by Carlene Phillips ·
Friday, October 11, 2024
The June chamber music festival has become a staple of summer in Harvard and a much-anticipated event. The week-
long workshop, sponsored by Five-sparks, offers young, professionally bound musicians a unique opportunity to go deeply into their music. For the community, the event is a chance to learn more about chamber music and the process involved in polishing a piece for the concert at the end of the week.
Two longtime coaches for the festival, Rhonda Rider and Judith Gordon, who have supported the Harvard Music Festival since its inception seven years ago, will be at Fivesparks Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. for a concert to raise money for next year’s June event. Reservations are required, with a suggested $25 donation at the door.
Pianist Judith Gordon. (Courtesy photo)
Both Gordon, a concert pianist, and Rider, a cellist, in addition to pursuing independent performance projects, have remained committed to teaching and coaching throughout their professional lives. Rider is a professor of cello and chamber music at Boston Conservatory. Her recording, the Petrified Forest Project on Parma Recordings, was just nominated for a Grammy.
Gordon, who has moved to New Mexico, wrote in an email: “Since moving to New Mexico, I’ve scaled back my role as festival co-founder and annual coach, but I treasure the community of music-lovers in Harvard—especially board members and volunteers who’ve been so very generous and open-minded since our first phone calls, now years ago. So when Rhonda and I were planning for a few events in the Boston area this month, it was natural to explore the idea of a field trip to visit and play.” She went on to say, “It really has been great to watch the profile of the festival evolve—from something like an optimistic question mark to a joyful exclamation point—and I am excited to celebrate that with this recital in the ‘off season.’”
Cellist Rhonda Rider. (Courtesy photo)
The program will feature a work for solo piano, Sonatine, by French composer Maurice Ravel, first performed in 1906, which Gordon calls “captivating.” Other pieces will be folk melody-inspired duos that Rider and Gordon particularly enjoy by Arthur Berger, Reena Esmail, and Manuel de Falla. Berger was an influential American composer, music critic, and teacher, who was at Brandeis University from 1953 to 1980. Esmail is an Indian-American composer in her early 40s, and Falla, a composer and pianist, was one of Spain’s most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century.
Fivesparks board member and past president Mark Mikitarian explained the need for new sources of funding as the festival heads into its eighth year. It has been a goal since the festival’s inception to offer full scholarships to all preprofessional musicians who are accepted. That ability to mitigate the cost makes the festival highly competitive, drawing top-tier musicians and building the reputation of the program. A large portion of the funding has come from grants, but those funding organizations, now that the festival is established, have switched their support to arts programs trying to get underway. Mikitarian said the October concert is “a way to augment the festival budget and remind the community of what’s coming at the beginning of summer.”
Over its seven years of existence—including a remote and hybrid version in 2020 and 2021—the festival has grown in the number of participants and expanded in community involvement. Students and recent graduates who are planning on careers in music rehearse in ensemble groups and go to masterclasses held in venues around town. Co-founder and former Harvard resident Judith Eissenberg has described it as “an intense experience, where the musicians can go deep and improve a year’s worth in a week.”
Residents are invited to visit the different sites and interact with the players and their music. It’s a perfect opportunity for people who know nothing about the process to learn about music and for knowledgeable music lovers to see things from a new angle. The festival is an opportunity for the young musicians to understand how important it is to involve the audience in the music making.
Rider wrote in a recent email: “The total experience at the Harvard Music Festival has been transformative for so many young musicians. Music can be a difficult profession, filled with long hours of practice and self-criticism. Add in the pressures of college and competition and it can be quite daunting to even the most passionate young musician. Coming to Harvard for a week of intensive coaching brings these musicians back to why they love music in the first place.
“The Harvard community welcomes them so heartily whether it’s attending their rehearsals or creating a beautiful meal. It is a welcome cherished by both the students and coaches.”