Copland House Arrives at the Emelin
After a two-year hiatus from live performances, Music from Copland House is getting ready to settle in for the spring season with a residency at the Emelin Theatre. The three-concert series will showcase more than 100 years of American music and includes the works of classic American composers in addition to today’s emerging and established composers.
The residency marks Copland House’s first public appearance in Westchester since March 2020, when the pandemic shuttered venues across the country.
The group’s artistic and executive director, Michael Boriskin says that the pandemic had “a very profound impact” on the group since most of what they do depends on public engagement: “Early on, we were able to pivot quickly to virtual programming, and that enabled us to reach a national and global audience that we didn’t have before. But there isn’t any substitute for live interaction.”
The residency took three years to come to fruition. Prior to the pandemic, Copland House was looking for a temporary home. The Merestead Estate in Mount Kisco, where it had been performing for many years, closed in 2019 for extensive renovations. Around the same time, Boriskin met Elliot Fox, the outgoing Executive Director of the Emelin, at an event and they discussed the possibility of a collaboration – until the pandemic put the idea on hold.
Boriskin says that the Emelin’s size, location and loyal audience makes it a perfect location for the residency. Fox says that “while classical music has always been on [their] roster, it’s never been a predominant genre.” This would give them the opportunity to expand while spreading the word about Copland House’s work and mission. As things began to open up, the discussion resumed.
The series exclusively champions past and present American chamber music, says Boriskin. The series kicks off on April 3, with Sounds of Westchester, a salute to a generation of composers who have made Westchester home to one of the richest musical legacies in America.
Says Boriskin: “We thought it would be fun and interesting to resume our live programs at home – not only physically, but artistically as well – with a concert that features Westchester natives or transplants.”
In addition to Copland, featured composers – Joan Tower (New Rochelle), Samuel Barber (Mount Kisco), Pierre Jalbert (Bronxville), Charles Tomlinson Griffes (Tarrytown) and Percy Grainger (White Plains) – have all had a significant connection to Westchester in one way or another.
On May 1, Lives Entwined features three works that explore personal connections to inner selves, outer worlds and the relationships between them. The program includes the world premiere of a piece by Emmy Award winner John Musto, which Boriskin describes as “a celebration of life and loss”; a rarely heard coming-of-age piece by Leonard Bernstein; and a work by Gabriela Lena Frank that “harkens back to her childhood and her heritage in Peru.”
The series finale on June 19 is Magic Charm…Up My Sleeve, a Juneteenth celebration “in music and word.” The event “helps to put the spotlight on a whole segment of American music that has, for so many reasons, been marginalized,” says Boriskin. “We look forward to restoring a musical balance in the repository and getting Juneteenth on the radar musically.”
Audiences returning to the Emelin will experience a freshly renovated theater, with new seats, carpeting and enhanced lighting and sound. While Boriskin expects Copland House to return to the Merestead Estate once the renovations are over, he hopes the collaboration with the Emelin continues. “I am really excited to see where this goes.”
A version of this article first appeared in the April 2022 issue of ArtsNews, ArtsWestchester’s monthly publication. ArtsNews is distributed throughout Westchester County. A digital copy is also available at artsw.org/artsnews.