After a two-year break, music faculty are bringing back Mayfest, featuring music from Bach to Kurtág, including works by Arensky, Dvořák, Puccini, Brahms and a new commission by Cornellian Joseph Phibbs, a tribute to his teacher, Steven Stucky.
A through-line of the festival underscores the generational impact of music instruction: the program includes works by Lutosławski, who mentored Stucky, who served as a mentor to Phibbs.
The event’s artistic directors Xak Bjerken, professor of music, and Miri Yampolsky, senior lecturer and artist in residence, say the festival also includes works they have long wished to include — a Prokofiev quintet and a work for multiple pianos, Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos, Op. 1, which welcomes back Daniel Anastasio ‘11, a former student of Bjerken’s.
The Dvořák quartet, Beethoven trio, Brahms trio, and Franck quintet are “great masterpieces that we love to play,” Yampolsky said, adding that this reflects a guiding principle of the festival itself. “That’s the theme — which should really be a theme of any concert — good music played by good people.”
Along with Bjerken, Yampolsky and Anastasio, Mayfest musicians include: soprano Anna Bjerken, a recent graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Vocal Performance;
bassist Misha Bjerken, principal bass of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra; Anthony Bracewell, violinist, violist and executive director of the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts; cellist Steven Doane, visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London; Chris Grymes, clarinetist, professor, orchestral principal and concerto soloist; Kyung Sun Lee, violin professor at Indiana University and artistic director of the Seoul Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra; oboist Kelley Osterberg, fellow with the New World Symphony in Miami; cellist Rainer Crosett, regular guest principal cellist with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Oslo Philharmonic; and violinist Xiao-Dong Wang, artistic director and founding member of Concertante.
Highlights of the schedule include:
- Friday, May 15, 7:30 p.m.: Opening night performance including Debussy’s Cello Sonata, Glière's Two Pieces for bass and piano, Op. 32, Paganini’s Variation on a Theme for Two Pianos, arr. Lutosławski and Dvořák’s Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 87.
- Saturday, May 16, 7:30 p.m.: Cabaret song set, Prokofiev’s Quintet, Op. 39, Lutosławski’s Dance Preludes for clarinet and piano and Arensky’s String Quartet No. 2, Op. 35.
- Sunday, May 17, 2 p.m.: “The Four B's,” songs and instrumental selections from Beethoven, Bartók, J.S. Bach and Brahms.
- Monday, May 18, 7:30 p.m.: Kodály’s Adagio for viola and piano, the U.S premiere of Phibbs’ Piano Quintet, Bartók’s Violin Sonata No. 2 and Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for Two Pianos, Op. 17.
- Tuesday, May 19, 7:30 p.m.: Beethoven’s Trio Op. 1, No. 3 in C Minor, Puccini’s Chrysanthemums for string quartet and bass, Rossini and Glière’s Two Duets for cello and bass and Franck’s Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 14.
On May 15, 17 and 19, audience members can join Anastasio for a preconcert talk 45 minutes before the performance. Through piano demonstrations, conversations with the musicians and audience interaction, he will offer insight for the program ahead.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $5 for students, and free for listeners below the age of 18 with an accompanying adult. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door, though door sales are cash only.
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