Charles Ives Music Festival “JOY”

$20; $15 members of The Aldrich and RSO subscribers

Charles Ives Music Festival (CIMF) kicks off its summer 2021 series at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum with “Joy,” a concert featuring an array of works that are reveling in their own ecstaticity.

A new work by George Meyer, an arrangement by Chelsea Starbuck Smith, and Paul Wiancko’s American Haiku all draw influence from the jubilant tradition of Appalachian fiddling and in the case of Wiancko, he creates a fascinating fusion through the addition of Japanese folk music. Composer-in-Residence Kati Agocs’s Devotion, CIMF Artistic Director Paul Frucht’s Valor, and Florence Price’s Adoration all explore the gratification that comes with commitment, devotion, and audacity. Finally, Julia Wolfe’s Blue Dress and Matt Aucoin’s Dual bring levity and playfulness as the program closes with perhaps one of the most joyous works of concert music, Ravel’s famous Introduction and Allegro, which features CIMF Artist-Faculty and Dallas Symphony Orchestra Principal Harpist Emily Levin.

Artists performing the concert: Julia Choi, violin; George Meyer, violin; Chelsea Starbuck Smith, violin; Jacob Shack, viola; Arianna Nelson, cello; Jonathan Borden, double bass; Katie Althen, flute; Taylor Marino, clarinet; Priscilla Rinehart, horn; and Emily Levin, harp.

Please plan on bringing a lawn chair or blanket for seating on the lawn in the Sculpture Garden.

This concert is presented by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra in conjunction with The Charles Ives Music Festival (CIMF).