Composer Jonathan Leshnoff likes to take concertgoers on a journey and, he said, if he hasn’t done that, he hasn’t done his job.
Hundreds of people will get an opportunity to take a Leshnoff journey this weekend when the Kansas City Symphony premieres his “Piano Concerto” in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
Michael Stern will conduct “Piano Concerto,” which was commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony and underwritten by the Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation, and is dedicated to Joyce Yang, who is also the piano soloist. The 22-minute concerto was co-commissioned by the Tucson Symphony, the Harrisburg Symphony and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, with the support of F. Lawrence Clare in memory of his brother, Dennis A. Clare.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22 and 23, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24. Tickets are available at tickets.kcsymphony.org or by calling the box office at 816-471-0400. The concerto will be performed in between Gustav Mahler’s “Adagio” from Symphony No. 10 and Richard Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra.”
Described by the New York Times as “a leader of contemporary American lyricism,” Leshnoff’s works have been performed by more than 70 orchestras worldwide. In addition to this concerto written for Yang, he has written for Gil Shaham, Manuel Barrueco and Johannes Moser. Recordings of Leshnoff’s works are released on the Naxos label. His catalog consists of more than 75 works, including four symphonies, 12 concerti, four oratorios and more than 25 orchestral works. He has served as a professor of Music at Towson University for 19 years.
In a recent interview, the 46-year-old Leshnoff said he had started composing when he was “pretty young” and estimated he’d been composing for 35 to 40 years.
“Violin was my principal instrument and I’d start playing what wasn’t written on the page,” he explained. “I found what was on the page too boring. So, through elementary school and junior high school I started to branch out and discovered composing, and by the time I got into college, violin was long gone. I was interested in just writing the music. I was accepted as a composition major in college and the rest is history.”
In the program notes for this weekend’s performance, Leshnoff explains that he finds Jewish mysticism and spirituality to be an inexhaustible inspiration for his music.
“This piano concerto is inspired by the ancient Jewish mystical tradition that everything in the universe has a soul, from human, animal, plant to inanimate objects,” he said. “This tradition teaches that the soul is taught to have five parts. The second movement of this concerto is the composer’s impression of the third level of the soul, ‘neshama,’ Hebrew for ‘breathing soul’ and associated with the Hebrew letter ‘hey.’ It is this part of the soul that expresses itself in thoughts and ideas and is housed in the brain.”
The notes continue to explain that the second movement of the concerto is Leshnoff’s musical painting of the neshama.
“On paper, this movement is written with very simple rhythms and melodies. It is up to the artist to connect her mind and essence with the music that will bring these simple structures it to full, breathing life. The movement is purposely slow and meditative which bring the soloist and audience to internal contemplation without the ‘distraction’ of virtuosity. It is this internal contemplation which is the essence of the neshama.”
This concerto is the first of a five-part series of major orchestral works, which Leshnoff is dedicating to the five parts of the soul that are discussed in Jewish spiritual mystical writings, he said. While this is the first installment, he said “it doesn’t actually start with the first level of the soul; it actually jumps to the third level of the soul.”
Leshnoff finds music to be the perfect medium to express spirituality because music itself isn’t physical, he said.
“Obviously the violinist holds the violin, but the actual sounds that come out, and what these sounds do to us each in our own way, is completely beyond anything we can feel or see,” he said.
Leshnoff’s music is powerful with its deep spiritual ties and understanding of the Jewish faith, Conductor Stern said.
“His music explores Jewish mysticism and meaning in a profound way, and I can’t wait for these concerts,” Stern said, noting he always relished the opportunity to work with Leshnoff.
“He’s a dear friend, and I’m happy that we can be part of bringing his new piano concerto with Joyce Yang to life,” Stern said.
Leshnoff said he and Stern have worked together for 15 years.
“Michael is a dear friend and big supporter of what I do. A big part of where I am today is because of Michael,” said Leshnoff, who added Stern has recorded two CDs of his work. The Kansas City Symphony will be recording the concerto this weekend.
While Leshnoff wears a kippah and is shomer Shabbos, he doesn’t love the label observant Jew.
“I affiliate with Orthodox if I were to go daven somewhere,” he said. “We’re all doing the best we can in the ways that we can, if that makes sense.”
It’s tricky for him to be at performances such as these in Kansas City, he said, because he keeps kosher.
“I can’t just go to Kansas City and eat at all the restaurants,” he said. “With Shabbos I walk to the concert hall and don’t use microphones.”
He’ll walk to the Friday night performance at Kauffman. He doesn’t have to work at the premieres he attends because all the work is done behind the scenes ahead of time.
“When the concert happens, I’m really an audience member,” he said. “I’m not doing anything. I’m just sitting. Sometimes I’m nervous. This concert I’m not. I’m in good hands.
Leshnoff will take part in preconcert discussions and “interact with people” after Shabbat on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
According to his website, Leshnoff has been ranked among the most performed living composers by American orchestras in recent seasons, and upcoming seasons are comparably active with musical activity and collaborations. Besides the debut of this new concerto, highlights for the 2019-20 season include the premiere of a new chamber orchestra overture written for IRIS Orchestra, and the premiere of a new symphonic work commissioned by the Oklahoma City Philharmonic to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.