It’s not every day that a young, up-and-coming composer gets Yo-Yo Ma’s attention.
But that’s exactly what happened when Kevin Puts, 34, captured the interest of the world’s most recognized classical instrumentalist with his cello concerto, “Vision.”
“It’s a dream come true,” said Puts, who is perceptibly excited about his official Aspen debut today. “A few years ago I sent some of my scores to David Zinman. A year or two later I got an e-mail from Aspen inviting me to write a piece for the Aspen Festival Orchestra in celebration of Zinman’s 70th birthday.
“I kept thinking I’d wake up and it didn’t really happen.”
The festival’s Celebrations! season – which kicked off Wednesday and runs through Aug. 20 – commemorates not only the “Vision” world premiere in conjunction with Zinman’s milestone birthday and his successful tenure as music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 1998, but also the renowned institution’s first season under Alan Fletcher, its new president and CEO.
“I couldn’t wait to write the piece,” said Puts of his latest work, co-commissioned by the Aspen Music Festival and the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University. “I thought a lot about it and finally decided on a one-movement narrative where you don’t really feel harmonic resolution until the end.
“Metaphorically, the piece is like coming out of a fog to find clarity of vision and a sense of transcendence.”
While Puts kept in mind Ma’s sophisticated interpretive capabilities, “Vision” was also inspired by events closer to home.
“I knew that Yo-Yo Ma would bring incredible lyricism to the piece, and really nail the rhythmic and technical parts,” said Puts. “But just as I was thinking about all that, my mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
“It turned out to be non-cancerous, but the surgery didn’t go smoothly,” he said. “For a long time, she was in a fog herself, sort of hallucinating, as if she was submerged under water or floating through clouds. She gradually came out of it, but I watched her go through a kind of search for vision and understanding of how her life had changed.”
Puts describes his music as atmospheric, expressive and “essentially romantic with minimalist undercurrents” – all of which were evident in his Symphony No. 3, “Vespertine,” as performed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and maestro Jeffrey Kahane in February.
“Some people compare my music to Sibelius, but there’s clearly an American influence, for example Copland and Barber,” said the native of St. Louis.” I like slow harmonies and, stylistically, I like to think that my music is eventful and hopefully interesting, with measured harmonies underneath that move in a glacial way.”
Ma is selective about the works he premieres – accordingly to his publicist, he’s introduced about 17 concertos – and Puts is eager to make the most of the opportunity.
“Composing is discovering who you are and who you want to become,” he said. “And sometimes you can get amazing insights from someone else’s perspective.
“Most of the interpretive work of ‘Visions’ will happen in rehearsals in Aspen, when Yo-Yo and I can really explore the best way to make the piece meaningful.”
Indeed, Puts says he revises his pieces “endlessly.”
“The most important thing I aim for is emotional impact,” said Puts, who also enjoys swinging a tennis racket occasionally, doing New York Times crossword puzzles religiously and making music with his violinist girlfriend.
“Like Mozart’s music, the music we remember over time isn’t necessarily intellectual,” he said. “It comes from the heart and speaks to the heart.”
Puts will return to Colorado next summer as composer-in-residence of the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.
