Reinaldo Moya is Schubert Club’s Composer in Residence.  “The Way North” is included in a new recording by Matthew McCright, piano called “What is Left Behind.”  The recording and Moya’s new work is featured in a recent article in the Star Tribune here.

In 2016, I was approached by pianist Matthew McCright to write a substantial piece for solo piano. I knew that I wanted to write a kind of narrative work; a cycle that would cover a story in a series of short interconnected sections. Matthew and I had initially discussed the idea of writing about immigration in this cycle. It is a topic that I keep coming back to as a composer. As an immigrant myself, I am inspired by the stories of those who have had to find a new home away from their country and culture of birth. I also suspect that through my musical works, I am working out some of the conflicting emotions I have about being an immigrant: how after a certain period of time, no place truly feels like home anymore. This feeling of emotional “homelessness” has fueled a lot of my compositional work in the recent years.

When I started composing The Way North in earnest, I wanted to tell the story of Latin American migration to Minnesota, especially through the I-35 Corridor. I did some research, and I kept reading that in some ways, the most difficult part of these migrants’ journeys happens before they arrive in the United States. My gaze shifted southward and I decided to tell the story of an unnamed migrant from Central America, through Mexico, and finally arriving in the United States.

The journey is flanked by two crossings, the first one is into Mexico, on its Southern border. The second is into the United States, near Laredo, Texas. The first crossing is easier, simpler as though unaware of the perils to come. The second crossing is treacherous, as the migrant makes their way across the dangerously strong waters of the Rio Grande.

Shortly after getting to Mexico, our migrant boards La Bestia (The Beast) one of the trains that migrants take to make the journey across Mexico. Many people fall off, are pushed off, or get dismembered trying to climb on or off the train. Our fictional migrant rides this train, falls asleep (which is when we hear the Nocturne) and is then awoken and has to run to avoid getting caught by immigration officials.

Fuga is a kind of play on words, in Latin fuga means to flee, which is what our migrant does in this whole piece. Also, Fugue is of course one of the main musical metaphors for struggle and conflict, so I liked playing with that idea. However, the fugue keeps getting interrupted. My thinking here is that the fugue metaphor breaks, because the reality of this situation is darker and grimmer than what an “academic” fugue can portray, hence why the fugue eventually runs out of steam and kind of evaporates. Metaphors (even musical ones) can’t properly grasp this reality.

Other movements along the way refer to a quiet stop at a sanctuary church. Las Chepas: Ghost Town refers to one of many such towns along the US/Mexico boarder that have become deserted because the migrants no longer choose to cross into the US at those points, usually because the US or the drug cartels have closed off that spot. This movement quotes from the song José Pérez León by a Mexican norteño group Los Tigres del Norte. This song is a ballad about the story of a migrant making his way across Mexico. He dies aboard La Bestia as he runs out of oxygen inside one of the containers on the train. I had a vision of our migrant walking around the deserted town, and hearing this song echoing on an old distant radio. As he gets closer, the song comes into view before it disappears again. An interesting aspect of the José Pérez León song is that it shares a motive from the opening song of  Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrender Gesellen. Mahler’s elegiac song cycle also refers to a wanderer seeking meaning amid a convoluted world. The movement brings together three converging stories of journeymen, and the pathos associated with their difficult travels.

The Elegy for the Nameless refers to a passage from one of the books that I read in my research, “The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail” by Óscar Martínez; which describes the tracks along the Beast train as a “cemetery for the nameless” because of all the people who have perished along the way whose names we will never know. I thought that honoring these nameless victims would be a suitable ending for the cycle. Dreams of Flight, finds the elegy aloft. I wanted the ending to provide a ray of hope. To be able to fly away like a bird and be free and not have to worry about borders.

Listen to the piece on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/3csYIY59Ud0zORefiRVKfF?si=gxmwdyTWRMWWOFa9mSIaPw

Download the album on Apple Music here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/what-is-left-behind/1428042652

Schubert Club has been a concert presenter for 125 years!  Our first recital in 1893 featured the German pianist Adele Aus der Ohe.  For each of those 125 years, our recital series has included 4 or 5 artists. 

We have 5 International Artist Series recitals again this coming season – no surprises there!  But for the first time in our history, we have a Featured Artist for the year.  Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, a beloved musician in Europe since 2004 when she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition at the age of 16, will be in residence at Schubert Club in early October and again in January. 

