Charles Ives Music Festival

The Charles Ives Music Festival (CIMF) at the Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra explores the history and legacy of American composer Charles Ives through concerts and educational events.

CIMF’s Summer 2021 Artist Concert Series, called “The Promise of Living,” is a homage to the movement of the same title from Aaron Copland’s opera, The Tender Land. “The opera takes place on a Great Depression-era farm in the midwest and is about a multi-generational family searching for hope and meaning amidst challenging circumstances.

Today, this story feels as timeless and relevant as ever. Over the last year, one largely without live music as we have known it, many have searched for hope and meaning amidst their own challenging circumstances. Ideally, art challenges people to think more deeply about themselves and the world around them, to help them find meaning in life, and perhaps hope.

The act of coming together to collectively experience the same art, but experience one’s own individual reaction, can be cathartic and meaningful. CIMF marks the return of live performance with a series of concerts about various aspects of life that make it worth living, or in other words, that fulfill the ‘promise’ alluded to in ‘The Tender Land.’”

Summer 2021: The Promise of Living Performances

August 4th at 7:00 PM
Jesse Lee Church (207 Main St., Ridgefield, CT)
“Wildest Dreams” features CIMF Virtual Concerto Competition winner and youth participant, Emma Dawson, as well as works that explore aspiration and the nature of dreams. Artists will perform works by Kati Agocs, Timo Andres, Robert Beaser, Mel Bonis, Frances Poulenc, Shelley Washington, and will close with Christopher Rouse’s phenomenal Compline.

August 6th at 7:00 PM
Ridgefield High School Auditorium
(700 N. Salem Rd., Ridgefield, CT)
“The Promise of Living” features the CIMF Piano Ensemble, led by Mika Sasaki, and CIMF Orchestra, led by Eric Mahl, which will perform works by Albert Lavignac, Jessie Montgomery, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky, and will close with Aaron Copland’s, “The Promise of Living”. CIMF Artists will also perform works by youth participant composers.

August 7th at 7:00 PM
Jesse Lee Church
(207 Main St., Ridgefield, CT)
“Adventure” features the acclaimed Ulysses Quartet in a concert titled “Adventure,” featuring the music by Paul Frucht, Rhiannon Giddens, Pavel Haas, David Ludwig, and Charlton Singleton that are inspired by high-stakes drama, energy, and journey.

August 11th at 7:00 PM
First Congregational Church
(103 Main St., Ridgefield, CT)
“Faith” features CIMF Artist-Faculty Marika Bournaki, George Meyer, and Julian Schwarz. The concert will feature works by Derek Bermel, Jon Cziner, Reena Esmail, Paul Frucht, and 2020 Call for Scores winner Harriet Steinke that address faith, religion, and spirituality. Additionally, CIMF Youth Participant Henry Idone will perform as a Virtual Competition Winner.