{"id":2496904,"date":"2026-07-10T19:05:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2496904"},"modified":"2026-07-10T19:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T19:05:41","slug":"on-the-beat-alive-and-kicking-and-thinking-at-the-music-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/on-the-beat-alive-and-kicking-and-thinking-at-the-music-academy\/","title":{"rendered":"ON the Beat | Alive and Kicking and Thinking at the Music Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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After the\u00a0Music Academy of the West<\/a>\u00a0(MAW) launched its summer season with its usual gusto, checking in with the motherlode of standard repertoire stuff of the Tak\u00e1cs Quartet\u2019s stirring all-Beethoven night and the Academy Festival Orchestra\u2019s happy holiday-fueling of Gershwin and Brahms, and more, MAW pulls into the living composer station this week. And the composer in question: The much-acclaimed and performed\u00a0Missy Mazzoli<\/strong>\u00a0is very much alive and kicking \u2014 and appearing live in person on the Miraflores compound this week.<\/p>\n

Mazzoli, whose expanding oeuvre spans chamber music, orchestral, and operatic works and beyond, has become a prominent and prolific composer on the scene in recent years. The latest buzz in her world is the world premiere of her latest opera,\u00a0Lincoln in the Bardo<\/u><\/em><\/a>, bringing George Saunders\u2019s much-buzzed-about book to the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y.C., starting on October 19. Incidentally,\u00a0Lincoln in the Bardo<\/em>\u00a0continues a recent expansion of women composers\u2019 presence at the Met, which has historically been rare.<\/p>\n

Missy Mazzoli | Credit: Marylene Mey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a summering mode at Miraflores, Mazzoli showed up on Monday afternoon for the festival\u2019s first \u201ccomposer chat\u201d event, moderated by faculty pianist Conor Hanick. Hanick had a personal and invested role in Mazzoli\u2019s presence this summer, having commissioned her to write music for his piano fellows (to be performed this Friday, July 10. More info here:\u00a0link<\/u><\/a>). \u201cOne of the joys of having this commissioning program,\u201d Hanick said, \u201cis that I get to choose composers I like.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mazzoli spoke about the differences between projects of radically different scales, noting that, as a pianist, \u201cit starts by sitting at the piano. Big and small projects feed off of each other. But they take different amounts of time accordingly. The piece for the Met took eight years. These piano etudes took a few months. But each of them is like a little opera, a little world.\u201d<\/p>\n

She haltingly admitted that, while working on a current piano concerto commission, \u201cI stole from myself,\u201d borrowing materials from the etudes. \u201cBut it\u2019s a totally different drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracing her roots, studying at Boston University, the Netherlands, and Yale before busting out as an independent composer operator, she explained that \u201cI was sort of a weirdo. I decided to be a composer at 10. I would go to rehearsals and thought, \u2018I belong.\u2019 I knew I\u2019d never be a piano soloist. I don\u2019t like the isolation. But I knew I could be a composer and work with people and many different ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

A member of the audience asked her, \u201cDo your themes show up automatically, or can you sort of will them into existence?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is that famous quote,\u201d she replied, citing a quote often attributed to Pablo Picasso. \u201c \u2018Inspiration will find you, but it has to find you working.\u2019 Even if I\u2019m not feeling it, I will just show up at the desk. By doing that, maybe after three days, things will start to happen. I spend a lot of time with these piano etudes, just improvising and finding original kernels of an idea. It will take me weeks to come up with that kernel, and then it will be finished in two days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I can will it into existence, but only after a lot of sitting around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s Mazzoli-featuring and curated Hahn Hall concert is a time-spanning program of music by women composers, going back to the 12th-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen, up through a world premiere by now 15-year-old (!) composer Mia Turakhia and the music of Mazzoli\u2019s mentor, Meredith Monk. It also sports a healthy amount of Mazzoli music, from the piano etudes to her bass concerto\u00a0Dark with Excessive Bright<\/em>\u00a0and the presumably autobiographical art song\u00a0Self-Portrait with Disheveled Hair<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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A Week of Firsts<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Last week\u2019s roster of Music Academy events revved up the season\u2019s engine with a variety of sub-series-launching events, beyond Friday\u2019s orchestra series kicker. On Wednesday night at Hahn Hall, the celebrated voice department gave its fellows \u2014 freshly delivered to the campus only three days prior \u2014 with the program \u201cOh Beautiful: Songs from Home.\u201d Home, in the cases of the Academy\u2019s multi-cultural population of fellows, meant the inclusion of several Chinese pieces (such as \u201cThe Joy of a Snowflake,\u201d sung by soprano Jada Zijn Cheng), Spanish-language songs (e.g. bass-baritone Abraham Isai Cruz Ramirez\u2019s take on \u201cPampamopa\u201d), art songs by Rachmaninoff and Strauss, and things American.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From that zone came such varied songs as the wordless gospel tune \u201cA Song without Words\u201d by mezzo Maiya Williams, and, from the popscape, Don McLean\u2019s \u201cVincent\u201d by tenor Dylan Schang. Oh, not to forget: this listener\u2019s highlights, the songs of the great American maverick Charles Ives (\u201cWest London\u201d and \u201cLincoln, the Great Commoner\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thursday night launched the \u201cTeaching Artist Showcase\u201d program at the Lobero, with faculty musicians \u2014 all of a high order \u2014 playing in tandem and sometimes with fellows. Music by Arthur Foote and Max Bruch opened the concert. Still, the highlight was the thrill ride of Mendelssohn\u2019s Octet in E-flat, with the doubled-up confab of the in-house\u00a0Maple Quartet<\/strong>\u00a0and the mighty\u00a0Tak\u00e1cs<\/strong>, in the actual final appearance here by 51-year-veteran founding cellist Andr\u00e1s Fej\u00e9r.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back at the Hahn, Hanick was on hand on Friday afternoon in masterclass mode, one of the festival\u2019s secret daytime pleasures. With young pianist Adrian King taking on Schubert\u2019s Fantasia in C, \u201cWanderer,\u201d Hanick, the benevolent mentor, said, \u201cIf I could play it that way in my dreams, it would be a great dream.\u201d But he also \u201cnitpicked\u201d (his term) passages, at one point saying, \u201cyou\u2019re too good in the left hand here. It needs a little more sauce. It should scare the\u00a0bejeesus\u00a0<\/em>out of people.\u201d Words to the wise, from one who knows. And shows.<\/p>\n

