HKS: We decide on a theme based on repertoire we’d really like to perform. For example, our “American Voices” concert last spring was prompted by violinist Casey Bozell, who suggested that we play some of Mark O’Connor’s string trios, which are inspired by Appalachian folk music and bluegrass fiddling. From there, we started thinking of other American composers whose music we liked and wanted to share with an audience. We also wanted to showcase the diversity of American music, so we added pieces by the late Romantic-era composer Amy Beach, the Portland-based contemporary composer Tomáš Svoboda, and so forth.
LN: Why did you decide to do a concert for Lesley Dill: Poetic Visions? What does the Tardis Ensemble want to add to the exhibition and its audience?
HKS: Lesley Dill’s work has particular attraction for us because of its interdisciplinary approach and focus on the relationship between language and art. Dill is also influenced by music and theater: she has created many performance pieces, including an opera, Divide Light, based on the poems of Emily Dickinson. It is a beautiful work, with a haunting score by Richard Marriott, and everyone should check it out! (http://www.lesleydill.net/videoDL.html)
Much like Lesley Dill, many composers have sought to translate poetic texts and transcendent experiences into their artistic medium — in this case, music. So in selecting a program that would complement Lesley Dill’s exhibit at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, we looked for pieces that responded to poetry, visual imagery, and the mysteries of nature. This concert also offered us the perfect opportunity to work with our friend and respected colleague, baritone Aaron Cain: he’s joining us for Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach, a setting of a dark, melancholic poem by nineteenth-century English poet Matthew Arnold.
LN: What are the connections between music and art that you see from Lesley Dill’s exhibition?
HKS: The pieces featured in the exhibition Lesley Dill: Poetic Visions draw inspiration from language, fashion, dance, spirituality, and drama. Dill’s work is an intense multi-sensory experience, with varied textures and “voices” that call out from the walls, gowns, and sculptures. In a similar way, music communicates with other arts and has the ability to engulf the audience’s senses and emotions.
LN: What do you hope to bring to the audience?
HKS: Many of the pieces on our program will likely be new to the audience, even if some of the composers are familiar. It’s a privilege for us to introduce these pieces, and we hope that our performance invites and challenges audience members to take an imaginative journey through the scenes and sounds capes that this music evokes.
LN: Could you please tell us some of your vision and goals for the future with the Tardis Ensemble?
HKS: We look forward to more collaborations with other creative artists: for example, our oboist, Catherine Lee, has been working with the dancer Tracy Broyles; and our flutist, Sophia Tegart, hopes to invite flamenco guitarist Beau Bledsoe to join us for an Argentina-themed concert. In the immediate future, though, we’re excited to work together learning new repertoire for our February 1st performance on Oregon State University’s Music à la Carte concert series.
The Tardis Ensemble concert “Poetic Visions” is scheduled for Sunday, October 28 from 2-4 p.m. in the Papé Reception Hall of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. To learn more about the ensemble, please visit http://tardisensemble.com. The concert is free and open to the public.
