I remember asking myself whether audiences would be willing to sit and concentrate through 90 minutes of nonstop music. Originally I thought it better to separate the pieces by saying a few words about the connection I see in the multi cultural tapestry I wanted to present. But it felt somewhat contrived: I did not want to explain in words how each piece is related to all the others: I wanted the work to “explain itself “.

I never believed that music should be solipsistic: I knew early on in my career that I am taking a risk by insisting on always presenting new music. In most of my performances the audience has not heard any of the works before. While it has its positive angle, in that people come to listen with no preconceived notions, it carries the risk that while the audience is grappling with a new concept, the music and its subtle messages will be lost to the unfamiliarity.

And so an urgent task for me in every presentation is to communicate the subtext of the music, the meaning that it has for me in my own inner world.

Provenance is trying to remind us that at least musically we are not alien to each other. A group of people in New Haven can connect with ancient Jewish Ladino text, written before America was ever discovered by the same people who later expelled the Jews from Spain. Iranian music resonates proudly and eternally in Western ears, making the mullahs’ message of hate so fleeting and inconsequential. The sounds of the desert in the lush New England landscape, and on and on. I did not want to explain it, I wanted it to be thrown into the ether and gathered by the minds of those who listen.

Experiencing the audience sitting in what I felt was rapt attention through 90 minutes of nonstop never heard before and mostly “alien”music,was the reassurance I needed that the music can deliver its subtleties.

As I’m getting ready for the New York premiere of Provenance at Carnegie Hall on October 30^th, to the recording of a new album, and to take the project on tour both in the US and abroad, I feel confident that the music can carry its message purely and simply. I hope that as the listeners immerse themselves in the experience of Provenance, they will feel a sense of yearning for a harmonious future that is informed by this singular period in human history.

~ Maya Beiser New York City / October 6, 2008

p.s. one more thing I want to reflect upon, is the courageous support I received from Mary Lou, the director of “Arts and Ideas”,. Mary Lou is made of that rare breed of presenters who are not afraid to be leaders and are willing to take risks in order to present new works. It’s never easy to present and support a world premiere

Here is a bit of news that should be of interest to Festival Fans regarding artists and thinkers who have been part of past Festivals.
This year’s prestigious Man Booker Prize figures into the lives of both Salaman Rushdie AND Sebastian Barry. You will remember that Rushdie was in New Haven for the Festival in 2005. Seems there is controversy out there about his books omission from the short list for this esteemed prize. But on the other hand, Sebastian Barry’s latest book THE SECRET SCRIPTURE has been short-listed. This will be the second time on the short list for Barry. We were so fortunate this June to host the US premiere of his fabulous play THE PRIDE OF PARNELL STREET. It was a tremendous hit. And it was wonderful to have Sebastian with us during its run. And I have to say THE SECRET SCRIPTURE is definitely on my short list of favorite books in recent years.

www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/books/10booker.html?ref=books

Watching Liz Lerman speak to New Haven on June 19 was a proud moment for me. For months I had had the privilege of supporting her and the Dance Exchange in creating 613 Radical Acts of Prayer. There were many car rides, walks through town from meeting to workshop to rehearsal, endless to-do lists, emails to write and calls to make.

But, on this night, Liz made me step back. She put into perspective why I had become so passionate about this project through a simple explanation of a philosophy underpinning her work. She accompanied the explanation with a descriptive movement. This is a tool of hers: taking an idea and embodying it.

She described a common assumption: that performing on stage at the Kennedy Center is typically considered hugely important in the professional art world, while creating a dance in an elderly home was often dismissed. With her hands she demonstrated this. The performance at the Kennedy Center, symbolized by her left hand, was placed on top. Working with the elderly, symbolized by her right hand, was placed on the bottom.

She then flipped her hands, demonstrating another view of the world where art made in the community trumped art performed on stage.

But, she quickly urged the audience to step away from this notion as well. Pulling her hands side-by-side she called us to stop viewing these distinctions in a hierarchy, but rather as a spectrum, no longer valuing the importance of one over the other, but appreciating the value in each one and everything on the journey in between. She then pulled her arms into a circle, demonstrating the ends of each spectrum not being so far apart from each other.

This image still remains in my mind. And, after the talk was over, I saw audience members mimicking Liz’s movement. A woman struggling to express to me what it was about the talk that resonated with her chose instead to simply move her hands, left above right, right above left. She then stretched her arms wide, as if in an immense embrace.

Take a look at Liz Lerman’s talk here to experience it for yourself.

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Cathy Edwards, the Festival’s Director of Programming, is broadening her artistic reach. In addition to her programming duties at the Festival, she’ll be stepping into the Guest Artistic Director role for the Portland (Oregon) Institute of Contemporary Art’s Time-Based Art Festival. Click here for Claudia LaRocco’s interview with Cathy on WNYC. And here’s another note about Cathy on Culturebot.org. Read it here.

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We have shared a world of arts, ideas and emotions in just 15 days. And while the banners and the stage may be tucked away for another year, the festival lives on. Personally, I can’t get enough of this year’s festival. There are moments I want to visit and revisit. There are moments and events that I missed entirely and want to recapture. The magic of Festival making, unfortunately, has not translated into the capacity to be in more than one place at a time. I am so happy we have our dedicated video bloggers still at work to bring us moments and memories from this 2008 Festival. Here is one of my favorites—Pistolera and Grupo Fantasma—that night the weather sent us indoors but the dancing kept us going well into the night. Check it out. There are many memorable moments from this year’s Festival already online. See yourself celebrating with us. Visit our calendar regularly for a schedule of video postings throughout the summer. Look for an announcement soon about the release of our great thinkers sharing great ideas from our Ideas programs.

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