A couple years ago, Ashlee Mack was invited to the Quiet Musical Festival in Prague.
In between performances of music invoking a quiet nature, there were workshops focused on meditation and tea-making.
“It's this whole day of this calm respite from daily life,” she said.
Mack, director of piano studies at Knox College, performed a solo program at the festival, and she decided she wanted to bring quiet music back with her to the United States.
“I've always been interested in this idea of suspending time in music where you can't tap your foot to the music and you can't necessarily tell what the meter is or if there is one,” she said.
Mack said quiet music doesn’t mean that every note in the piece has to be quiet.
“But the overall atmosphere evokes serenity, intimacy, time for reflection,” she said, noting that quiet music grabs your attention in different ways. “You're attracted to specific moments. What's going to happen next? There's a lot of space. And you're just sort of involved in this mood for a while in this world, and you can just sit and be in it.”
In January, Mack released “green,” a solo piano album featuring “Green is Passing” by Jeff Herriott; “Distant Bells; Mist; Stopping” by Ian Mikyska; “Snow” by Eva-Maria Houben; and “Haven” by Marti Epstein.
Mack hopes this is the first of many volumes of quiet music she releases. She said “green” goes along with her career of drawing attention to the work of living composers.
Since her undergraduate days at Bucknell University, Mack’s focus has been on living composers.
“I could go by what the score said and go by studies and practices that have been around for years and years and years, but I always felt like I wanted some sort of personal connection with the composer,” she said. “So that's what drew me to it, being able to have that collaboration and connection, that personal connection with a person, a living person.”
But having a rehearsal or a conversation with the composer can add new dimensions to the interpretation.
“There might be some suggestions along the way saying, hey, you might try this here. You know, I was actually intending for this to be a certain way. What you're doing is fine, but maybe let's try it another way. So I'm able to take that feedback and incorporate it and hopefully get them what they want in the end,” she said.
A connection to the composer is a key element of Mack’s work.
“green’ was recorded in the recital hall at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, where Herriott teaches, and the album’s name also comes from Herriott’s song on the album.
“I wanted to pay homage to him in a way because he's not only a good friend and a great composer but he was heavily involved in the making of this album,” Mack said.
The piece by Mikyska, who is the leader of the Quiet Music Collective, was one Mack performed at the Quiet Music Festival.
“I thought it would be really fitting to include it on this album since he was such a huge influence on this whole idea,” Mack said.
The songs on “green” range from eight minutes to over 20 minutes long. Mack said quiet music gives you a setting right away, and the songs are a chance to live in that world for an extended period of time.
“It sets you up to just sit and be in it for a while, and you can meditate while it's happening. You can listen intently while it's happening. It could be in the background while you're doing some work and can sort of be this calming thing that's going on in the background,” Mack said.
“green” was supported by grant from the Illinois Arts Council. The album is available on Bandcamp and was released by Sawyer Editions.
An album release concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at the Macomb Arts Center, 25 East Side Square.
Mack there will be a mediation workshop at the event, followed by a performance. CDs of “green” will also be available for sale.
Mack’s previous solo album, “Still,” was composed by another living composer — her husband, Western Illinois University music professor James Romig. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
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