Fontana Chamber Arts opens its 25th anniversary season Friday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dalton Center Recital Hall at Western Michigan University with Relic, a conductorless Baroque ensemble co-founded by Kalamazoo native cellist Cullen O'Neill. Fontana's new executive director, Sophié van der Westhuizen, and O'Neill speak with Cara Lieurance about the program, "The Blood of the Rose."
The title comes from La Púrpura de la Rosa, the first opera performed in the Americas. Spanish-born composer Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco staged it in Peru in 1701. Its story of Venus and Adonis, lovers pursued by a jealous Mars, is the template for a program built almost entirely from Spanish and Latin American Baroque music. That includes anonymous works by mestizo and Indigenous composers trained in colonial church traditions. Readings adapted from the opera divide the concert into chapters, and for the first time Relic adds a percussionist.
"They're really world-class. And what they bring to this program is this element of drama," van der Westhuizen says.
O'Neill, a member of Boston Baroque who also performs with Tafelmusik, says the fast-moving format demands constant attention. "We're like an 11, 12 piece ensemble without a conductor. It's just absolutely necessary that everyone's kind of leading from their seats." On past visits, Relic premiered new programs in Kalamazoo. This time the ensemble arrives mid-tour. "It's gonna be extremely exciting, fast paced, emotional. And I think there's something for everyone in it," she says.
Van der Westhuizen is a pianist who teaches at Kalamazoo College and previously directed outreach for the Cleveland International Piano Competition. She is presenting the final season planned by her predecessor, Brad Wong:
- Nov. 20: Clarinetist David Shifrin and the Miró Quartet play Mozart's Clarinet Quintet and a Benny Goodman tribute.
- Feb. 19: "Cuba Meets Brazil" features pianist Chuchito Valdés and guitarist Diego Figueiredo.
- April 9: Camerata RCO, made up of members of Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, performs an all-Beethoven program ending with the Septet.
The Oct. 2 concert runs about 75 minutes without intermission and is followed by a reception. Single tickets are $35, and a four-concert subscription is $120, at FontanaMusic.org.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
