Tuesday, November 28, 2017

EYSO Chamber Music: Strength in Small Numbers

The CAJÉ quartet performs a movement from Mozart at the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra's Chamber Music Institute Concerts on November 19, 2017 in the Spartan Auditorium. 
One sixty minute concert by seven ensembles of the Elgin Youth Symphony’s Chamber Music Institute displays how effective a musician can become by playing regularly within a small group.

Spending time together with a shared objective — preparing a piece of music for performance — exposes each individual’s style of reasoning and communicating, and advancement toward the group’s goal requires everyone’s participation.

It was visible in the faces of the Sul Tasto Quartet, as one player smiled knowingly at the efforts of another in negotiating a particularly tricky passage. For these young musicians, the technical accuracy may be less important than the experience of being valued for one’s individual contribution.

Any casual listener can recognize performance jitters and musical imperfections in student group recitals, but a more sensitive observation reveals an unspoken dialogue that takes place among players. A glance asks, “Are you ready?” and a deep breath says, “Yes.” As the music unfolds, their body language signals that they are using the part of the mind that controls communication, not just movement.

The work may not be equally subdivided in a chamber ensemble, but it is certainly shared. As one violinist started to outpace the Gershwin Quartet during an especially busy few bars, cellist Emily Gallagher’s tapping toe reset the tempo to keep the group in sync.

All musicians rely on their printed parts or scores in order to keep the group effort literally “on the same page.” Following the notes (like words) carefully during a performance is a comfort, if not a necessity, but over time the music will be understood in units of larger scale (like sentences and paragraphs). The Really Fast Quartet demonstrated the effect of music that is more felt than timed, in their original rendition of “found music” borrowed from Mozart.

A small group of mature musicians perform like the cast of a play, exchanging cues, directing the audience’s attention, and shaping episodes with each different combination of players to create a musical narrative. The similarity is not lost on the Earl Clemens Wind Quintet, one of the EYSO’s Honors Chamber Ensembles. Their skillful individual performances were enhanced by clear interactions that drew upon trust, mutual understanding and the unspoken language that develops among friends. — JP

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Bringing the Music from the Inside Out

Since Andrew Grams took over as Music Director in 2013, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra has been systematically updating its programming by reaching outward from all areas of the organization, not the least of which being the stage of the Hemmens Cultural Center.

Some people have always regarded a classical music concert as a test of etiquette governed by special rules known only to highly cultured individuals. Like wine appreciation, it was considered a game for snobs. But in recent years, just as the wine business has expanded through a populist outreach centered around consumer education, a similar approach is being skillfully and intentionally employed by the ESO.

It started when Maestro Grams brought his unrestrained conducting style to the podium, and his personal accessibility to the Elgin social scene. Numerous appearances at local club meetings, in the media, at hospitals and libraries, and at casual mixers like the post-concert "Mingle with the Musicians" offered exposure for his outgoing personality and gift of gab.

Inevitably this style found its way into the concert hall, where Grams developed a warm, witty rapport with audiences on a par with any professional emcee. Seen from the stage, the main auditorium at the Hemmens looks like a university lecture hall, and perhaps this contributed to his increasing tendency to indulge in colorful remarks on composers and their music.

Having relaxed almost all stiffness out of the concert experience, the next logical step was to demystify the music itself. The ESO Listeners Club, pre-concert chats and program notes have always served that purpose, but they appeal to listeners who are already engaged, loyal patrons.

With the help of visual aids, Music Director Andrew Grams explains the historical context of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

In order to reach a larger public, the ESO created the "Inside the Music" format to apply Grams' knowledge and charisma to the task of audience education. The result is a hybrid event consisting of a music appreciation class complete with multimedia and live orchestral excerpts, followed by a full performance of a major work from the classical repertoire. The latest in this series featured Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

"He was not just some mysterious brooding genius," Grams said of Beethoven the man. "He worked for a living; he fell madly in love; he was a human being." The orchestra patiently demonstrated short passages, melodies, rhythms and even single notes to illustrate Grams' analysis of the symphony's building blocks. His message was that the music wasn't so much superhuman in its origin, but simply a product of superb craftsmanship of a kind that anyone with a talent or skill can understand.

The Elgin Symphony Orchestra performs Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.

Beethoven seems to bring out the best in an orchestra, and Grams in his shirt sleeves was joyously animated in conducting the four-part masterpiece after intermission. The audience didn't just clap after the allegro, they actually chortled at the Maestro's jests.

In some future or parallel universe, the symphony players themselves might expand their direct contact with the concert hall audience, but for now it's the sparkle and glow of the conductor that influences how we feel about these performances. Grams seems to love working in this informal atmosphere, and honestly, when the music is this good, it doesn't need any added ritual to enhance its quality or importance.

The next "Inside the Music" event is set for Friday, March 23, 2018 at 8pm, featuring Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations. For tickets and more information, go to www.elginsymphony.org.

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Janus Theatre Company Shows what "Art" is Supposed to Do

None other than Plato suggested the idea that "art imitates life." No matter how deep and wide this premise is elaborated, it's still durable and useful creative material. Janus Theatre chose well in presenting Art, a Tony award-winning 1994 play by Yazmina Reza, to open its nineteenth season Friday at the Seigle Gallery at Elgin Artspace Lofts.

This dialog-driven one-act play involves three men whose long friendship reaches a crisis point when one of them buys a very expensive minimalist painting. Their ensuing arguments over its artistic merit expose their own struggle to understand and appreciate each other, as each character eventually reveals his own judgments and interpretations of his friends. As the play progresses, their flawed egos, insecurities, and emotional postures change color and density like layers of paint on a canvas.

Michael Wagman (Yvan), Justin Schaller (Serge) and Sean Hargadon (Marc)
in "Art" by Yazmina Reza at Elgin Artspace Lofts.

A superbly cast ensemble of Sean Hargadon, Justin Schaller and Michael Wagman brought to life three rather different characters, each played with subtly appropriate costume and evocative body language. Their stage chemistry is excellent, and their delivery of every line, from the most profound aphorisms to the coarsest interjections, was consistently well-timed and elocuted.

Only Janus Theatre Company's up close, intimate staging could succeed in the Seigle Gallery, whose broad, flat surfaces scatter the sounds of dialog when actors face upstage. Surrounded by a significant exhibit of visual art, the play includes several audience asides which reinforce the feeling of being entirely present for the action.

Art's script carries a payload of fascinating ideas encapsulated in choice lines, disguised as a prickly and often funny conversation among friends. The controversial painting is really just a foil for the characters' own tendencies to define each other, while simultaneously refusing to accept the others' definitions of them. Raising questions and causing introspection is what art is supposed to do.

See if you agree that all definitions are relative. Art continues Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 6:00 pm through November 19th. Tickets are available at jtcART.eventbrite.com.