Bigger and better than ever, the Vancouver Art and Music Festival celebrated its second annual extravaganza with a cornucopia of cultural offerings. Food, visual art, dance, film, theater skits, and music were celebrated over a three-day weekend (August 2-4) that attracted record crowds to the downtown area around Esther Short Park. And the Vancouver Symphony, under Music Director Salvador Brotons and guest conductor Gerard Schwarz plus top-tier soloists, highlighted the main stage with terrific selections from the classical repertoire.
'To top things off, the entire festival was free! That’s right! Igor Shakhman, CEO and Principal Clarinetist of the Vancouver Symphony secured over $600,000 from the Murdock Charitable Trust and other foundations to make the VAMF a reality with no entry fees. According to the City of Vancouver, last year’s inaugural edition of the festival drew more than 30,000 visitors. This year the total swelled to over 40,000. Warm, weelcoming statements were made by the the Mayor of Vancouver, Anne McEnerny-Ogle, and Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. So the VAMF, supported by the City of Vancouver, the Columbia Arts Network (CAN), Vancouver Downtown Association, Visit Vancouver, Vancouver AC Hotel on the Waterfront, Vancouver Hilton, the Oliva Family Fund, Gravitate, and others, is on an upswing.
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| Brotons and orchestra on the main stage | Photo credit: Windows on Life Photography |
An overflow crowed blanketed the lawn in front of the main stage with camping chairs and picnic baskets. Cellphone cameras were also at the ready for Brotons and the orchestra, which kicked off the concert (August 2) with the 'Waltz' from Tchaikovsky’s opera “Eugene Onegin.”
Coty Raven Morris, All Classical Radio program host and music professor at Portland State University, enthusiastically introduced Grammy-award-winning cellist Zuill Bailey, who delivered an outstanding performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme.” Wonderful articulation of the quicksilver passages, sensitive treatment of the ultra-high notes, and soulful probing of the phrases in the basement register made Bailey’s performance memorable. I loved how he could sting a note as needed, which heightened the many contrasts of the piece. An occasional jet flying overhead (pursuant the flight path from Portland International Airport), barking dogs, and the afterburn of a Harley didn’t phase Bailey one bit. The audience responded with a standing ovation – quite a compliment considering that people had to get out of their low-slung chairs.
Bailey followed the Tchaikovsky with a haunting rendition of John Williams’ “Schindler’s List.” It was brief, but very evocative of the main theme from the 1993 famous movie-epic-drama.
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| Zuill Bailey and the orchestra | Photo credit: Windows on Life Photography |
After intermission, Brotons conducted a robust interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s “Capriccio Italian” from memory. Actually, he conducted the entire program without a score, and he did it in way that looks natural and easy peasy – although it is really hard. Sometimes, it seemed that the sound became a bit too heavy at times, which may have had to do with the amplification.
Brotons told the audience that “You ain’t seen nothing yet” before launching the orchestra into Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.” It was fun to see people moving back and forth as they listened to the famous melody at the end of the piece. A better placement of the microphones for the bass drum would have created a more crackling wallop. But the total effect of the piece resonated with the listeners, who responded with a standing ovation.
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| Gerard Schwarz with the VSO | Photo credit: Windows on Life Photography |
For Saturday evening’s concert (August 3), All Classical Radio's Warren Black introduced Gerard Schwarz, Music Director of the All-Star Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Seattle Symphony, and piano virtuoso Olga Kern, winner of the 2001 Van Cliburn International Competition, to the stage. Schwarz and Kern created an outstanding performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, aka the “Emperor Concerto.” Kern had a field day with the piece, generating exciting lines in the first movement, dialing it back for the lovely and elegant second movement, and surging into the finale. The microphones, unfortunately accented the notes in the upper register of the piano too much. Consequently, some of the dynamic contrast was lost. Also, it was difficult to hear the woodwinds – especially the bassoon. But in the end, the dazzling virtuosity of Kern won over the concertgoers, who immediately sprang to their feet with boisterous cheering.
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Olga Kern | Photo credit: Windows on Life Photography
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Kern responded with a mesmerizing encore, Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No 10.” She sailed through an outrageous assortment of fanciful filigree, delightful glissandos, and knuckle-crunching keyboard wizardry with elan. Well, it took your breath away and caused an outpouring of applause.
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Astral Mixtape with Vancouver H. S. and Evergreen H. S. orchestra | Photo credit: Windows on Life Photography
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During intermission, LA-based ensemble Astral Mixtape (violinists Misha Vayman and Michael Siess, cellist Juan-Salvador Carrasco, and keyboardist Nathan Ben-Yehuda) performed their arrangements of Astor Piazzolla and Aaron Copeland pieces with a chamber orchestra that consisted of students form Evergreen High School and Vancouver High School. The collaboration incorporated spontaneity and passionate intensity that resonated incredibly well with the crowd.
The concert finished up with Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony. The amplification needed to be adjusted for the woodwinds, which could barely be heard, and for the double basses, which dominated some passages. That didn’t matter to the audience which ate up the performance, rewarding it with applause between each movement and a standing ovation at the end.
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Ben Gulley and Cecilia Violetta López | Photo credit: Windows on Life Photography
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I was unable to attend the final concert on Sunday afternoon (August 4). Schwarz led the orchestra in performances of the first movement from Mahler’s Second Symphony, “Three Dance Episodes” from Bernstein’s “On the Town,” the “Symphony Dances” from Bernstein’s “West Side Story,” and “Concert Suite No. 1” from Bernstein’s “West Side Story” with soprano Cecilia Violetta López and tenor Ben Gulley. During intermission, All Classial Radio's President and CEO Suzanne Nance interviewed Schwarz on the main stage.
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| Gerard Schwarz and Suzanne Nance | Photo credit: Windows on Life Photography |
Overall, the VSO at the VAMF would benefit from two things. First, close off all streets that surround Esther Short Park so that no motorcycles or loud cars can interrupt the music. That can be done 30 minutes before the music begins. Second, rehearse at Esther Short Park in the morning in order to get a better placement of the microphones. That will help to correct the sonic balance.
But even with those quibbles, the second year of the Vancouver Arts and Music Festival was an overwhelming success. The weather cooperated, and a huge number of people experienced live, classical music with the local band. It doesn’t get any better than that.
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