FESTIVALFOCUS YOUR WEEKLY CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ASPEN TIMES
MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2023
VOL. 33, NO. 7
Music by the Women of Chicago’s Black Renaissance education was missing some prolific female African-American composers set her on a The last time Michelle Cann was on a stage mission to tell the stories of those who came at the Aspen Music Festival and School before her and still achieved so much in the (AMFS), she was a 16-year-old high school face of intense racism. student who only dreamed of becoming a “We’re no strangers to the fact that in the classical pianist. Now an accomplished so- classical music world, Black people are few loist who regularly performs with prominent and far between,” she says. “These comorchestras such as those in Atlanta, Cincin- posers are the kind of inspiration we should nati, Cleveland, New Jersey, and Philadel- be giving to young musicians of color who phia, Cann will return to the Aspen stage wonder where they are represented in this with a Harris Concert Hall recital on Monday, world.” August 7. Price, who died in 1953, faded into obHighlighting the work of Florence Price, scurity in large part because of racial and Margaret Bonds, Betty Jackson King, and gender prejudices. Her works have expeIrene Britton Smith, rienced a meteoric Cann’s solo proresurgence in re“Music appears or gram introduces cent years. disappears based on audiences to a trea“Florence Price, sure trove of Black within a very short other musicians being female composers time, will be underwhose work was champions for it. We have stood to be one of largely silenced in the greatest of all artists like Michelle Cann the 20th century. American compos“Florence Price who are saying, ‘I will make ers. But 20 years ago, wrote more than 200 that would not have pieces of music durthis music live. It will live made any sense to ing Chicago’s Black people because because of my advocacy.’ ” her music just disRenaissance and the first time I heard appeared,” says of her was in 2016,” Alan Fletcher, AMFS Alan Fletcher President and CEO, Cann says. “The real president and CEO. Aspen Music Festival and School disappointment and “Music appears or tragedy is that, in all disappears based of my studies, her name never came up. I was on other musicians being champions for it. essentially robbed of a role model.” We have artists like Michelle Cann who are Cann says the myriad emotions that hit saying, ‘I will make this music live. It will live her when she realized that classical music because of my advocacy.’” BY SAMANTHA JOHNSTON
Festival Focus Writer
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Pianist Michelle Cann presents a recital featuring the music of once-forgotten Black women composers on August 7.
Cann says her vision is a future where everyone belongs and good music is highlighted and celebrated. She imagines a world where young musicians learn about Price from a teacher of any race because her music is part of the classical music repertoire, not because she is Black, but because her music is worth celebrating. “It’s our job to give beautiful and diverse repertoires to consumers and not to make decisions based on what your board says or what is popular,” Cann says. “If we do this, then we don’t need to constantly reevaluate whether we’re playing enough Black music. We are being equitable if we simply consider and celebrate the diversity of music
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out there.” For Cann, playing the music of underrepresented artists comes with the pressure to reveal it to audiences in the best way possible. “If we want all music to belong, then we have to share it at the best quality we can See Cann, Festival Focus page 3
Guitarist Sharon Isbin Joins Pacifica Quartet for Recital BY SARAH SHAW
Festival Focus Writer
World-renowned guitarist Sharon Isbin and the Pacifica Quartet return to the Aspen Music Festival and School on Thursday, August 10 for recital of works from their recent collaborative recording, Souvenirs of Spain & Italy, and a quintet by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Joseph Schwantner written especially for them. From the moment Isbin invited Pacifica to join her for a 2016 recital in Aspen, this quartet-plus-one has been a favorite with Aspen audiences, says AMFS Vice President for Artistic Administration Patrick Chamberlain: “Whether it’s a solo guitar recital or a collaboration with Indian sarod masters or a collaboration with Pacifica, Sharon is part of what makes Aspen unique. She’s the reigning virtuoso of guitar.” Described as a boundary-defying musician, Isbin—a multiple Grammy winner—is grounded by an upbring-
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Classical guitarist Sharon Isbin shares the stage with the Pacifica Quartet for a recital on August 10.
ing that included piano lessons as well as a heavy dose of nuclear science. “I gave up the piano at age eight. But when our family moved to Italy a year later for my father’s scientific work, my brother, aspiring to be the next Elvis, asked for guitar lessons. When he learned the teacher was a protégé of Andrés Segovia and not a rock star he bowed out and I volunteered to take his place,” recounts Isbin. A few years later, she won a competition that granted her the chance to perform as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra. “That exciting experience inspired me to switch my focus from rocket science to music.” Hailed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time,” Isbin’s crossover collaborations with a wide variety of musicians—ranging from Sting and Joan Baez, to Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo—have made her a Renaissance woman of the guitar. There is seemingly nothing she can’t play and she is consistently and indefatigably searching See Isbin, Festival Focus page 3
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