Opening Reception: March 15 at 7 PM

Borrowing its title from Arthur Russell’s 1986 album, this exhibition reconsiders the legacies of two maverick artists—Arthur Russell and Julius Eastman—focusing on their intersections, shared spaces, and continued echoes today. The show takes Seth Parker Woods’ audio installation The Holy Presence—which presents his performance of the 10 cello parts in Eastman’s 1981 masterwork The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc in an array of speakers—as a model for an immersive, focused, and somatic intersection of the artist’s work. Other contemporary artists in the exhibition who contend with the legacy of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell include: Devendra Banhart, Julia Holter, Roberto Carlos Lange, Justen Leroy, Kyle Marshall, Missy Mazzoli, Moor Mother, Dave Muller, Ethan Philbrick, Adee Roberson, Christopher Rountree, claire rousay, Kristi Sword, Adam Tendler, Davóne Tines, Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste & LaMont Hamilton, Saul Williams, Wild Up, Matt Wolf, richard valitutto, and Andrew Yee. Incorporating archival materials including rarely seen video and newly available audio, the exhibition draws attention to the various modes of collaboration between Eastman and Russell—as curator, conductor, performer, musician, and friend—from 1975 until their all-too-early deaths. With particular attention to the ways in which their work implicated the queer body and utilized language as modes of liberation, this exhibition seeks to reimagine their legacies as multi-hyphenate, world-straddling artists whose work together encompasses the breadth and possibility of creativity expanding from classical performance and minimalist composition to the rise of disco and dance to experimental intermedia work.

Houston Grand Opera performs Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves with libretto by Royce Vavrek at Brown Theater in Houston, Texas.

Houston Grand Opera performs Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves with libretto by Royce Vavrek at Brown Theater in Houston, Texas.

Chamber music of Europe’s luscious Golden Age

Experience the dreamlike beauty of the music of La Belle Époque, with brilliant music highlighting the harp from impressionist master Claude Debussy, and lyrical romanticism of Camille Saint-Saëns.

During the peaceful decades between wars, a new-found optimism and prosperity fueled striking cultural innovation, creating a Golden Age of art and thought across Europe.

Also in this magical program are exciting new pieces from young Australian composers Andrew Ball and Tristan Coelho, exploring imaginative sounds and textures via collisions of acoustic and electronic instruments.

Presented by Hourglass Ensemble

Houston Grand Opera performs Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves with libretto by Royce Vavrek at Brown Theater in Houston, Texas.

Houston Grand Opera performs Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves with libretto by Royce Vavrek at Brown Theater in Houston, Texas.

Houston Grand Opera performs Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves with libretto by Royce Vavrek at Brown Theater in Houston, Texas.

Sergei Prokofiev, Lieutenant Kijé

Missy Mazzoli, Orpheus Undone

Zdenêk Fibich, Symphony No. 2

Experience the transformative magic of orchestral music in an intimate, resonant setting. The Spoleto Festival Orchestra takes you on a sonic journey with a program that combines the serene beauty of Arvo Pärt’s ethereal Fratres, the intense, surging landscapes of Missy Mazzoli in her colorful These Worlds in Us, and the enduring elegance and vibrance of Mozart’s timeless melodies in his Symphony No. 29. Set within the breathtaking acoustics of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, this concert offers an unforgettable opportunity to hear these masterworks come alive in a space where every note seems to speak directly to you. Let the music envelop you in its power and emotion.

Chautauqua has long offered a cross-fertilization of art forms, bringing together art makers and art lovers in community — and increasingly it serves as an incubator for new, exciting work, providing a window into the process of creative experimentation and excellence. What are the dual roles and responsibilities of the artist and the audience, and what do works of art tell us about cultural, political, and social ideas and/or ideals? This week aims to connect impactful artistic experiences with a deeper understanding of artistic meaning and process from the makers themselves.

Discover the gold standard of choral singing and percussion in the opening concert of The Queen’s Hall series.

Vocal perfection meets percussive precision in a dazzling concert of (mostly) contemporary works. The King’s Singers pair up with Colin Currie on the marimba in Steve Martland’s playful Street Songs, while the marimba flies solo in Bryce Dessner’s mesmeric Tromp Miniature.

