MARTIN MAJKUT

On his first visit with the RVS, David Ludwig fell for our area. He understood what I was feeling – the power and magic of making art in the picturesque Rogue Valley. Fast forward a few years, and David, currently Dean of Music at The Juilliard Conservatory, became our very first Composer in Residence. The discoveries of the creative time we had together are encapsulated in this world premiere: Rogue riverrun. You can expect a music with a great architecture, filled with drama and punctured by moments of serenity. As always with David, some mischief will be present as well. 

 

Describing Mozart’s music as “heavenly” may seem like a tired trope but it gets uttered so much because it fits so well. Why is it “heavenly” then? Mozart’s music takes the entire compendium of human emotions and distills it through a spiritual filter that makes everything feel universal and timeless. Mozart talks to you from across the centuries and you need no translator. 

 

Nowhere is this truer than in this piano concerto in A Major, one of his most personal creations. Even the virtuosic passages make you feel as if you were in an intimate circle surrounding the composer himself.  It feels so good to envelope yourself with Mozart! 

 

I admire Vijay Venkatesh as a player of elegance, finesse and intelligence. Last time he came to the RVS, things were still touch-and-go with Covid and we had to go audience-less. We owed you the presentation of Vijay’s artistry! This Mozart concerto is the perfect vehicle for our reunion. 

 

Due to the vagaries of scheduling, all three October concerts take place in Ashland. SOU’s Recital Hall has one thing the others do not: an organ. Let’s make that proverbial lemonade then and play one of the very greatest Romantic composition - Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony. The composer summoned up all his creative powers and all his extraordinary knowledge to build a cathedral of sound that is simply glorious. It is the kind of music that even Mozart would admire.