If classical music is to survive, let alone prosper, in the 21st century and attract vital new listeners, the field has to find ways to redefine itself.
Not only must the music itself evolve in response to the transforming tastes of the iPod generation, the ways it is presented need to change to fit today’s shorter attention spans and increased informality.
The University of Denver’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts offered a possible way forward Friday evening, with the first of two programs in its first-ever Mile High Voltage Festival.
This exciting, innovative offering focuses on a fast-growing if still little-known group of varied musicians who are blurring and even erasing the boundaries between classical music and hip hop, indie rock and world music.
Epitomizing this new brand of crossover was the world premiere of Andy Akiho’s immediately appealing “NO one To KNOW one.” The short, action-packed work combines an assortment of amplified orchestral instruments, including a flute, cello and vibraphone, with the decidedly nonclassical steel pan.
The unusual mix of instruments interwoven with an atmospheric chant-like vocal part (soprano Megan Buness) produced alluring, exotic sound colors, which were in turn complemented and energized by layers of insistent, percussive rhythms.
If some offerings were more conventionally classical, there was little that was overtly classical about others, such as the eight songs of Burkina Electric, a group that compellingly merges traditional African music with an electronic dance vibe.
However classical or not, the international, six-member group lit up the stage with a highly energetic, tightly integrated performance. Deserving special mention was the amazingly multifaceted vocalist Maï Lingani, who embellished her singing in five languages with a range of vocalisms and calls.
The Newman Center deserves praise for taking on such a daring offering — a first for Denver and probably the Rocky Mountain region.
Mile High Voltage is obviously not for everyone. But for music-lovers who crave the new, offbeat and unexpected, it should not be missed. The festival returns at 7:30 tonight with a completely different lineup.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
