If you think classical music is a stifling, old art form, listen again, says Jennifer Coe.
Ms. Coe will talk about the first full season of programming for the Fortas Chamber Music Concert Series at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
Mr. Coe, a violinist, took over the artistic directorship following the death of his predecessor and collaborator, pianist Joseph Kalichstein, who held the position for a quarter of a century. The heart of the country’s capital’s classical music scene, Fortas was steeped in tradition. Ko blows the dust off and leans heavily toward the experimental, the young, and the new.
Derek Baker / John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jennifer Coe, an advocate for living composers and those marginalized in the often exclusive classical music industry, says, “It’s a real tragedy and a loss that we don’t hear from people who are different from us.” says.
Sounds of Us, a new one-day music festival in November, will feature 40 newly commissioned works by composers including Vijay Iyer, David Ludwig, Carlos Simon and Nina C. Young. The above works will be performed by high school and university students enrolled at The Juilliard School. and the National Symphony Orchestra Youth Fellowship Program. Some students will see their work premiered.
Spanning four stages, this concert presents a musical vision of America’s future ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026. The concert highlights the steps of a musician’s journey: Starting (their pursuit), Believing (in their dreams), and Becoming (what they envision) and To Be (working musicians). The centerpiece is a new work by Angelica Negron that incorporates everyday sounds recorded and shared by people across the country.
“If we don’t hear from people who are different from us, that’s really a tragedy and a loss for us,” Coe told NPR. “I already know what’s in my head, so what I really want to know is what’s in other people’s heads…to hear the voices of people who have had very different experiences than ours.” It’s about listening. And being able to advocate and emphasize.” Their work is really important to me. ”
This season brings together old and new, from the music itself to the musicians on stage. Later in the season, Korean piano sensation Yunchan Lim, who became the youngest ever gold medalist at the age of 18 at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and Portuguese master Maria – Joan Pires makes a rare visit to DC. She herself will perform Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin.
There’s an equally wide range when it comes to ensembles, from the high-energy, boundary-pushing Third Coast Percussion and Barlaudet Quartet (formed in 2018 and recipients of this year’s prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant); Takacs Quartet, ranging from established groups such as Miro Quartet and The Miro Quartet.
There are also individual concerts that combine old and new. The Barlaudet String Quartet will perform the DC premiere of University of Chicago doctoral student Paul Novak’s work, which falls between Mozart and Beethoven.
Derek Baker / John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Composer and pianist Missy Mazzoli performs at an event held in a club-like space at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Coe’s 15-year collaboration with composer Missy Mazzoli perhaps best represents her vision for the future of classical music. Mazzoli, who went from playing in punk bands to becoming a composer for the Metropolitan Opera, describes himself as an “omnivorous” musician.
“For me, every sound is a potential part of the palette, and I don’t think in terms of genre when I write songs. I don’t think, oh, I’m going to make this a classic quartet, but with a twist It’s an addition,” Mazzoli said ahead of a concert with Coe in March at the Kennedy Center’s alternate lounge-like space, the Club at Studio K. There is something different about this world we live in. ”
Zach Mahone / John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Jennifer Koh (right) performed Double Concerti for Two Violins last season at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as an extension of the “Two X Four” project, which emphasizes the connection between teachers and students. The concert featured her famous mentor Jamie Laredo (left). .
People gathered around dimly lit round tables in front of a stage that glowed in shades of blue and red. As the conversation drew applause, Ms. Ko took to the stage, matching her bright blue hair with a sleeveless red napa leather dress.
Mazzoli participated on piano and electronics in a set that included an arrangement of Coe’s violin concerto “Procession.” She composed the song during the pandemic shutdown on the Swedish island, once home to reclusive filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.
The concerto was inspired by ancient healing rituals related to another deadly pandemic, the bubonic plague. The so-called Black Death wiped out nearly a third of Europe’s population in the 14th century.
In full orchestral form, which Coe premiered with the National Symphony Orchestra in 2022, the concerto ends after the tubular bell is hammered and the solo violin’s bow comes to an abrupt halt on the strings.
In another piece, “All I Want Is All of It,” Mazzoli sampled parts of pieces she had dreamed up and that Coe had performed over the years.
Zach Mahone / John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The revamped Fortas Chamber Music Concert Series focuses on young composers and artists, including members of the Juilliard Orchestra. The concert series will be performed here in 2023 by Sasha Skolnik Brouwer, the first since Jennifer Coe took over as artistic director.
“You have to take artistic risks,” Ko said. “Because I don’t want to say that classical music is like the biggest moneymaker in the world. So when you take that risk, every song is like, I don’t know, Beethoven’s Grand Fugue. Can I guarantee that it will be?” ? No. But you are the one who creates the environment, space, and funds to make it happen. ”
The broadcast version of this story was produced by Barry Godemer. The digital version was edited by Obed Manuel.
Copyright 2024 NPR
