WVPB’s Matt Jackfert speaks with harper, composer and producer Maeve Gilchrist. They discuss her compositions, the Silkroad Ensemble and the group’s upcoming performance.
The eclectic Silkroad Ensemble is bringing their talents to the stage in Morgantown, West Virginia this week. Founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 1998, the ensemble brings together music from many cultures to spark cultural collaboration for a more hopeful and inclusive world.
The Silkroad Ensemble will be bringing this creative energy and spirit with them in their upcoming performance called “Uplifted Voices” to Morgantown at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24 at the Lyell B. Clay Theatre at the Canady Creative Arts Center.
As Maeve Gilchrist, Celtic Harpist and composer, says, the Silkroad Ensemble “is an incredible collection of musicians from all over the world.” Gilchrist brings a Celtic influence to the ensemble as Celtic harpists run deep in her family.
Her piece, “Far Down Far,” she says, is a deconstruction and reconstruction of a Scotts-Irish reel, inspired by what you would find in Irish communities in America at the turn of the century. In her piece, she claims she writes out much of the notation but also allows for improvisation and input from the performers, giving way for more personal nuanced inflections during performance.
Find out more about Gilchrist, her compositions, the Silkroad Ensemble and their upcoming performance in this interview with WVPB’s Matt Jackfert.
Matt Jackfert is known to many of our listeners as our beloved classical music and also news host. But in his off time, the Charleston native is also an accomplished musician, composer and arranger. This holiday season he’s hitting a milestone in his musical life that most can only dream about.
Andrea Billups sat down to talk about his new work on a classic seasonal tune, “I Saw Three Ships.”
Billups: Tell us a little bit about “I Saw Three Ships.”
Classical Music host Matt Jackfert in the WVPB studios.
Jackfert: That’s the traditional Christmas carol that you hear. And what I’ve done is take that melody and transform it into something else. It is its own standalone, almost original piece that just takes that melody, and turns it into a symphonic arrangement that’s different from what you would normally hear.
Billups: How did you get started in classical music composing?
Jackfert: I didn’t really write until the end of high school. My band director loaned me his copy of the music software “Finale,” and I started just making up songs with it and just playing around and having fun. I went to college as a biology major for the first two years, and was just writing so much that I decided to give composition a shot as a major. So I switched my major in my sophomore year to music composition so I could be doing it all the time. Because that’s what I wanted to do. I was skipping biology homework to write pieces of music.
It just kept snowballing. Eventually, it was played by the ensembles at West Virginia University, and then won a reading with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. And from there I went to graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin and everything has just taken off since then.
Billups:So what is it like to know that other orchestras would take up your arrangements? How does it feel to listen to something like that?
Jackfert: It feels awesome. It’s great to be able to have your music played back to you when it’s not on a computer, by live musicians and the whole works. You spend so much time on it, and you’re not really sure exactly how it’s gonna sound. And then when it gets played back to you, and it sounds really good, it’s a really satisfying experience.
Some great orchestras have taken up this arrangement, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra. The West Virginia Symphony has played it, too. And the National Symphony and then now the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall.
Billups:Tell our audience who is going to play it this season.
Jackfert:
So it’s been picked up by three different orchestras this season. And the first is the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. They’re going to be playing it at the Kennedy Center. And then the New York Pops is going to be playing it at Carnegie Hall. And then there’s one more orchestra in Canada that’s going to be playing it — the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa. They just recently picked it up, too. So the ships are sailing internationally now.
Billups:You mentioned your high school band director. Talk a little bit about how you got into music, and how that became important to you.
Jackfert: I hadn’t really planned on making music a big part of my life. I actually was in sixth grade, and I remember I asked my mom “Am I going to do band?” She’s like, “Yes, you’re doing band.” And so I ended up taking a trumpet and learning trumpet in sixth grade, and seventh grade. And then I eventually switched to tuba in eighth grade. And then ninth grade came around and the tuba was too big. I don’t feel like carrying that. So I switched to baritone. At George Washington High School, I started playing baritone, and euphonium, which was the Goldilocks instrument for me.
I still never really thought I would make music a big part of my life until I started writing it, my senior year, and then in undergrad, and then it just became a huge part of my life. It was just so satisfying to be able to create these new works on my own. The act of creation was so satisfying to me.
Billups:Our listeners hear you every day with classical programming, and we know folks are very devoted to that. How do you get a greater audience or even maybe a younger audience? You’re a young man. And you’re fascinated by this type of music. How do we cultivate that here in West Virginia?
Jackfert: It’s definitely not easy. What I like to do on my show is play more contemporary music. So it’s more relatable to the sounds of today. I also like to highlight different kinds of music, like film scores, for instance. A big part of my show is Film Score Friday where we break down soundtracks from different films. And I think people are really interested in that, because when you get a picture of classical music, it’s easier to understand and relate to, because a lot of times, for the lay listener, classical may be a little complex.
Billups:Anything else that you would share with us about this piece of music?
Jackfert: It’s been a really cool experience to be able to write something that’s has been picked up by a lot of different orchestras. And, you know, it’s been nice to be able to have conductors take these pieces up and spread them all across the country. I’m just really grateful for the opportunity that these conductors and orchestras have given me.
