For its fifth season, this weekend, Music in May festival founder Rebecca Jackson will celebrate her muse. David Arben, the musician whose life experience affirmed and empowered Jackson’s dedication to her art, extended his influence to the festival from the days when Jackson was an undergraduate at the Juilliard School in New York and his pupil in Philadelphia. Arben, the only one of his family to survive the Holocaust, played with the Philadelphia Orchestra for 34 seasons, many of them as associate concertmaster.
But the impact of a mentor is one thing. Launching a new chamber music festival may seem like a crazy idea, especially in an economy on life support. Zeal, however, burns fiercely in Jackson’s breast, a local girl who brings unquenchable enthusiasm to her causes. Her open, unaffected charm, and obvious smarts, have opened ears, minds and wallets.
MiM’s original benefactor was UCSC economics professor David Kaun, well known for his generous support of local classical music. “David pretty much underwrote the first two seasons,” says Jackson. “I was playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the UCSC Orchestra when he asked me to speak to his Economics of the Arts class. It was then that I showed him a proposal for my ‘little dream’ of a chamber festival.” She was only in her mid-twenties at the time, but knew perfectly well the magnitude of the undertaking and was mindful of the risks of long-term survival. Calling Kaun’s support “extremely important,” she adds, “He gave me the freedom to decide everything artistically.”
Jackson’s mission was two-fold: to bring beautiful chamber music to the community and outreach to schools. To those ends, she added partnerships with other nonprofits. This year, for example, MiM is collaborating with Shakespeare To Go, Beat Within and the music program at Pacifica Charter School. “Those projects get a spot in our program book and 50 tickets to sell or use for other benefits,” Jackson explains.
Jackson has brought many outstanding chamber players to MiM, this year, including the superb principal clarinetist with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Jose Gonzalez Granero, who was introduced locally during an MiM benefit concert at the La Selva home of American soprano Greta Feeney-Samuels on April 14. Gonzalez Granero will play works by Schumann and Bartok at the May 11 concert in Santa Cruz. The May 12 program in Aptos will include the world premiere of Polina Nazaykinskaya’s Haim, for string quartet, clarinet and two pianos, composed in honor of Arben. Gonzalez Granero will also conduct Anna Clyne’s Within Her Arms, a roundly acclaimed highlight of the 2011 Cabrillo Festival that, as one of the 15 string players, Jackson completely fell in love with.
MiM’s goals, standards and achievements to date are top-notch. (A DVD of last May’s MiM concert in Aptos is available.) Jackson says David Kaun expresses the fervent hope that MiM will far outlive him. Meanwhile, Jackson, who credits her family and upbringing with the values she exhibits at MiM, is still in the early years of a highly promising career.
MUSIC IN MAY
Friday–Saturday, May 11–12, 6:30 pre-concert lecture, 7:30pm concert
First Congregational Church, 900 High St. (Friday), Cabrillo College Recital Hall (Saturday)
Tickets $20 adv/$25 door at www.brownpapertickets.com or 800.838.3006
