The box score from Saturday’s Faculty Artists Concert during the 40th anniversary season of the Colorado College Summer Music Festival has some telling statistics:
• Three of the four works performed were from the pen of female composers.
• Three of the four were written in the 21st century.
• One was written for the Packard Hall stage.
• The concluding performance suggests that America’s best chamber composer from the early 20th century began their name with Mrs.
The play by play recounts the entirety of the experience.
It took three men to realize the poignant harmonies and infectious rhythms of Lauren Bernofsky’s three-movement Trio for Brass with Jack Sutte on trumpet, Michael Thornton on horn and John Rojak on trombone.
Born in 1967, Bernofsky has experienced worldwide success in virtually every genre of classical music. While this trio has largely been fated to academic performance, it proved the perfect curtain-riser for the evening’s festivities.
With ideal balance, the trio was instantly in motion and able to effortlessly change direction to capture the frequent character changes the composer had imprinted within. They also sounded as if they were loving the abstract harmonic colors Bernofsky had handed them, making it easy for the audience to revel in the dissonance of the matter.
Rojak was playing his beloved bass trombone, which afforded him the opportunity to express greater contrasts: explosive transient attacks countered by a warm and sweet lyrical line. Sutte was as comfortable crowning the sound of the trio with a brilliant sheen as he was blending gently into the massed sound. Thornton was amazing. His ability to powerfully launch his sound and then richen the overall soundscape can not be commended enough.
Augusta Reed Thomas, born in 1964, was determined to take a greater bite of the human condition through her Rumi Settings for violin and cello. The 2001 composition takes for its inspiration four short poems by the 13th century Persian poet. The overriding theme embodies a philosophy that counters human concerns with the inevitability of music’s transcendence.
Not by coincidence, one of the work’s great advocates, violinist Stefan Hersh, was here to play. He recounted the efforts he undertook with the composer to rescue the work from her trash bin of rejects. It has been gaining advocates ever since.
A simple listen to this intense performance without any discussion or texts would impress as just pure music. Hersh and his partner, cellist Bion Tsang, were perfect artistic foils for one another, capturing the ever-shifting rhythms and shared melodic ecstasy contained in the score. Nothing more needed to be done to enjoy the experience.
Many chose to read the poems and attach whatever meaning they could to the shifting musical terrain that was Thomas’ creation — a great way to keep one’s focus on the performance.
After studying the poems and listening to recordings of the work, I put down my notepad, stopped thinking as best I could and just listened. When the sound finally ceased, so did my travels. I hope to visit this special place again.
Echoes of Wilderness by Ofer Ben-Amots was commissioned by the Colorado Springs-based U.S. Air Force Academy Winds Ensemble and debuted in Packard Hall in 2023. For decades, Ben-Amots, born in 1955, has been professor of composition and theory at Colorado College, but this might have been the first time that one of his many compositions was performed at the festival.
Here, a wind quintet was featured through four musical episodes inspired by the composer’s life with a vital addition: a panorama of percussion instruments activated by guest artist Justin Douté. The quintet was composed of festival stalwarts Alice Dade, flute; Robert Walters, oboe; Jon Manasse, clarinet; Michael Kroth, bassoon; and Michael Thornton, horn.
As expected by its title, “Burning Bush” burst forth with intense musical colors and textures punctuated by powerful percussion. It was an energy monster, an orgy of sound dancing out of control at times but no problem for these musicians. Ben-Amots helped to capture the wonder of this Old Testament miracle by having the players periodically whisper “esh, esh, esh,” Hebrew for “fire.”
Ben-Amots next had us join an ancient caravan on its mission to reach an “Oasis.” The movement forward was engagingly depicted by Kroth’s seamless bassoon line joined in spirit by the oboe of Walters. It was a delightful foray into the exotic, and the ensemble was of one mind as they accelerated toward the oasis and climax of this episode. Now the song of the desert belonged to Dade’s flute and Manasse’s clarinet as the caravan moved out of sight.
A short ancient, modal moment of repose and prayer descended for the third episode’s “Incantation”
Douté’s provocative action on a wooden hand drum brought us to The Desert Dance. Fully cinematic through its wild imagery, the ensemble of six now sounded like a symphony orchestra. Sword and belly dancers should have appeared, but this was a chamber music recital.
Ben-Amots was called up to the stage to share in the rousing response his Echoes earned.
Chamber music lovers live for the richly romantic and highly energetic piano quintets from the likes of Brahms, Schumann, Dvořák and Franck — all from the dominant musical species that I refer to as DWEMCs: Dead, White, European Male Composers. Dare we add a female American to those lofty heights?
Judging from what pianist William Wolfram, violinists Ayano Ninomiya and Laura Frautschi, violist Phillip Ying, and cellist David Ying offered for the evening’s finale, Mrs. H. H. A. (Amy) Beach’s Piano Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 67 could sit at the top of this list.
Beach, who lived from 1867 to 1944, was respected and well-known during her lifetime. To this point, posterity has not been so kind to her. Performances, such as the one Saturday night, will go a long way toward reversing this neglect.
The ensemble was instantly inside the emotional and spiritual orb of Beach’s 1907 masterpiece. The four strings were all breathing in unison while pianist Wolfram provided the support and punctuation for the moment. This was my first opportunity to hear Ninomiya at this festival and, through her precise and heartfelt playing, it was obvious that she is a great addition.
A duality was present and made powerfully palpable by the deeply felt phrases of Ninomiya and Frautsci responded to in kind by the Yings. It was as if out of a dream. This multi-layered first movement could have existed all on its own as a post-romantic tone poem
The second movement Adagio emerged gently in absolute beauty. Wolfram’s sound was both broad and light while the strings played with sublime melody. The care with which the ensemble approached their notes allowed for an infusion of light and color.
Ninomiya brilliantly broke this spell with an angular, almost anti-melody to tip off the Finale. After each string player joined this new idea with full commitment, the ensuing episode of unison strings was overwhelming as Wolfram powered the engine from below.
By this point, the story belonged to the players, not the composer. It was one of those rare artistic moments when an ensemble of multiple musicians becomes one visionary voice.
The final thought in the matter belonged to Phillip Ying, whose concluding melodic statements on his viola provided wisdom and reflection. The return of the slow introduction from the first movement fit in seamlessly, and so another inspired musical journey from this evening came to its end.