It’s a pretty rare experience to be able to be played in some of these amazing halls. So I’m looking forward to going up to Carnegie Hall and actually taking a listen to it.
Billups: So you’re actually going to go?
Jackfert: I’ve bought the plane tickets. I’ve got the tickets to the hall, and I’m ready to go sit down in Carnegie Hall and listen to this piece.
Billups:Is that a big moment for your musical life especially?
Jackfert: Two years ago, I was at the Kennedy Center, and they were playing it with the National Symphony, and I thought “How can I improve? How can I get better? What’s the next step?” And I thought “What if I got to Carnegie Hall?” At that point I was like, “That’s never gonna happen.”
Here I am two years later and I bought plane tickets to go up to see my piece getting played at Carnegie Hall. So I guess anything’s possible.
Jackfert’s arrangement of “I Saw Three Ships” can be heard at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 10-11 with the National Symphony Orchestra. And on Dec. 17, when the New York Pops performs it at Carnegie Hall.
We’re living in some strange times and perhaps one of the more troubling things is the lack of LIVE music. Live music must go on, and one of the best ways to do that is through the radio. Good ole, socially distant radio. That’s why WVPB is putting out a call for performers for our Classical Music show that runs from 12-2 PM each weekday afternoon. We want to hear from any soloist or ensemble who might be interested in performing live on the show. We need to limit it to groups of four (4) or less in order to maintain social distancing guidelines.
What do I need to do to submit?
Fill out the form at the bottom of the page. We’ll ask you for your ensemble name (if applicable), number of members (limit 4), instrumentation, and some sort of audio or video of a live performance. You can send that as a YouTube, Facebook, or SoundCloud link (or others), or attach an mp3. Let us know what the title of the song or piece is and any other information you’d like.
Who can submit?
Any soloist or group who is a performer of music in the “Classical vein”.
What in the world do you mean by music in the “Classical vein”?
This is basically any one or group who performs instrumental music that is generally written out with musical notation by a composer. Of course, there may be exceptions to these rules because Classical is an incredibly loosely-defined genre, and composed music from all cultures will be considered.
The Montclaire String Quartet after a performance at WVPB
What happens if I’m selected?
If your group meets the quality standards and ensemble criteria, we will reach out to you about your availability on the show.
Available performance slots are between12 and 2 PM Tuesdays through Thursdays each week. We broadcast from our studios at 600 Capitol Street Charleston, WV 25301.
Hey, aren’t we in a pandemic??
WVPB maintains the highest levels of cleanliness in our studios, and, our studios are large enough to hold groups of up to four while maintaining social distancing guidelines as directed by the CDC. Masks will be needed upon entering and exiting the building and can be removed in the studio during performance as long as social distancing is maintained.
Why are you doing this?
I can’t stress this enough. WE NEED LIVE MUSIC AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
In these strange times, you may have been missing a familiar voice on the air–the voice of long-time Classical host, Frank Stowers. Frank has been asked to stay at home by our management here at WVPB in order to keep healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic. We wanted to check in on him and see how he and his wife, Emita, were doing, so Matt Jackfert called him and had a conversation with him.
“It really feels strange to be sitting at home listening to you folks, when I’m so accustomed to being there in the control room broadcasting myself, and I really miss being there, Matt, and all you good folks,” said the award-winning Classical host, Frank.
Take a listen below to the full chat between Matt and Frank.
The choir director of the Appalachian Children’s Chorus has some heartwarming goals for her choir and for their upcoming concert this December. Artistic and Founding director Selina Midkiff says, “One of the things I want to do in my space is to create, first of all, a safe place for children–they are safe here. And then I want us to spread the joy and spread that feeling wherever we go.” Mrs. Midkiff says that these goals are accomplished not necessarily because of her but because of the atmosphere the children create. “Its been decades of these children building this environment.”
They have an upcoming concert exploring these ideas called “Peace, Joy, and Harmony” on December 8th at 4 PM at Charleston Baptist Temple. They’ll be singing beautiful selections such as “See Amid the Winter’s Snow” and fun songs like “Joy in Jerusalem”. Tickets are still available on their website.
Lalena Price, WVPB
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A behind the scenes look at the ACC on WVPB
They also recently came to our studios here at WVPB to sing for us and talk to us about what they do to help gear us up for the holiday season. Mrs. Midkiff walked us through several great pieces and we got to hear from a couple of choristers about their experience in the Appalachian Children’s Chorus. Click the player below to check out the segment.
World-renowned West Virginia Pianist Barbara Nissman recently released her latest project from Three Oranges Recordings. Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Ramey is the 26th recording collaboration among Nissman, piano technician David Barr, and producer Bill Purse. This newest CD features the dazzling pianism of Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, the short fragment and possibly last notes of Prokofiev in the Piano Sonata No. 10 in E minor, the adventurous Ramey Piano Sonata No. 10, and the beautiful Rachmaninoff Six Moment Musicaux.
Cover of Nissman’s latest CD: Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev and Ramey
The Lewisburg, WV resident, Nissman, brings her incredible technique and nuance to the piano in this recording, and brings these great pieces to life in a recording that sounds like you’re in the concert hall with her. Take a listen to this interview with Nissman along with selections from the CD. You can also purchase the CD here.
