Treasures from Santa Fe

Posted on Jun 30, 2021

DZFE embarks on a musical getaway to the foothills of New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This July, the SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL (Fri 1200, Tue 1330) returns with a new season. Concerts were cancelled owing to the pandemic; this new season of thirteen episodes draws from the Festival’s rich archives. Founded in 1972, one of the oldest music festivals in the United States prepares for its 50th anniversary next year with a look back at the past.  

Treasured episodes celebrate pianists Peter Serkin and Leon Fleisher, and cellist Lynn Harrell who passed away in 2020. Tune in to hear the 2016 recordings of Serkin in works by Dowland and Dvořák this coming Saturday (2 July). Fleisher’s 1999 performance of Korngold’s Suite for piano left hand, two violins, and cello, Op. 23 and Harrell’s 2009 Sonata in A minor for arpeggione and piano, D. 821, feature in succeeding weeks.  

Songs fill the concert halls throughout the season. Tenor Paul Appleby and rising guitarist Meng Su open the series with a song by John Dowland. Soprano Tony Arnold performs Oliver Knussen’s Songs for Sue, Op. 33, with an in-house ensemble. Mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn sings lieder by Richard Strauss alongside pianist Kirill Gerstein.  

Pianist Jeremy Denk features in several programs. Listen to one of his performances (as soloist in Elgar’s Piano Quintet in A minor) with the Tokyo String Quartet. Pianist Marc-André Hamelin and the Johannes String Quartet deliver the emotionally tumultuous Piano Quintet, Op. 92, of Leo Ornstein. Performances from Festival regulars the Miami String Quartet, the Orion Quartet, and the Dover Quartet are also part of the series. 

The 2011 world premiere of a Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and La Jolla Music Society commissioned piece—Sean Shepherd’s Quartet for oboe and strings—is on the last episode of the season. Oboist Liang Wang, violinist Giora Schmidt, violist Lily Francis, and cellist Felix Fan perform the work.  

The SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL is presented by WFMT Radio Network, in partnership with DZFE. The series’ longtime host is WFMT announcer Kelly Frumkin, with commentary from composer and pianist Mark Neikrug. The music production of the radio series is by Grammy award-winning recording engineer Matthew Snyder.