Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on June, 1, 2017.

Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival (VBRMF) presented From Bach to Bluegrass at the Eco-Village on Sunday as part of their festival weekend of classical music events.

“We’ve so enjoyed putting the program together. I’m so grateful to my extraordinary colleagues for their artistry and commitment,” said Maestro David Wiley in his welcoming address to a full house of attendees.

“This program truly brings together 300 years of music. There are many connections between the pieces. There is the folk element that runs through all of the pieces,” said Wiley, VBRMF’s Artistic Director and Music Director and Conductor of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra (RSO).

Wiley outlined the program, which featured flutist Dilshad Posnock, violinist Jason Posnock,  violinist Elise Blake, cellist Dan Allcott, violist Bernard Di Gregorio and Wiley on piano. The program also featured the Virginia premiere of a new mandolin concerto, Gypsy, by Jeff Midkiff, an internationally acclaimed clarinetist, mandolinist, composer, and music educator who grew up in Virginia with bluegrass music.

“Jeff’s music has been performed all over the country,” Wiley said.  As part of the 2014 VBRMF, Midkiff presented a sneak peak of From the Blue Ridge, a work that was commissioned by the RSO and was recently performed at the Kennedy Center.

Introducing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D, Wiley said, “It’s a work that, to me, sounds fully modern, now 300 years young. I wanted to put it deliberately along with the new work Jeff Midkiff because there is some improvisation in it.”

Wiley explained how he and Midkiff have been exploring a new fusion of bluegrass and classical music.  Midkiff also taught an Improvisation Master Class at the June Bug Center on Saturday as part of the weekend festival.

During the concert intermission, VBRMF’s board president Sarah Dalton expressed appreciation to Wiley, who “continues to bring us exceptional musicians and exceptional programs.”

She stated the board’s priority of encouraging classical music in the region and supporting music education, before presenting VBRMF scholarships to three outstanding young musicians, Aila Wildman, Eli Wildman and Heather Blake.  Dalton also announced the VBRMF’s upcoming collaborative effort with the June Bug Center to start an after school classical strings program for 4th and 5th graders in the fall.

“That was the most energetic music I’ve ever heard,” said attendee Jim Best at the reception that followed the concert.   He described the Bach Concerto as “magical and whimsical.”

Katherine Chantal referred to the Ernst Dohnayi Quintet performance as “heart opening” and said she was moved to tears by it, while Christina Beherens said she felt compelled to let out a shout at the end of it.

“Gorgeous,” “fantastic” and “amazing” were other superlatives used to describe the performances. “Beautiful! It’s so special. I love coming every year,” said Jane Cundiff.  – Colleen Redman

Check the VBRMF website, virginiasblueridgemusicfestival.org, or their Facebook page for upcoming concerts and programs. You can hear the Aila and Eli perform Jeremy Kittel’s The Boxing Reel at the event HERE.

_________________Our World Tuesday