U of A professor conducts new music concert series July 19-31

A new summer concert festival has been created for the Northwest Arkansas region, and a State University professor is leading the bar.

Tomoko Kashiwagi is the artistic director of Chamber Music on the Mountain, a new concert series at the Creative Spaces, NWA program of the Mount Sequoyah Center. They received a $ 15,000 grant from the Mid-America Arts Alliance to “deliver a year-round concert series bringing high-caliber musicians to collaborate with local musicians, artists and organizations in Northwestern. Arkansas “. CMM’s first summer festival will be held July 19-31.

“It has been a dream for me to establish a chamber music series in Fayetteville for the past few years,” says Kashiwagi. “The Mount Sequoyah Center is a perfect venue. It’s a quaint, non-profit community center overlooking downtown Fayetteville. Two concerts will be outdoor concerts for families, and two more concerts will be held in the Millar. Newly remodeled lodge both very affordable. We were fortunate enough to partner with Fayetteville Public Library, Momentary and Crystal Bridges Museum for additional free outreach concerts so more people could come and enjoy our performance.

The chamber music festival hopes to bring classical music to everyone, says Kashiwagi, and not just to specialist concert halls.

“I feel like classical music, like many other traditional art forms, has been sort of stereotyped as educated, something you can only experience in specialist concert halls.

“To allow more people to (re) familiarize themselves with classical music, we will be broadcasting the concerts in our community. Chamber music is perfect as there are many combinations of small ensembles that can be flexible to accommodate at various venues. It was a challenge to find good venues, quiet places with nice resonance and a comfortable atmosphere for our audience and musicians. The outdoor venues are great, but it is difficult to play instruments, especially strings, in high humidity, and amplifying the instruments without altering the quality of the acoustic sound is very delicate. “

To learn more about Chamber Music on the Mountain and get updates on future concerts, visit Chambermusiconthemountain.org.