Curtis Macomber

The “New York Piano Trio” takes on that name only when the three musicians come to visit Utah. Although they are not an official trio, per se, they have plenty of experience playing together. The group consists of Curtis Macomber (violin), Chris Finckel (cello), and Stephen Gosling (piano). I recently had the opportunity to visit with Macomber to discuss the group’s upcoming performance at Brigham Young University. He said that he has played with Finckel for about 30 years and Gosling for 20. Clearly, they have ample shared experience, and they’ve been among the most active musicians in the New York scene for new music.

The concert will focus entirely on the work of living composers, and the first two pieces on the program are compositions by BYU faculty members – Michael Hicks’ The Empress of Japan (2000) and Steven Ricks’ Beyond the Zero (2005).

Although Macomber is certainly well versed in the standard repertoire, he has dedicated much of his career to modern music. And now, more than ever, “modern music” is an increasingly diverse body of works. When people have said to Macomber that they don’t like new music, he responds, “There are so many different kinds of new music. There must be something you like.”

This concert promises to show that range of new music. The trio has selected an impressive spread, ranging from the very acoustic to the very electronic, the lyrical to the atonal.

I asked Macomber why he has had such a sustained interest in new music. When musicians premiere a piece, they don’t have the luxury of listening to past performances or basing their interpretation off of long-standing precedent. Macomber said that this is both the joy and challenge of new music. He said that although there is no history on which to base his playing, sometimes he has the luxury of speaking with the composer directly – something musicians playing Mozart just can’t do. Also, in performing new music, he has the opportunity to make the music his own.

For Macomber, chamber music is the richest form of musical endeavor. He says that not only does this form appeal to his personality, but the intimate settings allow for a wealth of expression and collaboration. I agree with him. Chamber music is rewarding in a way that orchestral music isn’t. Although a string quartet will never be able to be as grand and sprawling as a symphony, it has an eloquence and sincerity that can get lost when dozens more musicians take the stage.

At the end of the interview, I asked a dirty question. I asked Macomber which piece he would choose if he could go back in time to give a world premiere. After some deliberation, he said it would probably be Beethoven’s 13th String Quartet. “But with so much good stuff, why do you have to pick just one?” I felt that his last remark summed up a good deal of his philosophy about music. Why limit yourself to past eras’ music? Why not do both Bach and Babbitt? Well, that’s exactly what these musicians have done and will continue to do.

CONCERT INFO:

What: New York Piano Trio

Venue: Madsen Recital Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center, Brigham Young University

Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14

Tickets: Free