Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor —

For 22 years, Musical Bridges Around the World (MBAW) has brought to town talented musicians of different cultures and backgrounds to perform free concerts in San Antonio in various venues. But this year is a little different. Due to COVID-19, just about all arts programming has moved online – or in some instances outdoors – and that’s true for MBAW, as well, at least for the fall programs of the 2020-21 season.

After wrapping up a very successful Gurwitz International Piano Competition just before the lockdown, the leadership of the organization had to confront the new COVID-induced reality.

“At first we were befuddled regarding how to continue. It eventually became clear that the only way to proceed was to go online,” said founder and artistic director Anya Grokhovski, herself an accomplished pianist. “The first concerts that we produced online featured artists in their homes, mostly in Europe. They showed us around their homes and their children, and their neighbors, and shared with us how they felt about the pandemic, and, yes, played for us live.”

At this time, MBAW also managed to put together a special virtual program for area schools that was shown to 15,000 children in May.

Then came summer and thoughts turned toward the new season, said Grokhovski. “It wasn’t just programming that we needed to consider, it was fundraising, too. We realized that our major fundraiser D’s on Keys, that normally happens in September, could not take place live, in-person.”

So, the fundraising concert, that features a lot of MDs and Ph.Ds who are also accomplished musicians and supporters of MBAW, had to be recorded on video.  Each musician was prerecorded individually and later incorporated in the composite video. The event raised $75,000 for the nonprofit music presenter.

“We are fortunate that our development director, Julya Jara, was trained as a filmmaker,” noted Grokhovski,” but we need her to work on development. We have now contracted with a production team to do the tech work for us.”

And they will be busy, at least until May.

The 2020-21 season opened earlier in October with “We Shall Overcome,” a virtual broadcast, featuring speakers and musicians from across the globe, including stops in Japan, Namibia, Mexico, China, Germany and India. More a festive gathering of “hope and resilience” than a concert, the event fulfilled an emotional need among all people at this time, to stand together, to survive and encourage one another.

Coming up in December is a salute to Ludwig Van Beethoven who was born 250 years ago and became, probably the most influential composer of all times. “Happy Birthday Beethoven!” is scheduled for Dec.6 as another virtual broadcast to be performed by the phenomenal Slovakian Janoska Ensemble, a quartet of musicians who now live and work in Vienna,  the city where Beethoven himself spent much of his life and career.

“Each one of them is a jewel,” gushed Grokhovsky, clearly a fan of the group that played in San Antonio twice before. Consisting of three brothers – Ondrej, Roman and František Janoska, and their brother-in-law, Julius Darvas, the Janoska players combine classical music virtuosity with influences as varied as jazz, anthems, Slavic folk music, Latin rhythms, and more. Writing in the Gramophone magazine, reviewer Laurence Vittes described what a listener could expect: “…the Marriage of Figaro Overture begins with the Marseillaise and finds additional color and manic hilarity in klezmer tunes.”

“We want to revolutionize classical music,” stated Darvas in an online interview. “Through improvisation, virtuosity and spontaneity, we want to free classical music from its strict boundaries.”

It sounds like the upcoming concert will be full of surprises. In addition to already recorded works, the quartet will also premiere new numbers, “especially for us,” said Grokhovski. And Beethoven’s melodies may be rendered in a, well…, original way and style. As a bonus, the musicians will show the viewers places around Vienna that were part of the great composer’s life.  (Dec. 6, 7 p.m.)

MBAW hopes to return to live, in-person events in the spring, starting with Italian pianist Leonardo Colafelice, the winner of the Bronze Medal at the Gurwitz 2020 International Piano Competition last February. The piano competition audiences also bestowed the Audience Favorite Award upon the young Italian. (Jan. 24, 2021, 7 p.m.)

“Il Favorito” will be followed by Harp vs. Harp, featuring two masters, Swiss-born harmonica player Gregoire Maret and Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda. According to the announcement, the two will “unite for an unprecedented collaboration of traditional Brazilian songs as they take audiences across Latin America.” That statement is a little confusing – Is it Brazil or the whole of Latin America? – but the two musicians have been highly praised for their jazzy collaboration on a recording also named Harp vs. Harp. The harmonica is sometime called “mouth harp.” (Feb. 28, 2021, 7 p.m.)

Closing the season will be Flight of the Bumblebee, showcasingthe Russian Renaissance Ensemble and jazz/classical pianist Valeri Grokhovski. Now this is a concert you may not want to miss. Winner of the now-defunct M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition at the University of Michigan – consisting of a $100,000 award – the Russian Renaissance is a unique quarter, playing folk instruments such as the balalaika, the button accordion, the domra and the balalaika contrabasso in a novel, spell-binding way. They truly produce a different sound, one you have likely never heard at a chamber music concert before. (May 2, 2021, 7 p.m.

All 2021 concerts are scheduled to take place at the San Fernando Cathedral but they will also be livestreamed.