PRISMA Festival sparks moments of musical magic in Powell River
Top students and established artists from around the globe perform everything from intimate limelight chamber music to orchestral masterpieces
PRISMA Festival.
The Pacific Region International Summer Music Association presents The PRISMA Festival from June 12 to 24 at various venues in Powell River
AS THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR of the PRISMA Festival in picturesque Powell River, Arthur Arnold has experienced the kinds of musical moments that can only be described as magical. The ambitious two-week fest presents performances indoors and out by leading music students from around the world and guest artists from the globe’s best orchestras.
Arnold remembers one such special instance in particular.
The violin solo in the third movement Strauss’s Four Last Songs, called “Beim Schlafengehen (While Falling Asleep)”, left him in total awe
“The concertmaster played it incredibly beautifully,” Arnold shares in an interview with Stir. “She perfectly prepared for the final words that the soprano was about to start: ‘And the soul, unobserved; will float on free wings; in the enchanted circle of the night; living deep and a thousandfold.’
“I spotted tears in the eyes around me and was fighting my own emotions,” adds Arnold, former music director and conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. “The electrification was palpable, also with the audience. At the end, there was just silence—a long and beautiful silence.”
Those fleeting, extraordinary experiences are what PRISMA aims to provide to some 5,000 audience members each year. People come to catch everything from chamber-music limelight shows and student recitals to epic orchestral concerts and master classes open to the public.
The student artists come from esteemed establishments like The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, and the Cleveland Institute; guest artists hail from organizations such as Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and many more. Since its inception in 2013, PRISMA has mentored over 500 students from 32 countries.
Arthur Arnold, PRISMA Festival.
PRISMA aims to create exceptional memories through beautiful music—but that doesn’t imply a quest for perfection.
“The students are pre-professional, very talented musicians from all over the world; I believe they represent 18 countries this year,” says Arnold. “Our profession is very competitive, and it is really hard to win a job in a professional orchestra. The most important thing to me is to create a safe environment in which there is total support for the growth of the individual musician. In order to learn new skills or improve existing ones, we have to know our limitations. It means we have to allow ourselves—and I have to allow the musicians in the orchestra—to take musical risks and make mistakes. Only then can we discover the next steps for improvement. I think I am so keen on this because I felt vulnerable as a student.
“I love to make music together with the students who form the PRISMA Festival Orchestra,” he adds. “With that philosophy in mind, about which I will talk during rehearsal, we can let go of these insecurities and find each other on a deep level during the performance. That has caused so many special moments during the festival.”
To help execute his mission, Arnold invites guest artists who share the same view. As a result, everyone ends up letting their guards down.
“This makes me tick,” Arnold says. “That way, we connect to the audience, and that way, the audience feels part of PRISMA. We do this together. And that connection is palpable. After all, we make music to inspire others. In the end, we share our passion to touch people deep inside, really, to bring positivity and connection into our world. This is how we connect to our audience, the locals here in Powell River, as well as the continuously growing group of concertgoers from outside of town.
“It is my mission to make the students aware of the important role we have in society as musicians,” he says. “That conviction is so strong that it helps us overcome insecurities and imperfections. In our world, it is always about being perfect—and we have to be to win that position in an orchestra—but the higher purpose of music-making helps you towards perfection. You never know who is in the audience or in the jury for that matter that needs your music desperately.”
Students compete during the concerto competition to make it to the finals. The finalists will perform as soloists with the PRISMA Festival Orchestra during the last symphony program. The final work on the program will be Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major “Titan”. At the very end of the concert the winner of the competition will be announced.
“This work is a journey through a musical landscape with so many vistas, intimate little squares, nature and forest, a funeral procession, and an ending that builds and builds into a triumphal climax,” Arnold says of the epic Mahler work. “I think I am the luckiest person on Earth to be on that stage with the brilliant young musicians amidst their wonderful sound.”
Other signature events on the calendar include PRISMA on the Beach—Serenade by the Sea, a free concert where audiences take in the music on blankets and lawn chairs. Food vendors will be on site, and the program opens with a welcome and performance by the Tla’amin Drummers and Singers. The Sail to the Symphony tour happens with B.C. Ferries, which links Powell River to Vancouver Island. Then there is a performance by the all-female Lafayette String Quartet, whose members are on their farewell tour after 36 years of performance. They will perform works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Nicola LeFanu, and Mozart with guest violist Yariv Aloni.
PRISMA Festival.
Among the other composers whose music will be heard is Dvořák, with Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in B minor op. 104 at Symphonic Grandeur – Splendour and Passion by the Prisma Festival Orchestra. Joining the ensemble is Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Henry Shapard as guest cello soloist (who appears in other performances as well). Brahms, Stravinsky, Germaine Tailleferre, Ewazen, Bottesini: they are just some of the others whose pieces will be featured throughout the fest.
Guest artists and students will play together during 30-minute limelight concerts, which take place twice daily during weekdays. For these interludes, the musicians will be in unique configurations and will play music that excites them the most. From solo tuba to a piano trio to chamber music ensembles, each 30-minute concert will be curated by a different member of the PRISMA Festival Orchestra or guest artist roster. These emerging and established artists will also play together during the evening chamber music concerts.
One of the pieces Arnold is especially excited about is Bits of Beauty by Canadian composer Tobin Stokes.
“We will have four ensembles spread out throughout the hall and a dozen of these short impressions of beauty will sound around the audience,” he says. “It will be almost dark; only the ensemble that plays will be lit—yeah, we like to create beauty at PRISMA.” Sounds like another one of those unforgettable musical moments that Arnold and so many others will savour.
PRISMA Festival.
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