Next week, the San Juan Symphony sets sail on a remarkable new adventure. From rehearsals through the next scheduled concerts Feb. 22 (Durango) and 23 (Farmington), the orchestra will be engaged in documentary filmmaking. The subject is a question: “What is music?” The entire project, from rehearsals through concerts to the film itself promises to be innovative. The goal is nothing less than bringing music and science together in a live performance with orchestra, projections and narration.
Yes, it will be a world premiere. And it’s the brainchild of two friends: Thomas Heuser and Bill Barclay.
If you go
WHAT: “What Music Is,” preconcert lecture, Music Director Thomas Heuser, composer Bill Barclay, animator Shawn Feeney.
WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday.
WHERE: Powerhouse Science Center, 1295 Camino del Rio.
TICKETS: Free.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 382-9753 or visit www.sanjuansymphony.org.
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WHAT: “What Music Is,” world premiere, San Juan Symphony, Music Director Thomas Heuser, composer Bill Barclay, animator Shawn Feeney. Works by Debussy, Beethoven, Elgar.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22, Durango; and 3 p.m. Feb. 23, Farmington.
WHERE: Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Durango; Henderson Performance Hall, Farmington.
TICKETS: Concert Hall single tickets from $21 for students to $64 adults.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 247-7567 or visit www.durangoconcerts.com.
Since undergraduate studies at Vassar College, Heuser has stayed in touch with Barclay. Heuser is music director and conductor of the Symphony. Barclay is artistic director of Concert Theatre Works in New York City and has a long history of innovative musical programming. He wrote and will narrate the February concerts.
“Bill and I met in college when we were undergraduates,” Heuser said. “Back in 2002, he was the conductor of an ensemble, and when he left, he passed the baton to me. Bill was the first person to get me into conducting and we’ve stayed in touch.”
As a composer and writer, Barclay has built a variegated resume. From 2012 to 2019, he served as director of music for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. Now in New York, he has launched concert works that imaginatively merge music, story, dance and even animation. YouTube presentations like: “Harmony’s Meaning in an Evolving Universe” showcase his range. And now that he and Heuser have cooked up a new concert offering, it wasn’t a stretch to add a documentary film component.
“Bill’s approach is informative without being pedantic,” Heuser said. “He’s approachable. He ties together all kinds of ideas. And Shawn Feeney’s visual components add to the whole experience.”
The San Juan Symphony performance is central to the project, Heuser said.
“This will be a full symphony concert. We’ll be playing Debussy’s ‘Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faune’ and Elgar’s ‘Nimrod,’ plus Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1. A new work, Jessie Montgomery’s ‘Starburst for Orchestra,’ from 2020 is also on the program. And ‘Asteroid 4179,’“ he said. ”What can I say? It’s a new work, a beautiful, abstract piece by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. We’ll pair ‘Asteroid’ with Gustav Holst’s ‘Jupiter’ from ‘The Planets.’”
“What is music?” may be the simple question that drives this project, but when creative people get together to answer it, sparks fly. The Heuser- Barclay-Feeney team have come up with something unusual that will be sonically rich, visually colorful and certainly provocative.
At 6 p.m. Feb. 19, Barclay and Feeney will appear with Heuser for the popular free lecture, “Musically Speaking.” In the big, open space of the Powerhouse, light snacks and a cash bar add to the ambience. After the presentation, questions are encouraged. In addition, Heuser also will give a short preconcert talk in each venue one hour before downbeat. If you haven’t attended one of Heuser’s lectures before, add it to your concert experience. He’s one of the best, most approachable music educators to come around in a long time.
As for the documentary, plans are well underway for future screenings, and other innovative collaborations are on the table.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
