Take the Beethoven Challenge – and don’t be shy.
Send your version of the iconic opening to Beethoven’s mighty Fifth Symphony, and it just might make the airwaves.
Check out Music Director Tom Heuser’s 10-second video on the San Juan Symphony website and be creative. He smiles, leans forward and raps: “Dun, dun, dun DUNNN.” Then he pitches the challenge: Sing, tap, play an instrument or lead a group with that four-note trope, film it anywhere and send your video to SJS.
If you go
WHAT: “Spiral,” solo violin recital by violinist Tim Fain.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday.
WHERE: Roshong Recital Hall, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive.
TICKETS: $25.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 247-7567 or visit www.durangoconcerts.com.
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WHAT: “Musically Speaking,” preconcert presentation by Music Director Thomas Heuser.
WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday.
WHERE: The Powerhouse Science Center, 1295 Camino del Rio.
TICKETS: Free with snacks and a cash bar.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 382-9753 or visit www.sanjuansymphony.org.
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WHAT: “Tim and Beethoven Five,” San Juan Symphony, Music Director Thomas Heuser, violinist Tim Fain.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16, Durango and 3 p.m. Nov. 17, Farmington.
WHERE: Community Concert Hall, Durango. Henderson Performance Hall, Farmington.
TICKETS: Concert Hall single tickets range from $21 students to $64 adults.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 247-7567 or visit www.durangoconcerts.com.
Drumming up interest in the forthcoming Beethoven celebration, Heuser-as-prankster is clearly having fun. His sense of play couldn’t arrive at a better time. Exhausted by a long, agonizing political season and still in pandemic recovery, Americans need a break, so why not plunge into music with a different approach to all things Beethoven?
To start this three-part musical Mardi Gras, violinist and composer Tim Fain returns to Durango for a solo recital on Tuesday in Roshong Recital Hall at Fort Lewis College. He will be the featured soloist the next weekend in the Community Concert Hall and Henderson in Farmington.
On Tuesday evening, Fain will present works from his most recent recording, “Unraveling,” featuring composers such as John Corigliano, Missy Mazzoli, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Fain’s mentor and touring buddy, Philip Glass.
Titled “Spiral: themes and highlights from ‘Unraveling,’” Fain’s lecture-recital will examine his fascination for new music with a likely addition of electronics. That dual interest seems to constitute a comfort zone for Fain as he is known for many violin solos in films such as “Moonlight” and “Black Swan,” and television series such as “Succession,” where he underscored as a violinist and also made a cameo appearance.
Part two of the musical celebration occurs the next night, Wednesday, when Heuser will deliver one of his popular preconcert lectures at the Powerhouse Science Center. Heuser is the most engaging speaker when it comes to music. He plays excerpts on his loyal BOSE to support a lively journey through works on an upcoming concert. You can bet Heuser will discuss Fain’s Concerto for Violin, 2021, titled “Edge of a Dream.”
The concerto, Fain said in a recent interview, mysteriously emerged out of the claustrophobic pandemic years: “My family and I were fortunate to have been healthy during COVID-19, which was a time of suffering and transition for so many people. Like many musicians, I saw performances canceled or postponed. In consequence, I had a lot of time on my hands. Some silver linings began to emerge: I could spend more time with my family and watch my girls grow. I also had time to put together my first large composition for violin and orchestra.”
“Edge of a Dream” became the title, because “I had the sensation that I was at the edge of something: a feeling of profound hope just out of reach. Looking back, I now realize that I needed to express this intense, and at times forceful yearning during the pandemic to hold on to the dream of a better future.”
The concerto will open the twin San Juan Symphony concerts Nov. 16 and 17, in Durango and Farmington. After intermission? The great Beethoven Fifth Symphony from 1808.
“The music was written over several years, when Beethoven was in his 30s, troubled by his worsening deafness, and constantly interrupted by a string of other projects,” Heuser said. “When it finally debuted in 1808, it was part of a now famous concert in Vienna, conducted by Beethoven himself.”
Heuser presents a shortened version of his Powerhouse preconcert lecture one hour before downbeat in both Durango and Farmington concert halls.
“We wanted to interact through social media,” Music Director Thomas Heuser said recently about the unusual outreach for Da-da-da DUNNN videos. “Our new Executive Director Meghann Zenteno ran with the idea. She hopes to increase our accessibility, making the SJS both a serious performing arts organization and also a place for fun experiences for the community.
“We wanted to invite informal performances of Beethoven’s iconic opening motive – one of the only ‘household names’ in classical music that has had staying power in popular culture,” he said.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
