Internationally known, globe-trotting violinist Vadim Gluzman must accumulate a lot of frequent-flyer miles. A month ago, he was concertizing in Sophia, Bulgaria. Last week, he flew to Durango for our summer festival – Music in the Mountains. After the final concert, Aug. 3, when he will play Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D, he’s off again, heading back to Europe. First, he’ll participate in Macedonia’s Ohrid Summer Festival, then he’ll be in Germany for Sommermusik im Oberen Nagoldtal.
If you go
WHAT: Music in the Mountains Classical Music Festival.
WHEN: Now through Aug. 3.
WHERE: Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive, and other venues.
ADMISSION: Single tickets from $40.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit musicinthemountains.com or call 385-6820.
On Wednesday, Gluzman performed in the first concert of the MitM season at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. He will solo in or lead four more: Friday, Sunday, July 29 and Aug. 3. All this in the midst of helming the festival as its fourth artistic director in the festival’s 39 years.
“I am deeply honored and excited to join Music in the Mountains as its artistic director,” Gluzman said in an interview for violinist.com. “For me, this appointment is truly a full-circle moment.”
That circle of engagement dates back to 1997, when Gluzman was only 24. At the invitation of his mentor Arkady Fomin, the legendary director of the Dallas Conservatory of Music and member of the Dallas Symphony, Gluzman became one of the first faculty members of Fomin’s summer conservatory at MitM.
“The memories of my early years at MitM are very dear and important to me,” he said. “So many wonderful experiences -- musical and artistic discoveries -- happened for me in Durango back when I was a young artist.”
Since then, Gluzman has played a variety of roles, including chamber musician, soloist and Fomin’s associate. Their long association also led to Gluzman’s intensified commitment to the festival, especially after Fomin’s untimely death in 2014.
As artistic director of the festival, Gluzman also follows in the footsteps of the late Mischa Semanitzky, who founded MitM in 1987 and retired in 2007. From 2008 to 2022, Greg Hustis acted as artistic director until Conductor Guillermo Figueroa filled both roles from 2022 to 2024, with Gluzman returning regularly as a soloist while his musical career skyrocketed.
In an important sense, Gluzman has come home to MitM. He is a bridge connecting the past to the present.
“This is a legacy project,” Executive Director Angie Beach said of Gluzman’s appointment. “Vadim’s commitment to education and outreach aligns with the festival’s mission to nurture the next generation of classical musicians. Under Vadim’s leadership, our educational component may restart in 2026 in an exciting, reimagined format.”
In addition, she said, it is Gluzman’s “industrywide esteem and extensive network that will help heighten awareness of the festival’s profile both nationally and internationally.”
Born in Ukraine and an Israeli/U.S. citizen who lives in the United States, Gluzman leads a peripatetic life performing all over the world. He has appeared with the world’s leading orchestras from Boston to Berlin, from Paris to London.
In addition to concertizing, Gluzman serves as Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University. He is also the founder of the acclaimed North Shore Chamber Music Festival in Chicago.
Last October, another key element fell into place for Gluzman to helm our festival. The MitM Board revealed a significant legacy gift from the late Jill Ward. It made Gluzman’s leadership role possible and the appointment of Daniel Raiskin as conductor-in-residence for 2025.
Violinist Vadim Gluzman is known for his brilliant technique and particular mastery of the music of 19th and 20th centuries. Festivalgoers may not know about his extensive discography in new music and the number of world premieres he has performed.
His range and virtuosity will be on display throughout the festival. In addition to performing works by Mozart, Vivaldi and Beethoven, and the massive Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto on Aug. 3, Gluzman will unfurl his flair for contemporary music on July 25. A late programming change moved an astonishingly beautiful new work, “Musica Dolorosa,” by Pēteris Vasks, from July 27 to July 25.
“Not only is Pēteris one of my favorite living composers, he is one of my favorite humans,” Gluzman said. “His music is as pure and beautiful as its creator. Pēteris is never afraid to be himself, never afraid to write simply beautiful music. Deeply spiritual, connected to the nature of his beloved Latvia, his music moves you, gives you solace and reassurance.”
You can listen to Vasks’ music on YouTube including other performances of “Musica Dolorosa.”
Vasks is a well-known and regarded Latvian composer all over Europe and is gaining American followers thanks in part to Gluzman. With the Finnish Radio Symphony, Hannu Lintu conducting, Gluzman recently recorded “Distant Light,” a BIS CD. Unexpectedly loaned to me by contemporary music fans Ray and Carol Schmudde, the recording also includes Vasks’ Concerto for violin and string orchestra of the title, plus “Summer Dances” and Quartet for violin, viola, cello and piano with Angela Yoffe, Gluzman’s wife – an established musician in her own right. The July 25 concert also includes works by Mozart featuring pianist Janice Carissa, named the 2025 Arkady Fomin Young Artist-in-Residence.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
