ANNE-MARIE MCDERMOTT, BACH & SHOSTAKOVICH

As the long-term reality of sheltering at home sank in, Anne-Marie McDermott found herself struggling. She turned to music and found new life and meaning in a piece she was intimately familiar with, Bach's Goldberg Variations. It became a way to soothe her soul during the difficult days at home in New York City. As the months passed, she began to look at her conflicting emotions and sought out music that could speak to the solitary nature of her experience. Her choice of the Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues acts like a mirror to what she was feeling, running the gamut of emotions, and helping her understanding more profoundly just how important music is in our lives. Her story is captivating.

DOVER QUARTET & BEETHOVEN

The Dover Quartet long had in its schedule the epic task of recording perhaps the most important body of work in the string quartet repertory: the complete Beethoven String Quartets. Quarantine posed the question of whether sessions should still happen. Bravo! Vail's invitation to play live concerts presented an answer. The first piece they played together upon reuniting was Beethoven String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74 "Harp". They discovered it was a meaningful metaphor for this time. Listen to their reflections on how the global pandemic has impacted them as individuals and as an ensemble, and performances of movements II and III of this Beethoven masterpiece. 

IDA KAVAFIAN & BEETHOVEN SONATAS

Bravo! Vail's Founding Artistic Director, also a long-time friend and colleague, invited Anne-Marie to take the deep dive into preparing and performing all of Beethoven's Sonatas for violin and piano well over a year ago for concerts in Santa Fe. Their experience with this profound musical journey, inspired them to plan performances for audiences in Vail, with the addition of pre-concert talks and post concert Q&A's guided by the engaging and erudite musicologist James Keller. Remarkably, and against the odds of COVID-19, this project has been kept in tact. The path toward that conclusion is a fascinating story in and of itself.

THE NEUBAUER FAMILY

In March, violist Paul Neubauer and his wife Kerry McDermott, a veteran member of the New York Philharmonic, were suddenly faced with both of their grown children coming home from The Juilliard School, violins in hand. They all watched their musical lives slip away as the pandemic gripped the world. When they worked through their shock and confusion, they realized they could still make music together as a family. They have arranged new repertoire for their ensemble of three violins and viola, and found new joy in the music.

Their discussion of the events of the last five months and performances of several pieces are moving, uplifting, and affirming. The film includes The Neubauer Family performing Godard “Berceuse” from Jocelyn (arr. By Oliver Neubauer), Bartók Three Duets for Two Violins, S. 98, BB 104, and Elgar – Salut d’Amour (arr. By Clara Neubauer).