A Letter from the ECMS Artistic Director

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It’s been three wonderful seasons since the beginning of my time as ECMS artistic director. Each season has included unforgettable performances, and as I look forward, I think of Beethoven’s quote that “art demands of us that we not stand still.”

 

This season we certainly won’t stand still, and we will launch an ambitious expansion of our education program. And, as always, the season overall is very personal to me. 

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March will feature a week-long residency with the Balourdet Quartet. This education project, “Past as Prologue?,” will explore music as a spark to create community conversation. The residency is designed to be immersive and to reach a broad swath of Humboldt county in a variety of settings. The impact of this program will be significant in Humboldt and beyond. One feature of this residency is mentorship. I will be putting to use the lessons I’ve learned from countless education programs throughout the world as a member of the Cypress Quartet to mentor the Balourdet Quartet. My hope is that by exposing them to a great model of community education, they will go into the world and create meaningful education programs of their own over the course of their career.

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In October, cellist Gary Hoffman will be joining us. Mr. Hoffman is one of the most sublime musicians I have ever heard in live performance. If the live concerts were all I knew of Mr. Hoffman, I would feel fortunate. As luck would have it, I’ve performed and recorded with Gary, and these experiences are amongst the most musically rewarding of my professional life. I can’t wait to share his artistry with you!

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American music is a true passion of mine, and An American Night at the Opera fits that bill perfectly. I met Leonard Bernstein in the 1980s when I was a student at Tanglewood. Performing under his baton was life-changing, and I will never forget his charisma and complete embodiment of the music. As the decades have passed, I’ve come to love his compositions. His writing is the musical soup where Beethoven, Mahler and Strauss come together with Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. If you haven’t yet heard his “Age of Anxiety,” there are few works of art as prescient, beautiful, and relevant to our era.

 

Finally, a very personal thank you for showing up to our concerts, and for welcoming me into your rich and vibrant community. I cherish our friendships and the music we share.

 

Tom Stone, ECMS Artistic Director  

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Tom Stone
Artistic Director
Eureka Chamber Music Series
www.eurekachambermusic.org