SVMF launches $500K capital campaign to improve
‘lawn audience’ Big Screen experience
By Ken Stokes
Editor’s note: What follows was originally intended to run as a guest opinion piece in ‘The Republic’—Wood River Weekly’s regular column aimed at focusing on current events in society, culture and politics through the lens of the arts. With the Sun Valley Music Festival and its new capital campaign to improve the ‘lawn audience’ experience now under way, we’ve asked Ken Stokes—a former Los Angeles Philharmonic consultant and business development executive for The Walt Disney Company, and a current Boise Philharmonic board member—to share his perspective on classical music and, more specifically, the SVMF’s attempt to instill a lifelong love for it right here, right now.
The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of … ?
I opened the Sun Valley Music Festival’s website and, as was no doubt intended, the first thing that caught my eye was the headline: “Instilling a Lifelong Love of Classical Music.”
‘Classical Music’ … For a lot of folks—even those in the fold—it conjures up images of mandatory piano lessons, dark cavernous spaces, elitism, formal wear and “shhhhhh!.” That the SVMF features activities and programming targeted at children and aspiring musicians is to be applauded, but the phrase “instilling a lifelong love of classical music” is tantamount to the task of instilling a lifelong love of proper etiquette, good oral hygiene, or kale. Instilling any behavior begins at home and requires more-than-occasional reinforcement in popular culture. And, to quote no less an expert on excellent parenting than Mary Poppins, “a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.” Nobody took her advice more to heart than that celebrated expert on music, regardless of genre, Leonard Bernstein.
Welcome to the ’60s
Disney and Warner Brothers animation constantly employed symphonic music in the most delightful way. We had Beethoven introducing the evening news and Rossini riding horseback with the Lone Ranger. And then there was Bernstein, whose televised Young People’s Concerts (many available on YouTube) were entertaining, informative, comprehensible and never condescending. Kids begged to attend a concert in person.
Wall-to-wall exposure. Those were indeed the good ol’ days. And then, seemingly, there was none. None packaged for easy consumption, anyway. In an age of comic book movies and video games, is there any chance of instilling a lifelong love of music—any music—in kids? Absolutely.
If a child is old enough to use a crayon without eating it, then it’s time to color to music, including the symphonic repertory. Pull up iTunes and have at it. Use a SVMF program as a guide. The 24-count box should accommodate the visual side of Mozart, the 64 for the Romantics up through Wagner. For Ravel, Debussy and Mahler, you’ll need the 150, a roll of butcher paper and a lot of counter space. The kids will have a blast; they’ll have no idea you have an agenda and you might end up with an artistic genius in the bargain (caveat emptor: they can be a real handful). Regardless, the instilling of music appreciation will be well under way.
You Can Be Any Height To Ride This Ride
Now let’s turn to the grown-ups. One is never too old to try something new, but it can’t sound onerous. And if one gets past the musicological gobbledygook, the Sun Valley Music Festival could not possibly be more user-friendly. First of all, this gang is world class – they serve up a level of performance equivalent to anything you’d hear in New York, London or Vienna. It’s free. Free is good. It’s held in a state-of-the art amphitheater with an expansive lawn perfect for picnicking plopped right in the middle of God’s country. Every day there’s something for everyone, regardless of one’s music preference, with wonderful surprises in store even for a spoiled aficionado like myself. But best of all it’s a communal experience on par with the Trailing of the Sheep or any of the other iconic Wood River Valley festivals. Who doesn’t like a good picnic? Think of a performance at the SVMF as a big slice of huckleberry pie—the perfect dessert to wrap up a wonderful summer day.
Greatest Hits
I was in the presence of Bernstein only once, in 1980, but indulge me as I attempt to channel Lenny so as to sell you on some of my favorites on the balance of the SVMF 2022 docket:
Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite (July 29): Ah, Ravel—the creator of the pop song color palette that’s still in fashion to this very day. A ravishing work belied by its G-rated title. I will never forget an LA Phil performance I saw a little over a decade ago: the neophyte conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin joined soloist Martha Argerich, one of the world’s greatest pianists, at the piano for an encore—a four-hands take on the ‘Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagoda’ section of Ravel’s suite. Master and protégé. They were in heaven, as was the enraptured audience. YN-S is now the music director of both the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera. It’s for moments like these—the spontaneous, the unexpectedly delightful, the deeply moving—that make not just concerts, but life itself so extraordinary.
