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“
We were talking about
John Corigliano’s
th birthday coming
up. There were so
many other wonderful
composers turning
, wouldn’t it be
something to celebrate
them as well?
“
is titled
Carpentersville
. Issued
in
, its cover image is a
family photo of Schaufer as a
sandy-haired little girl stand-
ing with her father, Henry, in
her family’s sunny driveway.
Her small bike, complete
with training wheels, is in the
background.
So Schaufer’s Ravinia debut,
a vocal recital on September
in Bennett Gordon Hall, will
be something of a home-
coming for the Chicago-area
native. But the program will
also o er a fascinating glimpse
of Schaufer’s eclectic musical
tastes. Titled “ e Class of
,” it will showcase music
by American composers cel-
ebrating their th birthdays
this year. e list stretches
from Corigliano, Joan Tow-
er, and Frederic Rzewski to
folk-rockers Gordon Lightfoot
and Peter Yarrow (of Peter,
Paul & Mary fame), with Wil-
liam Bolcom represented by
his inimitable cabaret style.
“ e idea for the concert
was inspired by a lunch with
[composers] John Corigliano
and Mark Adamo at their
country house,’’ said Schaufer
during a phone interview from
London. “We were talking
about John’s th birthday
coming up. And that there
were so many other wonderful
composers turning , and
wouldn’t it be something to
celebrate them as well? ere
had been an orchestral record-
ing project [in
] by the
name of
e Class of ’
, but
nothing had been done on the
vocal side. is was my inspi-
ration, my kick under the table
from the boys to say, ‘Come
on, do something.’ ”
Schaufer earned an un-
dergraduate degree in music
from Northwestern and did
graduate work in voice, opera,
and new music at the Univer-
sity of Texas–Austin. She was
studying at Tanglewood in
summer
during celebra-
tions for Leonard Bernstein’s
th birthday. Bernstein, who
died just two years later, was
a vital presence at the festival
for decades as a teacher and
conductor.
“Ever since I was at
Tanglewood,” said Schaufer,
“I’ve wanted to start my own
arts organization. I wanted
to support composers by
commissioning them, being
a conduit for them to have
a better income stream and
exposure and performances.”
Last year she and her husband,
English tenor Christopher
Gillett, founded Wild Plum
Arts for that very purpose. She
commissioned a piece from
Corigliano for “ e Class of
” and presented the entire
recital earlier this summer at
London’s Wigmore Hall.
Schaufer explored countless
databases, looking for compos-
ers and repertoire that would
add up to a meaty, entertain-
ing recital. A er winnowing a
list of classical composers, she
noticed that “the big voices of
the folk revival of the
s
were present in this class of
.” In addition to songs
by Lightfoot and Yarrow, her
program includes one of the
most popular folk tunes of the
s, the melancholy “Five
Hundred Miles,” composed by
Hedy West. West died in
at age , the only composer
on the recital who is no longer
living. Michele Brourman,
Schaufer’s associate from the
cabaret and musical theater
worlds, arranged the three folk
songs.
“I fought the impulse to
sing ‘Pu , the Magic Dragon,’ ”
Schaufer joked, referring to
the mammoth
s folk era
hit co-written by Yarrow.
e recital ranges in mood
from high-energy, uptempo
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 20 – SE3TEM%ER 2, 2018
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