Festival Weekend One - American Classics

Independence Day Weekend - American Classics
Music by Samuel Barber, Lou Harrison, Antonin Dvorak, and Alisa Rose
Friday, July 3, 7:00pm - Hyampom Community Hall, Hyampom
Saturday, July 4, 7:00pm - Trinity Alps Performing Arts Center, Weaverville
Sunday, July 5, 2:00pm - Old City Hall, Redding

             Now in its fifth season, the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival will bring two dozen musicians from all over the world to Northern California during the months of July and August for special artistic retreats, youth outreach at local summer camps, and of course the highly popular series of free chamber music concerts.

            This Independence Day Weekend, the Trinity Alps Chamber Music Festival will present the first program of the 2015 Summer Festival, “American Classics”, featuring music by Samuel Barber, Lou Harrison, Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Antonin Dvorak, and festival musician Alisa Rose. Performances will be Friday, July 3 at 7:00pm in Hyampom, Saturday, July 4 at 7:00pm in Weaverville, and Sunday, July 5 at 2:00pm in Redding.

            What better way to celebrate America's holiday than with a program of American music, both contemporary and classical? This concert will feature a world-premiere of the work “Lands End” by violinist and festival musician Alisa Rose. She writes about the work: “Lands End is about traversing the Lands End trail in San Francisco. In Lands End I incorporated some of rhythmic bowings of  American old-time fiddling to describe my physical feeling of traversing the trail - the buoyancy of walking down the dirt path, the different gaits of one’s feet ascending or descending stairs, as well as pauses to overlook at the waves breaking far below or to look upward at the birds circling. The music also seeks to capture the emotional feeling of this path that leaves from an urban setting and quickly takes one somewhere that feels natural and untamed.”

            The program will also feature the “Quartet Set” by California composer Lou Harrison, a work that showcases the composers synthesis ancient, modern, eastern, and western influences to produce novel effects and a moving experience. Born in Oregon, Lou Harrison spent the majority of his life living in California's San Francisco and Santa Cruz areas. He was a longtime teacher of California musicians, and an influential figure in California music.

            Festival musicians will dedicate a part of the program to American jazz music – showing their versatility and sense of humor with a set of arrangements of dance tunes and jazz ballads by Benny Goodman and Miles Davis. Clarinettist Karla Avila and bassist Jacob Johnson have long mixed jazz and rock music into their lives as classical musicians, and here have a chance to lead “the band” in a foray into America's great musical heritage of jazz music.

            Composer Samuel Barber will be represented by his sorrowful and stunningly beautiful work “Adagio for Strings”, which will feature all the festival string players in a chamber orchestra arrangement. Referred to as the “saddest piece of music ever written”, this provides a moment of memory and reflection in an otherwise uplifting and joyful concert.

            The program will conclude with a work by the classical master, Antonin Dvorak. Though born and raised in the Czech Republic, and a through-and-through “classical” composer, Dvorak spent the 1890s in the United States, where he was deeply influenced by American culture and musical styles. The “String Quintet in E-flat, Op. 97” is referred to as his “American Quintet”, because the work was composed in his summer retreat home in Spillville, Iowa. The music brims over with folksy enthusiasm, and embodies the American spirit in its openhearted, untroubled, and straightforward lyricism.

            Concerts will continue July 9 and 10 with concerts in Humboldt County featuring Baroque music alongside classics by Mozart and Schubert. Then during the last week of July, the three concerts entitled “From Russia With Love” have been moved to the dates of July 27, 28, and 29 (see schedule below). Finally, August 2 and 3 will feature a special solo-cello program by festival cellist Hannah Addario-Berry, entitled “Scordatura”.