2023 Festival

Photo: Elaine Collins

Celebrated classics by masters such as Haydn, Mendelssohn and Saint-Saëns, alongside new music by living composers, including the Colorado premiere of a work written specially for the Horszowski Trio by Derek Bermel.

  • "The Enduring Baroque Soul"

    Saturday, 8/19/23 at 6pm

    Soiree #1 at private home

    Artists: Rieko Aizawa, piano; Jesse Mills, violin; Max Mandel, viola; Ole Akahoshi, cello; Derek Bermel, clarinet/composer

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    Mendelssohn, Concertpiece #2 in d minor, Op. 114 for Clarinet, Cello and Piano

    Bermel, "Kontraphunktus" from Funk Studies for solo piano (2004)

    J.S. Bach, Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 for String Trio (arranged by Sitkovetsky)

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    In this program we follow the influence of the iconic J.S Bach. Alongside Derek Bermel's work based on a figment of Bach, we feature Bach’s own ”Goldberg Variations” - a masterwork known for its perfect harmony of the artistic and the intellectual. Mendelssohn revived Bach's music in the 1800's and thus our love for Bach endures today and forever.

    “I especially enjoyed Derek Bermel's ‘Kontraphunktus,’ in which one small embellished segment of Bach's theme is spun into a meter-smashing, obsessive musical reflection.”

    - Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times

  • "Musical Prism: Refractions of Sophistication and Inspiration"

    Tuesday, 8/22/23 at 7pm

    Concert #1 at Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge

    Artists: Horszowski Trio (Rieko Aizawa, piano; Jesse Mills, violin; Ole Akahoshi, cello); Max Mandel, viola; Derek Bermel, clarinet/composer

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    Schumann, Sonata for Violin and Piano #1 in a minor, Op. 105

    Bermel, "Remembrance" for piano trio (2022) - Colorado Premiere

    Bermel, "Mulatash Stomp" for clarinet, violin and piano (1991)

    Saint-Saëns, Piano Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 41

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    Robert Schumann's music reflects his complex emotions as he struggled with mental illness, but it also serves as an invitation into his complicated, colorful fantasy world. There is a sophisticated beauty to the simplicity of Schumann’s Album for the Young which inspired Derek Bermel to compose "Remembrance”last year for the Horszowski Trio - an homage to Schumann. The pioneer of French music, Saint-Saëns cultivated his own impressionistic voice, yet one of the composers he promoted as a teacher was Schumann!

  • "Papa Haydn from Vienna to Here"

    Thursday, 8/24/23 at 7pm

    Concert #2 at Silverthorne Pavilion

    Artists: Horszowski Trio (Rieko Aizawa, piano; Jesse Mills, violin; Ole Akahoshi, cello); Max Mandel, viola; Ilana Davidson, soprano

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    Haydn, Piano Trio in e minor, Hob. XV:12

    Bolcom, Introduction and Rondo - "Haydn Go Seek" for piano trio (2009)

    Bolcom, "Ailey, Baldwin, Floyd, Killens and Mayfield (poem by Maya Angelou)" for Soprano, Viola and Piano from Let Evening Come (1993)

    Bolcom, "Amor" Cabaret song for soprano and piano

    Schoenberg, "Der Genugsame Liebhaber" Brettl-Lieder (cabaret song)

    Brahms, Piano Quartet in g minor, Op. 25

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    “Papa” Haydn championed an inventive, new musical idiom, inspiring so many Viennese composers to follow. The American composer William Bolcom would write a brilliant and personal work for piano trio, his nod to Haydn's humor and artistry, showing a fun side together with serious music-making. A century after Haydn, Schoenberg ushered in a “second Viennese School,” leading the way with a new musical language with Vienna at its heart. His cabaret songs celebrate the emotion and dark humor of his times, and they answer the questions posed by Haydn. We conclude with piano quartet #1 by Brahms, whom Schoenberg greatly admired, making his own arrangement of this same work for orchestra.

  • "Schubert Finds Himself in a Hall of Mirrors"

    Saturday, 8/26/23 at 6pm

    Soiree #2 at private home

    Artists: Horszowski Trio (Rieko Aizawa, piano; Jesse Mills, violin; Ole Akahoshi, cello); Max Mandel, viola; Ilana Davidson, soprano

    ・・・・・

    A Set of Goethe Songs

    — Mozart, Das Veilchen, K.476

    — Schubert, Erlkönig, D 328

    — Wolf, Die Sprode

    — Schumann, Liebeslied, Op. 51-5

    Harbison, Piano Quartet "Nov 19, 1828" (1988)

    Schubert. Piano Trio #2 in E-flat Major, Op. 100, D. 929

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    Franz Schubert wrote over 600 songs in his short 31 years, among them the most iconic masterpieces in the repertoire. One can hear this vocal quality in his great E-flat piano trio, which is familiar to many of us after it was featured in the classic Stanley Kubrick film, Barry Lyndon. The pleading melody from the opening of the second movement is full of wisdom and poignant sadness. The great living American composer John Harbison describes Schubert as his favorite composer, and titled his piano quartet “November 19, 1828,” the date of Schubert’s death. The music tells a story, following Schubert through a fantasy tale, including into a hall of mirrors, overcoming imaginary obstacles.