Looking\/listening to the MAW Week<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Jeremy Denk | Credit: Courtesy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of the offerings on the MAW calendar this week, the clear highlight comes next Wednesday (July 15 at the Lobero Theatre), when eminent \u2014 and eminently quotable \u2014 pianist\u00a0Jeremy Denk<\/u><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0brings it on in his unique way. In the past few years, faculty member and music-world elite Denk has presented fascinating, focused programs to town on the themes of Charles Ives\u2019s Concord Sonata and Beethoven sonatas, with his witty and incisive program notes included.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s program is a more eclectic bag, with respected contemporary composer Unsuk Chin and Beethoven\u2019s awesome \u201cHammerklavier<\/em>\u201d sonata framing a piece by one of Denk\u2019s relatively unsung interests, the French composer-pianist H\u00e9l\u00e8ne de Montgeroult (1764-1836), dubbed \u201cthe missing link between Mozart and Chopin.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On that Wednesday afternoon, you can also catch another \u201ccomposer chat\u201d with\u00a0Kevin Puts<\/strong>, whose\u00a0Elizabeth Cree<\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0is this summer\u2019s full-on opera production (July 24 and 26, at the Lobero).<\/p>\n

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The State of Jazz on State\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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T\u00e9ka performing at Grand on State | Credit: Josef Woodard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The locavore cultural adventure that is the new\u00a0The Grand on State<\/u><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0jazz club continues. Even for those with other downtown destinations in mind \u2014 especially the adjacent Granada Theatre \u2014 the sweet sound of jazz spilling out onto the sidewalk is a powerful lure, as it was last Friday. On that night, T\u00e9ka was in the house, showcasing her always-inviting wares as a vocalist-guitarist. Brazil\u2019s gift to Santa Barbara, T\u00e9ka has often played around town and in Los Angeles and beyond, but to hear her in the intimate and elegant setting of the Grand was something special.<\/p>\n

I was only able to pop in on intermission from the Academy Festival Orchestra concert at the Granada (with jazz content in\u00a0that<\/em>\u00a0house, via Gershwin\u2019s\u00a0American in Paris<\/em>.) In my short eat-and-run stint, T\u00e9ka graced music by the great Brazilian songwriter-performer Moacir Santos and Burt Bacharach (\u201cLook of Love,\u201d nicely wrapped in a supple bossa), joined by the nimble team of Randy Tico and Kevin Winard, bass and drums, and the Grand\u2019s co-owner Brian Mann, at The Grand on hand and in his capacity as an accordionist of the highest order.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Grand on State | Credit: Josef Woodard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He is also the resident raconteur in the age-old jazz\/comedy club emcee tradition. \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t know this,\u201d the dry-witted keyboard man told the audience between songs, \u201cbut Randy Tico has only been playing for a short time. He was a professional soccer player for Paraguay but got eliminated. He found this instrument lying around, started playing it, and picked it up amazingly fast. I think he\u2019s some kind of genius.\u201d We half expected a rim shot from Winard.<\/p>\n

This Grand weekend\u2019s menu features the fine singer\u00a0Leigh Vance<\/strong>\u00a0on Friday,\u00a0Brian Mann Trio<\/strong>\u00a0on Saturday, and\u00a0Colin Richardson and the \u201cGrand Band\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0on Sunday. And this just in: On Wednesday, July 22, the most excellent and seasoned mainstream jazz chanteuse\u00a0Roberta Gambarini<\/strong>\u00a0is showing up with pianist Tamir Handelman. Here we have a great example of the club\u2019s ability to host notable out-of-towners, as it did when\u00a0Tom Scott<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Roger Kellaway<\/strong>\u00a0arrived a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

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Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore | Credit: Courtesy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TO-DOINGS:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Downey\u2019s celebrity son\u00a0Dave Alvin<\/strong>\u00a0and Texas\u2019s Zen cowboy\u00a0Jimmie Dale Gilmore<\/strong>, two rootsy American song veterans (veteran but not grizzled), are showing up at the\u00a0Lobero Theatre<\/u><\/a>\u00a0on Sunday, July 12. It\u2019s a potent and logical doubling up of singers who have found themselves in the embrace of the \u201cAmericana\u201d world, but who make up their own house blends of country and folk, with traces of \u201calt\/indie\u201d sensibilities in the mix.<\/p>\n

Deadheads and other living beings be alerted: The calendar at\u00a0SOhO<\/u><\/a>\u00a0this week includes Saturday\u2019s convergence of one of the finer Dead tribute outfits around,\u00a0No Simple Highway<\/strong>, celebrating its 12th anniversary.<\/p>\n

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\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.independent.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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