On the Road to the New World

At this point in the summer, unless you live in one of the major cities, you may be jonesing for some classical music about now. While New York City may drip with perspiration in July and August, it also drips with opportunities for music listeners. This summer there’s the Mostly Mozart Festival, the New York Philharmonic in the parks, the Lincoln Center Festival in the recently restored Park Avenue Armory, the River to River Festival, the Summergarden at MOMA—just to name a few—as well as a host of others a short train ride away. Chicago has its Grant Park Music Festival; San Francisco has its Summer in the City. The Boston Symphony’s summer home is the delightful Tanglewood. And of course, Los Angeles has its Los Angeles Philharmonic summer concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.

In between the coasts one can satisfy their cravings at New Mexico’s Santa Fe Opera; Colorado’s Central City Opera, Aspen Music Festival, and Crested Butte Music Festival; and the long-running Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois. So much to see and hear, and unfortunately, so far to go.

In an attempt to satisfy my own cravings, I ventured the two-and-a-half hours to Brevard, North Carolina, home of the Brevard Music Center and its Summer Institute and Festival. I picked a performance by the Transylvania Symphony of Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony, Prokofiev’s Suite from Lieutenant Kijé, and Copland’s Suite from Billy the Kid. What I didn’t know was that the Music Center had instituted the practice of naming the various orchestras and ensembles with rather non-descriptive titles. Along with the Transylvania Symphony, the Music Center offers the “Brevard Sinfonia”, “BMC Orchestra,” “Chamber Winds,” and the “Brevard Brass.”

First, the bad news. Consciously omitted from the Music Center’s season brochure was the information that the “Transylvania Symphony” was actually the high school age students attending the Summer Music Institute.

Now the good news—they were really very good. In fact, the young orchestra was at least as good or better than many of the regional orchestras I have heard recently. This is not to say that there weren’t a few bobbles, tentative entrances, and mysterious tempos. But overall, the performances were excellent, especially considering the 14–18 age group. I was particularly struck by the excellence of the string sections. Of note, too, was a nicely played english horn in the Largo of the Dvorak, although the tempo was far from largo--altogether too fast and somewhat mechanical. The conductor was Steven Smith, the Director of Orchestral Activities.

For those interested in a de-mystification of the different ensemble names at Brevard, the “BMC Orchestra” is comprised of Music Center’s instrumental faculty filled out with advanced students and led by Keith Lockhart or by special guest conductors. The “Brevard Sinfonia” is comprised of the Music Center’s advanced students, college age and older.

A point here is this. Cities like Knoxville would benefit from some kind of summer music series, if for no other reason than to avoid the loss of inertia and continuity won over the course of a regular season. While some local orchestra members play elsewhere for the summer (see The Italian Job in Metro Pulse), the majority of the players would probably welcome the opportunity. And the city would benefit as well.

The Italian Job

You can read my summer profile of KSO principal clarinetist Gary Sperl in the July 3rd issue of Metro Pulse. It is also online-- The Italian Job at MetroPulse.com.