With five concerts featuring more than 20 internationally successful musicians, the 12th annual Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, which began last Sunday and continues through Sept. 25, offers a musical program consisting of everything from classical European masters such as Mozart and Bach to more contemporary composers like Aaron Copland.
As a newcomer to Charlottesville, I was surprised to find such a well-established, celebrated event dedicated to classical chamber music. I would not have expected it to attract so many undeniably talented musicians from around the world. Much credit should be given to the festival's two artistic directors, Raphael Bell and Tim Summers; their efforts paid dividends in last Sunday's opening concert at the Paramount Theater.
Co-directors Raphael Bell and Tim Summers both are originally from Charlottesville and now reside and perform regularly in Europe. While growing up here, they studied for a short time with the Monticello Trio, composed of esteemed pianist Tannis Gibson, violinist Mark Rush and cellist Mathias Wexler.
"They were a fine trio, and one year they held a festival," Summers said. "We liked the atmosphere of having a number of concerts in a short amount of time. After we finished studying at the Julliard School, we had the time and energy to put together a new festival in Charlottesville."
With inspiration from the Monticello Trio, the duo's idea to host a new chamber music festival gradually progressed into a reality.
"At 25, we just went for it, without really knowing all of the demands involved. We approached different people we knew for advice, and many of those people are still involved. We did it step by step, and we convinced some of our friends in music to come play at the first festival," Summers explained. "Sometimes it's good to just blindly go for it."
That was 12 years ago. Although they faced challenges in starting the festival, their efforts have paid off: This year brings an impressive number of musicians to Charlottesville, with concerts in both Old Cabell Hall and the Paramount Theater on the Downtown Mall.
Sunday's opening concert began with a canonical, timeless Haydn string quartet, and was followed by a work called "Gumboots," which I found most intriguing and unexpected. Composed in 2008 by David Bruce, it was a technically challenging piece that took inspiration from threads of South African dance, Copland, southern blues and Latin-American music. It was performed remarkably well, especially considering the limited practice time leading up to the concert, and I could easily tell the musicians enjoyed performing it. Overall, I appreciated that the music highlighted the strengths and virtuosity of each instrument within the ensemble, and that every musician had an opportunity to shine.
British solo clarinetist Matthew Hunt best captured the essence of the festival.
"What is really special about music like this is, the human spirit always shines through," Hunt said. If this is the standard by which to measure a great musical work
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
