FESTIVALFOCUS YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ASPEN TIMES
MONDAY, JULY 22, 2024
VOL. 34, NO. 5
Jennifer Koh and Missy Mazzoli: Friends on the Edge BY KIMBERLY NICOLETTI
Composer Missy Mazzoli, who is making big waves on the contemporary classical music scene, is the Aspen Music Festival and School’s guest composer-inresidence this season. Since 2009, she has composed a variety of virtuosic pieces for violinist Jennifer Koh. They bring their collaborations, and deep friendship, to Harris Concert Hall on July 24 for a joint recital, with the composer at the keyboard. “It’s not the kind of show you see all the time. We’ve collaborated for the last 15 years, but most of that time I’ve been writing for Jenny,” Mazzoli says. “It’s a rare chance to see that deep evolution that comes out of working with a friend.” The evening aptly opens with Dissolve, O my Heart, a piece that Mazzoli wrote for Koh before they really knew one another. “I was intimidated by her—I’d only known
her by reputation,” Mazzoli says about their first in-person meeting, over Chinese food and cupcakes. “Within minutes, all of that intimidation dissolved and I knew, this is someone I could be vulnerable with.” That closeness has inspired innovative compositions that push boundaries, leading National Public Radio’s Turning the Tables to refer to Mazzoli as “the 21st century’s gatecrasher of new classical music.”
“Music has the power to connect us. It gives us a language for things that we don’t have words for, (and my aim for the audience) is to be united with each other and with me.” Missy Mazzoli AMFS Guest Composer-in-Residence
Composer Missy Mazzoli presents a recital with violinist Jennifer Koh on July 24. Earlier that day she talks about composing with AMFS President and CEO Alan Fletcher and fellow composer Christopher Theofanidis in a High Notes panel at the Hotel Jerome.
“With every piece, I try to raise the stakes. I try to push (Koh’s) virtuosity,” she says, adding that doesn’t always mean faster playing. “It’s not always a technical thing. Having a great deal of focus, or silence to hold that space, also requires virtuosity.” Procession Ascending showcases one part of Mazzoli’s Violin Concerto (Procession), which she composed in 2022, inspired by Koh’s personality. Each of the
five movements conveys a healing ritual, such as spells, chants and hymns, reminis c ent of medieval times. Coming out of the pandemic, Mazzoli had been con- Violinist Jennifer Koh plays sidering the Procession, Missy Mazzoli’s power of mu- Violin Concerto, with the sic to heal, as Aspen Chamber Symphony well as the on July 26. idea of Koh acting as a sage, leading the orchestra through rituals—or, sometimes, being consumed by the orchestra. (Koh will perform the complete Violin Concerto (Procession) with the Aspen Chamber Symphony July 26 in the Klein Music Tent.) “I see Jenny as a leader who takes her own initiative—just as someone working for the greatest good, working to elevate the community,” she says. “She works harder than anyone I know. She’s always practicing and always thinking about how to improve things as a whole. There’s just this insane technical ability, and there’s this fearlessness to that. She’s a great music citizen and just a great citizen of the world. She did Everything Rises with Davóne Tines—a searing commentary on the role of artists, particularly artists of color, in society. She doesn’t have to do any of this,
GREAT ARTISTS PLAYING GREAT CHAMBER MUSIC July 27, Aug. 10, 17 | 4:30 PM Aug. 5 | 6 PM Harris Concert Hall Featuring renowned artists who play with the world’s top orchestras, operas, and conservatories, these recitals are an opportunity for AMFS artist-faculty to come together as friends and artists to play works purely for the joy of them. From sublime to quirky, these concerts are creative and personal, and showcase their skills in wide-ranging chamber music programs. Selections include: •
Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E-flat major (July 27)
•
Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence (Aug. 5, arranged by Timothy Pitts, double bass artist-faculty member)
•
Brahms’s Third Piano Quartet in C minor (Aug. 10)
•
Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A major (Aug. 17).
See Mazzoli, Festival Focus page 3
Free Community Mariachi Celebration Returns July 24 BY SARAH SHAW
Building on its tremendous success over the last two summers, the Aspen Music Festival and School brings back its free community Mariachi Celebration on July 24 in the Klein Music Tent. The concert is the culmination of the AMFS’s popular three-day Mariachi Workshop. As one of the many family-friendly summer offerings of the Festival, the Mariachi workshop is an extension of the program’s music education programs offered in schools from Aspen to Glenwood Springs. “Bringing the Mariachi Workshop to the Roaring Fork Valley has been a longstanding dream of ours,” says AMFS Vice President of Education and Community Programs Heather Kendrick Stanton.
During the school year, the AMFS’s Education and Community team runs weekly after-school and in-school music education programming in schools throughout the valley. About 520 students participate in programs ranging from strings to choir. “We are boots on the ground,” Stanton continues. “When we learned from local music teachers and teaching artists that introducing Mariachi could be a natural extension of our existing programs and meaningful for local families . . . we moved forward to fill the community need.” The program launched in 2022 with 35 participating students. With additional BLAKE NELSON funding from title sponsor Querencia PriDenver’s Mariachi Sol de Mi Tierra and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Folklórico will return to join Roaring vate Golf and Beach Club in Los Cabos, Fork Valley youth participating in the AMFS’s Mariachi Workshop for a Mariachi Celebration on the Klein Music Tent stage on July 24.
See Mariachi, Festival Focus page 3
CELEBRATE THE AMFS’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON, THROUGH AUGUST 18