Zenith Chamber Music Festival offers audiences five nights of free concerts this week for their 11th annual summer series. Running Tuesday, June 9 through Saturday, June 13, these performances take place in venues around the Des Moines area and feature professional musicians and aspiring students. The festival is dedicated to making high quality chamber music accessible to everyone, and funded entirely by donations.
The concert series kicked off at Willow on Grand, a bright and beautiful venue with surprisingly good acoustics. Paintings by local artist Rebekah DeWild were on display for the audience to ponder before and during the performance.
The first concert of the season featured the piano-violin duo Yang Lu and Olivia I-Hsuan Tsai, returning to Zenith for a third time. Given their world-class artistry, it’s easy to see why Zenith has been eager to bring the pair back to Des Moines time and time again.
The duo chose an apt theme for their program, “Not Alone: Music, Mental Health and the Human Story.” This exploration of identity was a touching celebration of composers past and present who used music to understand and ease their internal struggles. Lu and I-Hsuan Tsai were a welcoming presence onstage, speaking to the audience throughout the evening about the chosen composers and how their mental health impacted their music.
The program opened with the first movement of Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Written at a time when the composer was enduring painful medical treatments and contemplating suicide, the sonata was a complex combination of despair and hope brought to life with skill and nuance by the pair of performers.
The second composer featured was Robert Schumann, infamous for his prolific output and turbulent mental state. Suspected of bipolar disorder by modern historians, Schumann battled depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts throughout his life. Lu and I-Hsuan Tsai spoke of the composer with deep respect, and they were quite candid about their own struggles during the pandemic when they recorded Schumann’s 3 Romances, Op. 94. They performed the first two movements of the piece, capturing the complex passions of a troubled composer.
Next on the program was the first movement of William Grant Still’s Suite for Violin and Piano. Still endured much adversity as a Black composer, struggling to find acceptance within the classical music genre. Still’s suite evoked feelings of discord, and Lu delivered an intense and energetic performance that was matched by his bold counterpart at the piano.
Before intermission, the duo performed three movements from Diversities by Chihchun Chi-sun Lee. I-Hsuan Tsai spoke on the issue of identity for Taiwanese Americans, a background she shares with the composer. The piece was the most modern and varied of the evening, progressing from abstract contemporary to traditional Taiwanese to jazzy pop.
Lu and I-Hsuan Tsai began the second half of their program with two movements from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Much Ado About Nothing, Op. 11. As with many child prodigies, Korngold struggled to find happiness as an adult despite his success as an Oscar-winning film composer. Korngold hid his pain behind lush romantic music, tragedy lurking beneath all that beauty.
The penultimate piece, Sonata for Violin and Continuo in D minor, Op. 2, No. 3, was written by beloved Baroque composer and anxious ginger priest Antonio Vivaldi. Grappling with mental and physical ailments, Vivaldi used music to both express and regulate his emotions. Lu and I-Hsuan Tsai demonstrated technical skill in their performance, displaying both the agitated and calming aspects of the sonata.
The evening concluded with Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane. A control freak who lost his ability to communicate due to expressive aphasia later in life, Ravel conjured the illusion of freedom with this wild and passionate piece. Lu and I-Hsuan Tsai let loose for this final offering, especially during the dramatic opening cadenza. The strange frenzy made for a captivating conclusion that earned the duo a standing ovation from the audience.
Music and mental health made for an enlightening pairing and an auspicious beginning to the Zenith Chamber Music Festival’s summer series. Even if you missed the opening night, concerts continue this week. Whether you prefer a traditional string quartet or a lively big band, you are sure to find a performance to satisfy your craving for chamber music. Check out the list below for details on the rest of their 12th season.
No need to buy tickets. Every performance is free and open to the public!
Zenith Day 2: Duo Scorpio
Valley Community Center, West Des Moines, Wed, June 10, 7 p.m.
Zenith Day 3: Blake Shaw BIG(ish) Band
Twisted Vine Brewery, Thursday, June 11, 7 p.m.
Grace United Methodist Church, Friday, June 12, 7 p.m.
Sheslow Auditorium, Saturday, June 13, 7 p.m.
If you or a loved one is struggling with their mental health, you can call 988 or chat with a counselor online for free, 24/7/365.
