Vol. 38, No. 18

1-23-2008
By: Julia Harris

Big names — and local faces — bring big music

Contemporary Music Festival draws world-class talent to campus

This year’s Contemporary Music Festival, organized by Professor Don Harris, is shaping up to be almost an embarrassment of riches.

From the opening concert, featuring works by Ohio State’s four faculty composers, to the performance of choral music by international superstar Osvaldo Golijov and the voice master class given by operatic singer Dawn Upshaw, the four-day event promises something for music lovers of varied stripes.

For this year’s festival, slated Jan. 30-Feb. 3, Harris seems to think he may have outdone himself by bringing in his featured guest composer.

Golijov, widely hailed as one of the most preeminent composers on today’s classical music scene, will be on campus to witness the performance of several of his works on Jan. 31, after which there will be a talk-back session for audience members to ask him questions. He will also conduct a master class with composition students on Jan. 30. The Columbus Symphony Orchestra will present a concert of Golijov’s works on Feb. 1 and 2.

Golijov, known for his hybrid blend of multicultural musical traditions, grew up in Argentina and cut his teeth on chamber classical music, klezmer music and tango. He is composer in residence with the Mostly Mozart Festival and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and has written chamber music, operas and film soundtracks. For almost a decade he has been writing songs specifically for Upshaw, the renowned American soprano.

“It’s rare to find someone so young who has succeeded so well and so famously — he’s only 47 and he’s already popular all over the world,” Harris said of Golijov. “Part of his success is the great accessibility of his music, and part of it is because Dawn Upshaw is famous and has championed his music.”

Whatever the reasons for his popularity, Golijov is “the most in-demand composer in America today,” Harris said, and Ohio State audiences are sure to enjoy his music.

They’re also sure to be mesmerized by Upshaw, who will be performing Golijov’s music at the Ohio Theatre Feb. 1 and 2 and who will also be conducting a free public master class with four vocal students on Feb. 3. Two students will be chosen from Ohio State’s graduate program in voice and two others will be selected from Otterbein College and Capital University.

Each student will bring 15 minutes of music to perform for Upshaw, who will then provide one-on-one critique. Participation in such a class is a mark of prestige, according to Loretta Robinson, associate professor of music and head of vocal performance.

“Dawn Upshaw is probably the biggest artist we’ve ever had come do a master class,” Robinson said.

“She’s well recorded, she has sung all over the world, and she has a real freshness and genuineness to her voice that I love. She’s also very generous with her time.”

The festival has been a longstanding tradition with the School of Music, but when Harris took the reigns shortly after arriving at Ohio State in 1988, he decided to shake things up a bit.

“A typical contemporary music festival is more like a sampling of 10, 12 different composers from a list of various styles and forms,” Harris said. “When I was asked to take over, I changed the format slightly to make it a retrospective of a featured composer, so that we do a group of compositions by this one famous composer.”

Last year, the festival highlighted pieces from Gunther Schuller, whom Harris describes as “indisputably one of our most distinguished [American] composers … and an everlastingly youthful composer of 81 years.”

Included with each year’s festival is a sampling of original compositions from School of Music alumni, students or faculty, as well as recent (and not so recent) music by 95-year-old composer Henry Brant.

This is the fifth year the festival has benefited from its partnership with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, which brings a wealth of additional resources, expertise and musical muscle to the table.

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