Nicola will perform works by Johannes Brahms (with pianist Alexei Grynyuk) in Schubert Club Mix on October 2^nd – and talk about her special love for Brahms’ music.  She also presents a recital program in two January performances at the Ordway, a program which includes the American premiere of a piece written for her by Wynton Marsalis.

A big reason why I’m excited to have her be our inaugural Featured Artist is that she’s not only an amazing musician on the stage, but that she is one of the most committed musicians to the importance of music in the lives of young people.  Indeed her musical prowess together with her fervor for music education and the inclusion of music in the lives of young people have earned her an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) and the Queen’s Medal for Music.

Interspersed with Nicola’s various concert appearances in October and January, Nicola will be teaching violin masterclasses, working with student string players at the Minnesota Youth Symphonies, and bringing young musicians into classrooms to perform for students who have had little – or maybe no – exposure to live music and musicians.

In partnership with Minnesota Public Radio, we’ll be broadcasting live, recording some of her concerts and making video footage of her musical interactions with young people. 

As I look ahead to future years and the kinds of artists and ensembles whom I’d like Schubert Club to invite as Featured Artists, I see a wide variety of possibilities in terms of programming, commissioning new works, community engagement and recording.  The purpose will always be to encourage visiting musicians to show us what makes them interesting and special, both as artists and as human beings.  Nicola’s array of musical pursuits during the coming season here in the Twin Cities will certainly give us an insight into Nicola Benedetti the musician and the person.

After 39 wonderful years of leading the Music in the Park Series, founder Julie Himmelstrup is retiring. We asked former Schubert Club Board Member and long time devotee to the series, Lynne Beck, to share some of Julie’s accolades with us. 

A 55-year resident of the St. Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Music in the Park Series Founder and Artistic Director Julie Himmelstrup had a vision of creating a chamber music series in the acoustically and architecturally superb St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ. Working with a committee of neighborhood residents, she launched the series in 1979 with a budget of $5,000. The first season, featuring the 25-member Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, flutist Julia Bogorad, Grammy award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin, and pianist Thelma Hunter, was a success.

To make the gatherings educational and accessible, the Series also includes pre-concert talks about the music and meet-the-artist receptions after the performance. From its beginnings as a small neighborhood treasure, Julie developed Music in the Park Series into a nationally recognized chamber music series.

Julie Himmelstrup is a beloved figure in local music circles and beyond. A much-lauded impresaria, she has a unique intuitive ability to select and present the best chamber musicians. Prominent artists from Scandinavia, France, Czech Republic, Russia, Germany, Austria, Mexico, England, United States; and the Twin Cities such as pianist Lydia Artymiw; violinists Steven Copes, Erin Keefe, and Jorja Fleezanis; Minnesota Orchestra conductor and clarinetist Osmo Vanska, and jazz pianist Butch Thompson, to name of few, have graced the Music in the Park Series stage.

Several times a year, musicians perform for students in St. Anthony Park Schools and residents of the St. Anthony Park Home for seniors. These free outreach activities give school audiences, who represent the full diversity of St. Paul School students, and seniors, who are unable to attend concerts outside their facility, a rare opportunity to experience a live performance by world-class musicians.

Early on, Julie developed a hands-on approach which included ticket sales, marketing, budget development (the series has never had a deficit), fundraising, program planning, communication with artists and management, as well as forming partnerships with local businesses, churches and other non-profits in the community.

The three-concert Family Concert Series, established almost 30 years ago, first took place at the St. Anthony Park Library and later at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in St. Anthony Park. These family-friendly events feature prominent Twin Cities musicians along with world-class ensembles from the chamber music series. The artists present programs of folk, ethnic and classical music that include storytelling, dance and audience participation for children of all ages and their families. 

“No arts administrator in my 35 year career as a musician has been more supportive of my work than Julie Himmelstrup. I loved to bring ideas for new programs to Julie and she would say, “What do you need?” She encouraged me to dream big and to think big and her support made it possible to develop new shows that had a life well beyond the Music in the Park Family Concert Series.” Ross Sutter (acclaimed local artist who has appeared on the Family Concert Series numerous times.)

Julie believed in presenting emerging as well as prominent established musicians. Young artists like Alisa Weilerstein (sought-after solo artist and 2011 recipient of the MacArthur “genius grant”),” Mark Kosower (Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra and avid soloist), and Christopher O’Riley (acclaimed pianist and host of MPR’s From the Top) performed on Music in the Park Series at very young ages. Mark Kosower was only 9! Other musicians first played on the series before presenting their recitals at Carnegie Hall in New York City.  

