Alexandra du Bois: Classical music didn't stop in the 19th century in Europe, it kept being made here and today in Vermont.
James Stewart: That鈥檚 the voice of .
Alexandra du Bois: I create music. I compose music. And I am an activist as well as an artist and I feel like they're inseparable to one another.
James Stewart: Alexandra鈥檚 music is often informed by issues of indifference and inequality and has found an audience in concert venues across the country and around the world.
Alexandra du Bois: And I grew up really never realizing that I could be a composer. It took over around the age of 15 when I just decided I could write music even though I hadn't been exposed to really any female composers in my entire early education.
James Stewart: Alexandra says that her music is also inspired by the natural world, literally bringing the sounds of nature into her work.
Alexandra du Bois: I write mainly for acoustic instruments, but I do do a lot with audio tracks and amplification. One of my last string quartets has a recording of peeper frogs and Canadian geese that I recorded in Ripton, Vermont. The state of Vermont is a place where there's abundant access to wildlife, to trees, to water, to mountains, to landscapes, and that's something that I feel like open space provides to all human beings and to people that are actively creating art.
James Stewart: You鈥檒l have a chance to hear Alexandra鈥檚 music in .
Alexandra du Bois: I'm a huge fan of the VSO. I'm continually in awe that the small and mighty state of Vermont can have such a strong and wonderful orchestra.
James Stewart: The concert opens with Alexandra du Bois鈥� 2008 work 鈥淔anfare for Orchestra.鈥�
Alexandra du Bois: When I started writing the piece, I really was struggling because I was specifically commissioned for a fanfare, and when I got the commission, I called the conductor who commissioned me and I said, 鈥淲ell, you know,鈥� in a really respectful way, 鈥淗aven't you listened to my music? Can't you tell that it's not really that celebratory and jubilant in nature?鈥� And he said, 鈥淥h well, Alexandra, it's fine you can write whatever you want.鈥� But that still didn't solve my writer's block because I didn't have anything jubilant to say. And I kept kind of sitting on my hands and not getting anything on paper for a good 6 months. And then in November of 2008, the first African American to hold the office of President of the United States was elected, Barack Obama, and so the piece wrote itself basically after November 4th.
James Stewart: 鈥�Fanfare for Orchestra鈥� opens the first half of the concert which continues with a deeply moving and personal piece by .
Andrew Crust: Jocelyn was a Canadian composer. She unfortunately passed away last year and she left such an important legacy on Canadian music as a whole, but really new music in general.
James Stewart: That's the voice of , music director of the VSO. Andrew and Jocelyn were friends, so this is a special opportunity for the orchestra to feature her work 鈥淢y Name is Amanda Todd.鈥�
Andrew Crust: If you're not familiar with the story of Amanda Todd, she was a Canadian teenager who suffered from severe exploitation online, and this led to depression and mental health issues throughout her young life and tragically, she ended her life. The only upside to this tragedy is that she made videos that told her story, and those stories and those videos started a movement which her mother, Carol Todd has helped create as well. Jocelyn herself struggled with mental health issues, and I think she recognized that this is an important issue. So she did something incredible which was make a piece of music that can somehow resonate and speak to this issue, but do it in a very organic and powerful way.
James Stewart: The message of this piece is also amplified by the guest musicians who will be joining the Vermont Symphony Orchestra on stage.
Andrew Crust: We're very happy to be collaborating on this program with the . It's an orchestra that prides themselves on having no stigma. It's an orchestra for people who suffer from mental health issues, and anyone is allowed to join without an audition, and they play at a very high level. And so we thought, why don't we collaborate with them and bring some of their players into the orchestra. So a number of those Me2 players are going to be playing with the VSO on stage. So very powerful message and also the music just happens to be incredible. She's one of my favorite Canadian composers.
James Stewart: 鈥�My Name is Amanda Todd鈥� closes the first half of the concert. The second half will feature Gustav Mahler鈥檚 monumental Symphony No. 1, the Titan.
Andrew Crust: So I think anytime we have a Mahler symphony, it truly is an event. It's if you've never experienced a Mahler symphony, he has this way of flinging you from one end of the emotional universe to the other. It's an entire journey and also for the orchestra it's an incredible virtuosic workout, it's sort of a marathon emotionally and physically. And so I think what a great way to end the season then with such a celebration of Mahler's music.
James Stewart: Join the Vermont Symphony Orchestra for their season finale, Saturday, May 10th, 7:30pm at the Flynn Center in Burlington. .
Alexandra du Bois: By having your ears and heart open to music and to new sounds, it helps us stay open to one another and to continue to learn how to listen and to experience and that creates positive change and that builds community. So this concert is very much an ability to do that.
