2018-19 Guide To Yellow Springs

9 Y e l l ow S p r i n g s N ews the Guide to YelLow Springs y 2018 - 1 9 By Lauren heaton And Megan Bachman The local First Presbyterian Church sanctuary is quite lovely, but ever thought of comparing it to, say, Carnegie Hall? The same small string, wind and vocal ensem- bles that play under the big lights in New York City, Paris and Tokyo, also play in this little Ohio town, the improbable seat of a world-class chamber music series known as Chamber Music in Yellow Springs. How did it come to pass that profes- sional groups such as the Vienna Piano Trio, Calefax Reed Quintet, Red Priest and the Jasper String Quartet have become regular guests of the local series? Looking back, organizers saw that as CMYS celebrated its 30th anniversary a few years ago, at its root is Antioch College, whose music program was going gangbusters in the 1950s. Nearly 200 concerts have been per- formed as part of the CMYS series, includ- ing string quartets, piano trios, woodwind and brass groups, and a variety of other ensembles with instruments as interest- ing as the marimba and the sackbut. The groups have performed a combined total of more than 800 works, heavily favoring Beethoven, but also featuring contempo- rary compositions, as well as commissions of music by locally born composers such as Drew Hemenger and Allen McCullough. According to current board president Christopher Chaffee, the music is diverse and accessible. “Our seasons include something for everyone — from traditional to modern and everything in between,” Chaffee said. And for over 30 years, CMYS has hosted a major competition for emerging ensem - bles that continues to draw young groups y  CMYS built on Antioch’s legacy  y A CMYS performance by the David Piano Trio on Oct. 26, 2016. The concert series currently hosts four to five concerts per season, as well as the highly respected annual Competition for Emerging Professional Ensembles. of considerable talent, several of which have gone on to major accolades in the music world. In fact, the CMYS competition has helped the organization find a place of some stature on the international musical scene, according to Chaffee, as evidenced not only by the success of its finalists, but by the fame of its final-round judges, who are consistently drawn from leading musicians, scholars, and leaders of the top music schools in the country.  Finally, the organization has also expanded its educational mission using an Ohio Arts Council grant to partner with area schools for concerts and workshops. Mills Lawn Elementary School children have been the enthusiastic recipients of several concerts by first-rate ensembles. CMYS remains committed to diversity and inclusion by reaching out to ensembles of women and people of color.  CMYS’s Antioch origins Though few are around who remember that time, local resident Ruth Bent came to Yellow Springs in 1952 when Walter Ander- son was running a robust one-man music department at the college. Anderson was persuasive and had wide ranging connec- tions, and he “was very good at getting well known musicians to come here, snagging them on the way to Chicago or New York,” Bent said.  “Walter Anderson was an amazing man — he could do anything and get people to do it with him,” Bent said. Without a performance hall to speak of, ensembles played on the stage in what was the college gym in the original Main Build- ing. But when the college made a plan to turn the gym into Kelly Hall, suddenly the groups had nowhere to perform. That was unacceptable to a cadre of local residents Continued on page 10 %%% who had grown accustomed to world-class music in their backyards. So they made a plan to fix their problem by starting the first Chamber Music Yellow Springs. “The impetus to start our own series came from the fact that the college didn’t seem to be doing anything at that time, and there was no place at the college to have the concerts anyway,” Bent said. “A group of people said we can try this on our own!” The group, including Antioch student Jim Bolle; Judy Spock, an Antioch graduate who would later create the CMYS cellist logo; her husband, Mike Spock; and Dotty Moore (Bent joined the following year), incorpo- rated in 1957 and began holding concerts in the original Mills Lawn auditorium (new at the time). They continued for three years until the opening of Kelly Hall in 1961.  “We didn’t think we needed to compete • Photo by Matt Minde, courtesy of CMYS Accommodations for 6 1 block from the Clifton Mill 2 blocks from Clifton Gorge 8 Clinton St ., Clifton C lifton G arden C abin www.CliftonGardenCabin.com CliftonGardenCabin@gmail.com Guest Lodging 769-5040 Leading Nutrient Recovery Technology Harnessing the Black Soldier Fly EnviroFlight, LLC 303 North Walnut Street Yellow Springs, OH 45387 + 1 (937) 767-1988 office info@enviroflight.net EnviroFlight harnesses the power of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) through applied technology for nutrient recovery. We use co-products from breweries, ethanol produc- tion and pre-consumer food residuals as feedstock for black soldier fly larvae to produce cost-effective, sustainable, high quality nutrients and fertilizer.