SOUNDS OF CHAMBERFEST
New director keen to draw younger audiences
Carissa Klopoushak isn't one to shy away from a challenge, whether it's nailing a tricky piece of music on her violin or starting a festival to put her hometown of Saskatoon on the classical-music map.
Still, when she was asked to take over the artistic direction of a long-running Ottawa music festival during a worldwide pandemic, she was caught off guard.
“It came as a complete surprise to me,” Klopoushak said in an interview. “It wasn't something I was thinking about as a possibility at all. But I do have a history of running stuff and was really happy to say yes.”
The 38-year-old musician, who has a doctorate from McGill in Ukrainian classical music and is also a violinist in the National Arts Centre Orchestra, was hired in August as the interim artistic director of Chamberfest, stepping into the position held by cellist Roman Borys and his Gryphon Trio mates for more than a decade. Under Borys's leadership, the festival evolved from a summer festival to a year-round arts organization that mounts a fall-winter concert series, a spate of community outreach initiatives and a music-education program in the school system.
Of course, for the first time in its 26-year-history, there was no Chamberfest this past summer, but the lull gave time for Klopoushak and Borys to go over things together to smooth the transition before he moved on. Now it's up to Klopoushak to steer the ship.
Here, in a condensed version of a wide-ranging interview, she talks about her background in music, the influence of her family's Ukrainian roots and her vision for the festival.
Q How did you get into music?
A I started violin when I was four, but I have no memory of asking for it or being given it. Music was always a big part of the family. My parents, who are both teachers by trade, both grew up playing piano. My dad has a music degree and is a singer, a baritone. And culturally, song is very important to Ukrainian culture. Everybody sings when they get together. I also went through the Suzuki program and was in the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra. By Grade 11, I was in the Saskatoon Symphony. I became principal second violin of that orchestra in my undergrad.
Q Is that when you started Ritornello, the chamber music festival in Saskatoon?
A No. A good friend and I were both living elsewhere by then (2009) and we just thought, `There are so many talented musicians who grew up in Saskatoon but at a certain point, they go away.' So the name, Ritornello, is a “little return.” The idea was to find a vehicle to bring people
back to perform.
Q Do you have an overall vision for the Chamberfest organization?
A Absolutely. There are many things that I really admire that are working well that I want to keep going. But I'm also interested in increasing diversity on our stages, and the various ways that can happen. The pandemic forces a more local, closer to home approach and there is some really amazing Canadian talent that can be showcased. Chamberfest has always done that, but now it will be front and centre.
Q The perennial challenge with classical music is appealing to the younger generation. Any ideas on that front?
A For me, there's no trick to it. It's not about disguising it, hiding the vitamin in a cookie. I think it's just a matter of presenting it in a way that makes sense. I'm 38, so I'm on the cusp of being a millennial. We have three more people in our office who are under 30 so there are four of us who give a damn about this music. I think we just plan events that we want to go to, that we can see going to with our friends. And it's not exclusionary: A lot of the things we might present for the younger crowd, I think our core audience would like very much. We always have something for everybody.
A lot of the things we might present for the younger crowd, I think our core audience would like very much. We always have something for everybody.
Q So maybe some playlists while we're still in the pandemic?
A One of the things I hate most in the world is the classical-music-for-studying playlist or classical-music-for-relaxation. That's not what I'm trying to show people. For those who want it for background music, that's awesome and I'm happy for them.
But looking ahead, whatever we put forward will be curated with the purpose of inspiring and motivating, not for background.
Q Is live streaming working for Chamberfest?
A It's the way forward. We're working on the winter concert series now, and we're going to do livestreams with the possibility of people in attendance, depending on regulations. ... The real essence of it is that we want to keep the ecosystem going. It's about providing opportunities for artists to work, and for people at home to have something to cling to.