|
|
August 20, 2004/Elul 3 5764, Vol. 56, No.48
Israelis shine in state music festival
RAEANNE MARSH
Special to Jewish News
Compelled by a love of music that began in his youth in Israel, Moshe Bukshpan founded Red Rocks Music Festival three years ago to provide Arizonans with "world-class music in a world-class setting."
The celebration of classical music returns again this year over Labor Day weekend, with many of the same nationally and internationally known musicians who, in each of the previous years, have regularly brought audiences to their feet.
"The enjoyment that one gets from music cannot be expressed in words," Bukshpan observes. His goal is to make classical music as accessible as possible.
The core of festival performances and activities will take place in Sedona and Prescott, although it kicks off here in the Valley at Arizona State University on Wednesday, Sept. 1, with an evening of Baroque chamber music by composers Anton Dvorak, Anton Webern, Felix Mendelssohn and Antonio Boccherini.
That program, "Love Themes," will be repeated in Sedona 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, for a benefit performance at the facility opened this year by the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley. JCSVV has been a supporter of the festival from its inception, and many congregation members regularly offer the hospitality of their homes to the musicians for the duration of the festival.
The stand-out program at this year's festival is "Bach on the Rocks," presented Sept. 4 at the JCSVV facility in Sedona and Sept. 5 at Yavapai College in Prescott. This string orchestra program will include a premiere performance of a medley by Peter Schickele, a serious contemporary composer who was for a time overshadowed by his own tongue-in-cheek creation, P.D.Q. Bach. Other composers featured will be Gustav Holst, C. Jenkins, George Friedrich Teleman, and, of course, Johann Sebastian Bach.
Returning performers include cellist Ohad Bar-David and violinist David Ehrlich, with both of whom festival founder Bukshpan shares a friendship that began with childhood musical experiences in Israel. In fact, Ehrlich and Bukshpan each began their serious study of music with the same teacher, Ilona Feher.
Bukshpan, now an accomplished violinist, says his musical career "started with a little (four-hole) recorder I was given when I was about 6 years old," which, he adds, was very common in the environs of Tel Aviv where he grew up. When he was 8 years old, he traded in the recorder for a violin, and he recalls what prompted that particular choice.
"There was a well-known (violin) teacher in my hometown (of Holon) - Ilona Feher - who produced big-name artists: Pinkus Zuckerman, Shlomo Mintz, Gil Shaham," Bukshpan relates. "My father really liked the instrument, and he suggested, because Ilona Feher was there, that I try the violin."
Three years later, Bukshpan won a youth competition and went on to perform in front of 3,000 people in Tel Aviv's largest auditorium, the Mann Auditorium.
A highlight of Bukshpan's youthful career was a television appearance in 1966. Feher had been invited to put together a performance, and among the four students she chose were Bukshpan and Shlomo Mintz, who is now a world-acclaimed violinist and conductor. "We played on one of the first TV shows produced in Israel," he recalls, noting that at the time "TV had just started to exist."
But his most extraordinary memory comes from his experience playing in the Israeli Youth Orchestra. Legendary conductor Otto Klemperer led their performance of Mahler's "Symphony #9," and Bukshpan marvels that Klemperer "knew Gustav Mahler personally." It was one of Klemperer's final performances, and Bukshpan can still picture Klemperer's son Werner helping the conductor with his arms.
Bukshpan's experience in the Israeli Youth Orchestra also marked the beginning of his friendship with Bar-David, now an acclaimed soloist in his native country, who has been principal cellist with a number of orchestras and is currently a cellist with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Other principal performers in this year's Red Rocks Music Festival are Peter Rosato, principal viola with The Phoenix Symphony; Jan Simiz, principal cellist with The Phoenix Symphony and Phoenix Symphony Sinfonietta; Magdalena Martinic-Jercic, associate concertmaster of The Phoenix Symphony; and Annie Center, assistant principal viola with The Phoenix Symphony.
Three of the Festi-val's principal performers come from Arizona State Uni-versity faculty: Katie McLin, associate professor of violin and strings coordinator; Nancy Buck, viola; and Thomas Landschoot, cello. The University is also hosting master classes on campus Aug. 30-31 at Katzin Hall. A third master class will be held at the JCSVV facility on Sept. 3.
Bukshpan believes master classes are a key part of any music festival, and points out that Red Rocks Music Festival has attracted students and their teachers from as far as Tucson.
New this year, festival-goers will have a chance to meet the musicians at a special reception following Saturday evening's performance. The dessert eception will be held at one of Sedona's newest resorts, Amara Creekside Resort.
Modeling it after two festivals in which he performed for many years - Colorado Music Festival and Aspen Music Festival, held annually in Boulder and Aspen, Colo., respectively - Bukshpan chose the location for Red Rocks Music Festival for its beauty.
"It's a big project, a big vision," says Bukshpan, who fits the responsibilities for the festival into days already full teaching students at his school in Scottsdale, Bukshpan Violin Instruction. But Red Rocks Music Festival remains a top priority with him as a legacy to future generations of music lovers.
Further information on the Red Rocks Music Festival is available on the Web site, www.redrocksmusicfestival.com.
|
|
