MARLBORO — This weekend begins the 75th season of the Marlboro Music Festival performing ensemble chamber music for the people of Southern Vermont.
Marlboro Music was founded in 1951, after WWII, by Rudolf Serkin, Adolf and Hermann Busch and the Moyse family — all European refugees who “had a vision for an idealistic community that could reclaim music from the nationalistic forces that had swept Europe,” said Christopher Serkin, current president and chairman of Marlboro Music.
Currently led by Mitsuko Uchida and Jonathan Biss, Marlboro Music gathers around 80 musicians to the former campus of Marlboro College for seven weeks of rehearsal, before they finally perform the repertoire for audiences from across Vermont and the world.
Carys Sutherland, who plays the french horn, will be performing with Marlboro Music for the third time this summer, and has been playing music for about 15 years overall.
Sutherland plays in an orchestra in Nova Scotia, Canada. “Marlboro is specifically dedicated to chamber music, which is something that, as wind players, we don’t get to do that often in the professional world,” said Sutherland.
“There’s nowhere else in the world that gathers this many incredible musicians in the same place for this long — for seven weeks,” said Sutherland. “[Marlboro is] willing to program things that you would never play anywhere else, because they have the resources and the time.”
In the “real world,” according to Sutherland, musicians typically only have two rehearsals for a piece before performance, a far shorter amount of time than what they would have at Marlboro.
It’s easy for Sutherland to recognize when she meets someone that’s played at Marlboro. “It’s just a different way of playing, and it’s just easier to connect with someone who’s been through here than someone who hasn’t,” said Sutherland.
For the upcoming season, Sutherland will be performing a piece by Philip Manoval, the artistic manager of Marlboro who is retiring. Additionally, this season will be featuring more contemporary, rather than classical, repertoire.
“Marlboro is interesting [because] there is … an emphasis on the classics — the Mozarts, Brahms, Schubert — which, when I’ve heard it performed here, it’s been at the highest caliber I’ve ever heard,” said Sutherland. “But also, there is an interest in contemporary music with the resonant composer program.” The interest in contemporary music has only increased in recent years, according to Sutherland, as Marlboro initially began with a solely Classical focus.
Chase Park, cellist, has been performing with Marlboro Music as a junior participant for five years this summer, and music overall for about 23 years, since he was 4.
“Marlboro has younger people who are studying, or recently graduated [and] just starting their careers work with people who’ve just been doing [professional music] for a long time,” explained Park. Junior participants usually audition, while senior participants, who were at one point juniors, are often paid to return as guides.
“You just get inspired by how brilliant other people are,” said Park. “There’s a legendary tradition — Marlboro used to have all the biggest names, from all over the world, gather. So it’s really cool to continue that tradition, and also just to be in a really beautiful space with people who love music so much.”
Marlboro continues to house the “biggest names” even today. “It was a huge honor [to perform with them],” said Park. “I’ve learned so much from them, and it’s so cool to also be able to interact with them outside of the rehearsal.”
“Every community, I think, needs some form of art to inspire and give us a reason to perform,” said Park on the impact of the Festival. “It’s so important … When I’m here, I’m reminded how much I love music, and how lucky I am to be playing music.”
Marlboro Music’s five-week season begins July 18, with performances on July 19, July 25 and 26, Aug. 1 and 2, Aug. 7 to 9 and Aug. 14 to 16. To purchase tickets for any of the concerts, visit https://www.marlboromusic.org/concerts/.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.reformer.com ’