Alongside, some big questions are asked. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic hovers over Missy Mazzoli’s A Year of Our Burning, in a world premiere arrangement, while Francesca Amewudah-Rivers asks, ‘Do you know how it feels to be alive?’ Music from across the globe – from South Africa to Japan to the US – provides a glorious variety of answers.

Seventeenth-century composer Thomas Weelkes makes a brief appearance to remind us that some things don’t change. And bringing us right up to date is the thrilling prospect of a James MacMillan premiere.

PROGRAM

MISSY MAZZOLI: These Worlds in Us
BRUCH: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, op. 26
—
BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique, op. 14

Aspen favorite Gil Shaham returns to play Bruch’s soaring and melodious First Violin Concerto. His impeccable technique, inimitable warmth, and infectious joy in music-making have made him one of the world’s foremost soloists.

Bruch’s concerto was the composer’s first major work, putting him on the musical map, and setting up expectations for comparable achievements that never quite materialized. Soloists have always loved to play this passionate and demanding piece, and audiences have warmly embraced it. Bruch studied violin for several years, and his love for the instrument shines through. When his publisher once suggested he try a work for cello and orchestra, Bruch replied, “I have more important things to do than write stupid cello concertos.” Eugen d’Albert asked for a piano concerto in 1886; Bruch fired back: “Me, write a piano concerto! That’s the limit!” (Bruch eventually wrote beautifully for cello with orchestra, though he never did compose a piano concerto.)

Berlioz’s autobiographical symphony tells of an artist obsessed with a beautiful woman, and is peppered throughout with a melody which represents the object of his fixation. The real woman was the Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, who did (hysterically) agree to marry Berlioz — after he took a lethal dose of opium in front of her in a desperate attempt to woo her. The antidote he took worked; the marriage did not.

In addition, as part of the Great Performers Series, Cellist Gautier Capuçon will present a recital of world premiere cello works on November 16. The San Francisco Symphony commissioned 16 composers for Capuçon’s project, including Bryce Dessner, Joe Hisaishi, Missy Mazzoli, Gabriela Montero, Nico Muhly, Max Richter, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and more. The recital will also feature a new work by composer and cellist Quenton Xavier Blache, who Capuçon anonymously selected for a new commission under the umbrella of the Emerging Black Composers Project. Quenton was selected from the pool of applicants from the 2023 Emerging Black Composers Project.

Copenhagen Phil
Conductor / Bjarni Frimann Bjarnason
Soloist / Josefine Opsahl, cello
Host / Olga Ravn

Ives / The unanswered question
Strozzi / Che si puo fare / Lagrime Mie
Opsahl / HANDS, world premiere of version for symphony orchestra
Mazzoli / Orpheus Undone, Danish world premiere
Stravinsky / The Firebird suite
Hildegard / O Rubor Sanguinis
Falla / El circulo magico from El Amor Brujo

OLGA RAVN: RE-ENCHANTMENT

As a poetic encounter between folk magic and symphonic music, star author and artist Olga Ravn enters into dialogue with the concert hall as a place and the concert as an event to re-enchant the listening moment.

With her deep knowledge of Nordic folk magic, Olga Ravn works to stage performances that reinterpret folk magic with inspiration from cultic ritual, the visual world of poetry and the concentration of performance art. It is this dialogue that now moves into the concert hall with a performance developed especially for the Copenhagen Phil.

Listen to Charles Ives’ evocative The Unanswered Question , the heartfelt sounds of Baroque composer Barbara Strozzi and Stravinsky’s haunting ballet suite The Firebird –  as well as the premiere of the cello concerto HANDS with the award-winning Danish cellist and composer, Josefine Opsahl, who has established herself as a unique artist with prestigious concerts in, among others, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and at The Met in New York.

How would music sound if it were in the shape of a solar system? Hear how one of the most successful classical composers on the planet lets her imagination run free with that idea. Then it’s your turn to imagine Carnival time in St. Petersburg as the puppet Petrushka comes to life.