Julie has introduced new music to audiences by commissioning works and regularly presenting contemporary classical music. She has a passionate dedication to new music and the promotion of Minnesota composers. Music in the Park Series has commissioned and/or premiered works by local composers Randall Davidson, Carol Barnett, Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen and David Evan Thomas as well as national composers like Pulitzer Prize-winner Aaron Jay Kernis; Pulitzer prize and MacArthur “genius grant”-winner Julia Wolfe; MPR’s Piano Puzzler and writer Bruce Adolphe; and prolific piano soloist and visual artist Lera Auerbach.  

“No community is truly great without art as its core.” “She loved the music, she loved art, she loved community. It takes a rare person to be able to provide the kind of atmosphere, accommodations, travel planning and love that has brought the absolute top international musical performers to our little neighborhood for almost 40 years. Julie has been able to do it with an indefatigable combination of intellect, charm, hard work and heart,” said Jon Schumacher, Executive Director of the St. Anthony Park Community Foundation. 

After 39 years of leading the series, Julie is stepping down as artistic director at end of the 2017-2018 season. The season finale on April 15, 2018 brought the series full circle with a performance by both the current and the original members of the Lark Quartet who played on the series in their early years. Park Bugle stated that it was truly a “standing ovation for Julie.”  

Julie Himmelstrup, 81, has spent almost four decades advocating for musicians and their audiences in the Twin Cities community. By presenting quality chamber music in a variety of settings, she has had an extraordinary impact on thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds. Julie has dedicated her life to creating and nurturing a distinctive chamber music series that reaches well beyond the boundaries of the St. Anthony Park neighborhood. Fortunately for all who love her and Music in the Park Series, her legacy will continue in the capable hands of Barry Kempton and the Schubert Club, the area’s oldest music organization.

Schubert Club is thrilled to welcome a new instrument to our modern pianos collection which will live in the Thelma Hunter Recital Room of our Museum in Landmark Center. The instrument has quite a story behind it which I am excited to share with you.

The piano, a 7-foot Steinway B grand piano built in Hamburg around 1980 is a gift to us by Sita Ohanessian, a close friend of the Schubert Club. Sita has lovingly cared for the piano since her beloved sister Beatrice passed away in 2008.

I have had the good fortune to get to know Sita in my six years with Schubert Club and, through Sita, I have learned much about Beatrice, an outstanding piano soloist and composer. Born in Baghdad, Beatrice studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Juilliard School in New York. Because she missed her homeland – and contrary to the advice of many who wanted her to stay in the States to pursue a performing career –she returned to Iraq to “teach my fellow countrymen to love music”.

Thanks to a book about Beatrice Ohanessian written by former Schubert Club staff member Holly Windle in 2008 entitled “Baghdad Barcarolle”, I am happy to retell the fascinating story of the Ohanessian Steinway piano.

Beatrice was primarily a concert pianist and held the position of principal concert pianist for the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. She also composed a number of musical works and received praise for them. She learned that colleagues had brought her music to the attention of the President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. On receiving recommendations and hearing a recording of her music, Saddam offered to reward Beatrice with a gift from the Iraqi government in honor of her cultural services. She ignored suggestions from her friends of a gold watch or a car, and decided instead to ask for a new piano to replace her ailing Bechstein grand.  

Beatrice was invited to the palace and went apprehensively. She waited to be received by Saddam. She waited a long time. She was eventually told that Saddam was busy in an emergency meeting with his cabinet due to an event in the Iran-Iraq war. He was in the room right next door, but he was not going to be available to see her in person. Instead the offer of a gift from the State was made to her by a palace official. Beatrice told him that she would like a piano, to which the official said they would arrange for her to pick one from the local department store. Emboldened by the fact that this proposal came from an official and not from President Saddam Hussein himself, Beatrice responded that she would like it to be a Steinway and that it would have to be purchased in Germany. To help the official understand, she explained the difference as choosing a Mercedes over a bicycle. To her surprise, the official agreed and she left the palace with a certificate authorizing her to purchase a Yamaha or a Steinway and to have the bill paid by the government of Iraq. On her next concert tour in Europe, Beatrice visited a Steinway showroom and selected a beautiful Steinway B.   

Beatrice was separated from it for a while when she herself moved to the States and the piano remained in Iraq, but eventually it was shipped to the States, and piano and pianist were reunited. How lucky we are that they were! We have been fortunate to count sisters Beatrice and Sita in our Schubert Club family for many years. Taking possession of the Steinway piano, we will treasure it as a dear member of our family of musical instruments.        

Please come visit our free Museum soon to see it!