Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor

On Sunday, Jan. 15, I attended a spirited short concert featuring two remarkable artists, violinist Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio and pianist Jeffrey Sykes. They played beautifully together but musical harmony is not the only connection between these two. One of them, Sant’Ambrogio, was the founder of the summer chamber music showcase, the Cactus Pear Music Festival, and the other is the new man who will take over the festival programming as the interim artistic director. And maybe, just maybe, he will eventually drop the “interim” description.

Sykes teaches at UC Berkley and CSU East Bay, runs a summer fest in Madison Wisconsin, and is in demand as a pianist across the U.S., so why is he taking on this new task? We asked.

“I have a long history with Cactus Pear, and Stephanie is one of my oldest musical friends and we have been collaborating and playing together since 1993,” he explained. I was here in San Antonio for the very first season of Cactus Pear. I had started a festival in Wisconsin five years prior to that, so I was able to give Stephanie a lot of assistance as she was setting a chamber music festival here, in San Antonio.  So, I have a long history with Cactus Pear and I have loved what Stephanie has done with the festival. When the board asked if I would be interested in this role, I didn’t have to think about it. It was an opportunity to help out. Chances are that my role will continue for at least a while before they complete the search for a permanent director. I love Renee (CPMF’s executive director), I love Stephanie, and I have a tremendous number of connections here in San Antonio. I am excited to be doing this.”

Sant’Ambrogio and Sykes met years ago when she was invited to perform at his festival in Madison where she became a regular guest artist. They also went on two tours of Chile, sponsored by the State Department, and a tour of Mexico. And he would soon be going to Reno to play in another Sant’ Ambrogio initiative, a series of concerts called Chamber Music Reno. Sant’Ambrogio moved to Reno a number of years ago to teach at the university there.

As an experienced festival director, Sykes already has insights and principles that he follows while choosing programming.

“There’s so much great music, it’s easy to over-program,” he said. “That’s one of my basic principles: don’t make it too long! (laughs) I am also very committed to including music that is less familiar. It is, of course, important to play traditional masterpieces, and we should continue to do that. Those pieces can serve as anchors for a program. But it’s good to combine them with less-known compositions, possibly by underrepresented composers. It’s important to schedule compositions by women, by Latin composers, Black composers, and it’s also important to include a variety of styles and periods.

I suppose, you could say that I look for unity and variety. The pieces that I pick have to have a feeling of connection between them, but within that connection, I like them to be as varied as possible. There are also some constraints on what we can do, such as the budget for hiring musicians, but within these constrains, there’s a treasure trove of chamber music that’s out there.”

As for the 2023 Cactus Pear, Sykes has it all figured out already. The music starts July 6 with a concert in Wimberly and ends July 16 at the yet-to-be-announced location.

There will be four different programs: A, B, C. & D.

Program A was inspired by the lives and relationships between Robert Schumann, his wife, Clara Wieck Schumann and Johannes Brahms. The three were close friends but, as Robert developed serious mental problems, Clara and Brahms became even closer. It was all along a complex and complicated situation, but both Clara – who was a composer in addition to being an in-demand pianist – and Brahms continued and excelled in their careers. The CPMF program will consist of songs and instrumental chamber music, plus readings from letters and diary entries.

Program B will feature music inspired by different folk traditions, including Manuel de Falla’s Seven Popular Spanish Songs; Beethoven’s arrangements of Scottish, Irish, and English folk songs, with piano trio accompaniment; Undine Smith Moore’s Afro-American Suite for Flute, Cello and Piano (based on spirituals) and Black American composer Shawn Okpebholo’s Spirituals arranged for Baritone, Flute and Piano. Also included will be Dvorak’s Dumky Trio, for Piano, Cello and Violin.

Week 2 of the festival will feature the programs C & D.

Program C:  Compositions by Clara Schumann and Gian Carlo Menotti, plus a specially commissioned piece by John Wineglass, “And the Summer was Over,” a piano quintet based on Alice Walker’s short story “The Flowers.” The composition was commissioned in a consortium with other festivals. Wineglass is a well-known Black composer, mainly known for film music but also writing for the concert stage. “We are so excited,” commented Sykes in a note about this new work. Completing the program will be Brahms’ String Sextet in B-flat.

Program D: Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet, a work that was cancelled last season because of COVID. Also on the program: French Baroque composer, Jean Marie Leclair’s Sonata for Two Violins; Frank Bridge’s “Lament for Two Violas,” Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 12 in Mozart’s own arrangement for Piano and String Quartet. The concert ends with Jessie Montgomery’s 2020 “Peace for Violin and Piano,” which the composer wrote as COVID started ruling our lives.

You may notice there will be quite a bit of singing in the programs above.

“In my other life I do a lot of vocal coaching,” explained Sykes. “I love vocal chamber music, song recitals and that kind of thing. So, I have created kind of a theatrical show about the life of Robert and Clara Schuman and Johannes Brahms. I am very excited to be doing it. I think people will really love it. We have two singers who play the roles of Clara and Robert Schumann, but there are other characters as well, including Clara’s father and her daughter. I think it will be a powerful interaction between words and music.

“What’s interesting about many composers is that their lives did not particularly affect the music they wrote. An example is Mozart. At the time of tremendous strife in his life, he wrote rather joyous music. And to some degree that was true of Beethoven as well. But in the case of Schuman, his music very much reflects his life.”

In addition to the programs described above, there will be also a Young Artist Program, said Sykes.
The concerts will take place Thursday-Sunday for two consecutive weekends.

As for Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, the founder and former artistic director, she couldn’t be more pleased that her friend and colleague is taking over as a leader of her festival.

“I am just so thrilled,” she said in a phone interview from Reno. “Having Jeffrey Sykes be the artistic director of CPMF was always a back-up plan.” (After she decided to step down last year.) She explained that she was hoping to find someone younger than herself, but the person chosen at first – who was considerably younger, changed his mind about the job. She was hoping for a younger person with an eye on longevity, perhaps like her tenure which lasted 26 years. “But Jeffrey is so experienced! He’s written our program notes for years and he’s such a fabulous pianist. He was my inspiration to start Cactus Pear. Because I had been invited to perform at his festival in Madison. It’s similar to ours and it’s three-week festival. He brought artists from all over the place. So, I knew he could do it and the board knew he could do it. The board will do a search for the new permanent director and I hope he’ll apply.”

The festival will feature quite a few musicians, including San Antonians and others.

“One of the things that Stephanie did from the beginning – and I do in Wisconsin – is feature people from the area and musicians from all over the country and even from around the world,” noted Sykes. But this time he is not reaching out beyond the U.S. border. Nevertheless, artists from New York, Florida, other cities in Texas, from Wisconsin, California and Nevada will be playing In San Antonio.

“I think it’s an important practice to continue,” said Sykes.
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For general information and past festivals visit www.cpmf.us