Ravinia 2023 Issue 2

PIANO & STRINGS June 19 – July 22 MIRIAM FRIED , program director In my first lesson with Miriam Fried, she said, ‘It doesn’t matter if I hate it. I can hate it and it would still be all right, just say something to me with your music.’ I think that’s very much the philosophy of this program. It’s not about trying to make people a certain way. It’s about making people try to express and externalize something that is already inside of them. — Natania Hoffman (cello), 2018 Piano & Strings fellow The Program for Piano & Strings concentrates on interpretation and small-group collaboration through the practice and performance of classical sonata and chamber repertoire. This year, 35 violinists, violists, cellists, pianists, and members of a pre-existing chamber group will gather for five weeks of immersive and intensive rehearsals and coachings with a rotating roster of some of the world’s finest teaching artists. It’s amazing how much can be accomplished in this environment where you feel that the faculty and your colleagues are truly on your side. As Beethoven once said, I had the opportunity to not merely practice my art, but to force my way into its secrets. — Kyle Orth (piano), 2019 Piano & Strings fellow Encapsulating the impact of Miriam Fried’s tenure at Ravinia Steans Music Institute would, unwittingly, highlight RSMI’s entire history. She first arrived as a guest faculty member in 1991, three years after the Piano & Strings program was founded; three years later, she was leading the whole program: “It’s one thing to waltz in here and teach and leave, but it’s quite another to be responsible for so much of what happens here.” A lifelong devotee of chamber music, Fried laid the path for collaborative music-making to be the hallmark of RSMI. Thirty years later, that responsibility has had its perks. The familial summer retreat atmosphere Fried has brought to RSMI—cutting out the “competitive, negative aspect” of some elite music schools—is buoyed by her and a majority of the fellows now being housed in Ravinia-owned residences adjacent to the grounds. (That has also led to bonus family time with one of her sons, now mayor of nearby Evanston.) In her 20th year, Fried became the first recipient of the Edward Gordon Award, named for the late Ravinia executive who established RSMI, in recognition of service to music education. Fried began a spring touring program with Piano & Strings alumni in 1998, quickly expanding to venues across the US—even internationally with an exchange of chamber music with Cuba in 2014 and ’15. Most recently, Fried led the tour in performances at Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center. Roughly half of RSMI’s alumni network has Fried at its center. But with her continuing mentorship at the New England Conservatory, we know that number will continue to grow: “I love teaching. The most significant way you can really impart the fundamentals of the profession is through teaching.” Thank you, Miriam Fried, for solidifying the fundamentals of Ravinia Steans Music Institute for generations to come. Almost immediately after beginning her director- ship at RSMI, Fried recognized a future-focused need for supporting Piano & Strings program alumni: “We encounter some young musicians whose instruments are below the quality of what a professional should have access to. They may while they are at school, but that ends when you leave.” In 1998, an instrument bank was established to loan violins, violas, and cellos to these artists for whom a better, more unique instrument would unlock paths to reflect their talent. “The instrument itself is a huge influence on how you react to what music can provide,” said 2017 and ’18 alum Stephanie Zyzak, who has been playing RSMI’s 1778 Gagliano-made violin. “It opens your eyes to discover the possible nuances of depth and colors of sound to give to the audience. This violin has taught me a more complex side of how to produce different sounds and what it means to ‘make music.’ While it’s a simple word, there are so many layers to it.” Celebrating Miriam Fried in Her 30th and Final Season as Piano & Strings Program Director RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 73