Classical gets hip

Series shows different side to classical music

Classical music moves into the intimate settings of house concerts in Fayetteville’s new Trillium Salon Series.
Classical music moves into the intimate settings of house concerts in Fayetteville’s new Trillium Salon Series.

"The house concert is alive and well among folk and DIY punk, and there's nothing like that here for classical music. I want to take that assumption away -- that way of thinking that classical music is a bunch of dead white dudes from the 1700s."

Katy Henriksen is the classical music and arts producer at NPR affiliate radio station KUAF. She hosts two shows on classical music at the station, and now she's moving out of the studio to bring the art form to the community in intimate settings. Henriksen's Trillium Salon Series follows the historical concept of a salon -- a gathering of (usually wealthy) people to enjoy music, poetry, literature and other forms of refined entertainment in the intimate setting of a host's home. Nowadays, the house concert and its accessibility to anyone is the modern equivalent of the salon, but the Trillium Series won't be limited to living rooms.

Go & Do

Trillium Salon Series

When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday

Where: The Idle Class office, 626 W Dickson St. in Fayetteville

Cost: Free; donations for musicians accepted

Information: facebook.com/OfNote…, ergenekahng.com, thesoundsofryanc.com

Bonus: Be on the lookout for events in October and November featuring new musicians.

"It's time to have informal concerts here and kind of kick classical music out of the box -- it's been put in this tower of elitism," Henriksen says. "I want to share there's so much diversity and richness to classical music. And enjoyment! You don't have to know about all the [overwhelming history of the genre], just put on a piece of music and let it take you over. If you spend a little time with it, you can see how compelling a lyrical line can be. It's more complicated, but I don't think that makes it less enjoyable."

The fourth concert in the Trillium Series -- named for a wildflower native to the Ozarks -- will take place Thursday at the editorial office of The Idle Class magazine on Fayetteville's Dickson Street. It features Ryan Cockerham and Er-Gene Kahng. Both musicians performed at the second concert in June with the Fulbright Chamber Concert string quartet, but Thursday's show will be a different style of music presented in a different context.

"This event will feature music I've been composing over the last year and a half for a new album coming out at the end of this year," Cockerham says. "This [will be] the first time this music's ever been heard. We're playing a selection from [the album] that I think will give people a good overview of what's to come. I think this music is some of my best work I've ever done."

Written for two violins, the electronic piano and assorted percussion instruments, the music is a reflection on some of the desolate landscape photographs taken by Cockerham's father. Solitary, holistic and simple are words that come to Cockerham's mind as he tries to describe the music but realizes it is difficult to confine it to a narrow style -- which is just fine with Henriksen.

"My definition of what classical music is is so fluid. Basically, it has to do with a certain type of instrumentation -- before we had amps and could plug things in," she says. "It's a great art form for people to explore the human condition. You have so many different instruments to put together a soundscape. Into the 21st century, we're seeing more and more blending of all these different classical music [styles]. It really speaks to all different parts of the human condition in ways no other music can because it uses so many different ways of composing."

Henriksen hopes to use the series as a way to bring attention to local musicians of the genre as well as artists passing through the area. The very first concert was held in her home during the Walton Arts Center's Artosphere as a way to highlight the visiting musicians in a more informal setting. She has also partnered with Blackboard Grocery, Apple Blossom Brewing, Foxhole Public House, Ozark Natural Foods and Conscious Coco to provide locally made snacks and drinks at the events to "connect people through love of food and music."

"Katy is working hard to create something that hasn't existed before -- to fill a niche in our community," Cockerham says. "She's helping to develop interest in the music that I think would not have happened without [the series]. It's a really eclectic event but is a fun, casual opportunity for people to relax, meet the musicians and listen to music they may not have heard before."

Jocelyn Murphy can be reached by email at jmurphy@nwadg.com.

NAN Profiles on 09/11/2016

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