Suraya Mohamed | September 4, 2024 Footpaths and a man-made stream bisect Anderson Park, an open grassy area in the middle of the Aspen Ideas Festival campus. An 800-pole bamboo sculpture was under construction nearby where Nickel Creek’s Chris Thile, violinist Sofia Hashemi-Asasi, and students from the Aspen Music School were setting up for this performance.
Thile was excited as he coached the group through a rehearsal of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, 3rd Movement. Soon, an audience gathered on the hill to watch the concert and we were finally ready to begin. The long grass rustled close to our microphones and added a texture of tranquility to this joyful performance.
Afterward, Thile played two of his own compositions, “Dionysus” and “Ecclesiastes 2:24.” Before his paean to the god of wine-making, he said “So I think this is undeniably a nice place, right here, part of the natural world that we get so little of these days and it brings to mind wine for me, because I feel like that's one of the most successful collaborations humankind has had with the natural world.”
Before wrapping things up, Thile got emotional. “It’s good for a person to eat and drink and take pleasure in their work, and I don't know when I’ve made music with people who were taking more pleasure in their work, than these extraordinary young musicians I just got to play the third movement of the Bach double with,” Thile said. “I feel very very lucky in the moment.”
SET LIST Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, 3rd Movement “Dionysus” “Ecclesiastes 2:24”
MUSICIANS Chris Thile: mandolin, vocals Sofia Hashemi-Asasi: violin soloist Madelyne Garnot: violin John Lee: violin Martha Mulcahy: viola Ha eun Song: cello Chad Rogers: double bass
NPR TEAM Director: Mito Habe-Evans Editor: Alanté Serene Videographers: Tsering Bista, Mito Habe-Evans Audio Engineer: Josh Newell Post-Production Coordinator: Tsering Bista Supervising Editor: Becky Lettenberger Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
ASPEN IDEAS TEAM Senior Producer: Ava Hartmann Videographers: Ryan Lohr, Will Sardinsky Audio Engineer: Michael Milota Audio Services Director: Matt Windholz Festival Director: Graham Veysey
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