as a guide. The 24-count box should accommodate the visual side of Mozart, the 64 for the Romantics up through Wagner. For Ravel, Debussy and Mahler, you’ll need the 150, a roll of butcher paper and a lot of counter space. The kids will have a blast; they’ll have no idea you have an agenda and you might end up with an artistic genius in the bargain (caveat emptor: they can be a real handful). Regardless, the instilling of music appreciation will be well under way. You Can Be Any Height To Ride This Ride Now let’s turn to the grown-ups. One is never too old to try something new, but it can’t sound onerous. And if one gets past the musicological gobbledygook, the Sun Valley Music Festival could not possibly be more user-friendly. First of all, this gang is world class – they serve up a level of performance equivalent to anything you’d hear in New York, London or Vienna. It’s free. Free is good. It’s held in a state-of-the art amphitheater with an expansive lawn perfect for picnicking plopped right in the middle of God’s country. Every day there’s something for everyone, regardless of one’s music preference, with wonderful surprises in store even for a spoiled aficionado like myself. But best of all it’s a communal experience on par with the Trailing of the Sheep or any of the other iconic Wood River Valley festivals. Who doesn’t like a good picnic? Think of a performance at the SVMF as a big slice of huckleberry pie—the perfect dessert to wrap up a wonderful summer day. Continued ‘LAWN AUDIENCE’ Page 2