This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 18, 2012 - As I prepared to interview Nina Ferrigno and Scott Andrews, the founders and co-directors of the Missouri Chamber Music Festival (MOCM), at their home in Webster Groves this past Thursday, the concert series for the second annual Fest was less than a week away. But the husband and wife team – both professional musicians - were more than a little preoccupied with other music-related obligations also vying for their attention.
“I’m involved with the Pulitzer Contemporary Music Festival,” explains Ferrigno as we sit on the back deck. “The first concert is tonight.”
“I’m playing in two of the Opera Theatre productions this summer – 'Carmen' and 'Cosi Fan Tutti,' adds Andrews. “I love playing for Opera Theatre, but I have to admit, it does make for a very hectic June doing that and getting the Chamber Music festival organized.”
In addition to those additional musical duties and the looming performances of the Chamber Music Festival Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 21-23 at the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, Ferrigno and Andrews were happy to take a moment and reflect on the initial musical event of MOCM, which had taken place the previous weekend.
From June 7 through 10, the MOCM Pro-Am Intensive immersed a group of amateur musicians into workshops with professional players led by Andres and Ferrigno as they honed a performance of a chamber music composition.
In 2011, the Pro-Am attracted 12 amateur musicians. That number grew to 21 this year, and included several from outside the metro area.
“We were really pleased that we almost doubled the number of people who participated in the Pro-Am,” Andrews says. “In addition to the local participants, we had musicians who came in from Chicago, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas City and Rolla. And it was clear that there was real enthusiasm among those who participated to have additional private lessons and more additional practice and rehearsal time in addition to the group teaching. So, we’ll be working on adding that for next year’s festival.”
SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 21, 5 p.m.
Britten ‘’Phantasy Quartet’’
Weber ‘’Quintet for Clarinet and Strings‘’
Francaix “String Trio
Friday, June 22, 7 p.m
Brahms ‘’Two Songs, Opus 91’’
Beethoven “Piano Trio in G Major, Opus 121a”
McCloskey ‘’Glisten‘’
Beethoven ‘’String Trio in C Minor, Opus 9, No. 3’’
Pre-Concert discussion with Lansing McLoskey at 6:30
Saturday, June 23, 7pm
McCloskey ‘’Processione di Lacrime’’
Francaix ‘’Quartet for English Horn and Strings’’
Dvorak ‘’Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81’’
Pre-Concert discussion with Lansing McLoskey at 6:30
But the main event of MOCM will be the three concerts taking place at the First Congregational Church this Thursday through Saturday. The schedule of concerts remains the same as last year, with Thursday’s concert starting at 5 p.m. - followed by 7 p.m. performances Friday and Saturday.
“The structure is very much the same as last season,” explains Andrews. “We saw that it worked well the first time, and realized that if we kept that basic framework the same, we knew how to manage that. So at least for this year, we’re keeping the concert schedule the same.
MOCM will once again feature works by an invited composer-in-residence. This year it will be Lansing McLoskey, professor of composition at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. But there will be an added dimension – in terms of both media and an additional venue – to the performance of one of McLoskey’s works, “Glisten.”
“That composition, 'Glisten,' is an attempt to create an aural representation of visual color,” Ferrigno says. “You know, there’s an interesting parallel between music and visual art in terms of certain words that artists in both mediums use, such as sheen, and quite a few others. So we wanted to see if we could combine the music with visual art – and do it in a way in which each art form complements the other.”
Ferrigno and Andrews decided to take the interesting approach of having visual artists attend a rehearsal of “Glisten” this Wednesday at the Sheldon Concert Hall’s ballroom – and have each artists work on a piece of visual art while listening to the musicians rehearse “Glisten.”
“We didn’t want to have an artist creating a piece of art live while the actual concert was taking place,” states Ferrigno. We wanted the music and art to complement each other rather than distracting from one another.”
The works created at the Sheldon rehearsal will then be displayed at Thursday’s performance of “Glisten.” In addition, video taken during the rehearsal will be shown at the performance as well.
“I compare the combination of music and art here to the process of glazing a red pot,” adds Ferrigno. “When you add glaze and fire the pot, it’s still a red pot underneath, but the glazing adds a new dimension. That’s what we’re striving for; to find the commonality - and the individuality - of the music composition and the art work.”
Several musicians who performed at the inaugural MOCM last year are returning. In addition to Andrews and Ferrigno, violist Amadi Azikiwe, music director of the Harlem Symphony; Cellist Melissa Brooks of the St. Louis Symphony; violinist Maria Schleuning of the Dallas Symphony, and violinist Catherine French and cellist Jennifer Lucht (members of the Calyx Piano Trio with Ferrigno) are back to perform in 2012.
But there are several new additions to the artist roster for 2012 that have allowed the repertoire for the concerts to expand.
“We’ve added another wind player, Robert Sheena on English horn and oboe from the Boston Symphony,” says Andrews. “And we’ve also added violist Joanna Mendoza of the Arianna String Quartet as well as violinist Angie Smart of the St. Louis Symphony. And our vocalist this year is Raehann Bryce-Davis, a mezzo-soprano who is a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre and is performing in “Alice In Wonderland.”
“The additional instrumentation has allowed us to perform works like the Jean Francaix’s 'Quartet for English Horn and Strings,' which we’re playing in tribute to the centennial year of his birth,” he said.
Both Andrews and Ferrigno are absorbed in making the 2012 MOCM the best it can be. But they are also already focused on the 2013 edition of the festival – which promises to grow the event in even more interesting directions.
“We wanted to extend the idea of having a composer-in-residence to actually having an original work commissioned by the composer for a debut performance at the festival,” explains Ferrigno. “And next year we’re going to be able to do that. Our composer-in-residence will be Amy Beth Kirsten, who appropriately enough, was a composer laureate for the state of Missouri.”
“And next year’s Festival will also coincide with the annual League of American Orchestras Conference, which will be held in St. Louis June 17 through 20. And since David Robertson will be around, we’ve asked him to narrate Stravinsky’s 'L’historie du soldat,' which will be part of MOCM next year.”