Orff’s Carmina Burana (July 31): Your ‘ah-ha’ moment. Trust me, you’ve heard CB’s famous and wildly overused opening a thousand times in countless commercials. Nonetheless, listening to this over-the-top, bawdy work in its entirety might be as close as most people will ever get to the sensation of attending the closing night at Burning Man.
Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony No. 6 (Aug. 2): Welcome to Ludwig’s sunny side and his wonderful al fresco romp in Austria’s Lake Country. Two things to listen for: the five-note lick endlessly repeated in the first movement is the very essence of titillation, while, in the fourth movement, Beethoven’s idyllic spell is broken by a sustained rumble of double basses punctuated by triple-fortes on the off-beat. It might be the stand-in for lightning, but it’s also the calling card of every horror film you’ve ever seen.
Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto (Aug. 4): There’s something especially extraordinary about a great artist who can break his or her own chains. In Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto, like Spielberg’s adaptation of Bernstein’s West Side Story, the artist treks outside his comfort zone to great effect, a Thoroughbred off the track and loose in the countryside.
De Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat Suite (Aug. 6): A Goyaesque blend of elegance and earthiness that is at the heart of the Spanish experience. If you didn’t bring tapas, you’ll be craving them.
Elgar’s First Symphony (Aug. 8): The Pomp and Circumstance March #1, the perennial go-to for graduation processionals, is courtesy of Edward Elgar, Britain’s first symphonic rock star and harbinger of an empire on the brink of dissolution. His masterworks, including his First Symphony, are concoctions not just of the pompous but of the majestic, the whimsical, the martial, the mysterious, the turbulent and the valedictory. The third movement of his First Symphony is unashamedly nostalgic and breathtakingly beautiful. Who could have foreseen this work could easily serve as the soundtrack for the ‘American Experiment’ over a century later?
Richard Strauss’ ‘Alpine’ Symphony (Aug. 18): Speaking of Austria and the outdoors (I detect a theme here), the season concludes not with the customary Mahler symphony but with Strauss’ monumental tone poem tracking the ascent of and descent from an Alpine peak. Let’s say the Matterhorn (yes, I know it’s in Switzerland, but bear with me). This gorgeous work puts the Disneyland ride to shame. But oh, that moment of reaching the summit and the indescribable feeling of having accomplished something where the sheer magnitude of satisfaction was previously unimaginable. You’ll be awestruck.
From Instillation to Submersion
Festival over? Wanting more, perhaps? Bernstein’s Norton Lectures at Harvard (also on YouTube) are to the free diver in music what the Young People’s Concerts are to the water wings set. It takes about the same amount of time to watch these fascinating videos surveying the history of Western music as it does to watch the entirety of Fleabag. And you’ll be fully converted to “the bright side.”
The SVMF isn’t merely a survey of music, it’s a survey of the gift of life. In three short weeks we can experience, through sound, things we’ll never see or have the chance to experience in the flesh. Better still, we can revisit our favorite memories and be completely present in the present.
I am looking forward to the day (and I sure hope it happens in my lifetime) when the pejorative term ‘classical music’ is buried at sea once and for all and replaced with …
Suggestions anyone?
CHEAP SEATS? BEST SEATS!
Back in 2008, when the Sun Valley Pavilion opened, its sound system was state-of-the-art. As was the Big Screen, when it was installed in 2011. Both systems have served the lawn audience well, but it’s time to upgrade them. One reason is the evolution of technology: sound systems today can recreate the acoustics inside the Pavilion in ways unimaginable in 2008, while hi-definition screens offer far more resolution and visual detail. A second reason is that the back of the lawn that was originally designated for “audience overflow” now hosts several hundred serious listeners and viewers for each concert.
Accordingly, the Festival has undertaken a multi-year project to upgrade both systems. This summer, new speakers will be installed on the lawn, offering a far more accurate acoustic experience. Listeners will hear the sound coming to them the way it leaves the stage, with violins on the left, basses on the right, and the timpani and horns bouncing off the rear wall of the Pavilion.
Next up is a replacement of the screen with a newer, larger, high-definition screen, planned for summer 2023. It will be installed in the same location but will provide a much-enhanced viewing experience to concertgoers, including those sitting over 200 feet away.
To support these upgrades, the Festival is launching a capital campaign. An anonymous donor has very generously offered to match up to $250,000 in gifts, dollar-for-dollar. The proceeds will support the new screen and other systems that enhance the concert experience on the lawn. All gifts (totaling up to $250,000) will be matched through the 2022 summer season.