PREVIEW: The Cooper’s Cave Composer’s Consortium
11/03/2024 at The Strand Theatre, Hudson Falls NY
“The CCCC works as a great vehicle for giving local composers at various levels of their careers a chance to have their own unique voices heard.”
For a unique presentation of live, local music this weekend, look no further than the alliterative Cooper’s Cave Composer’s Consortium. Hosted on Sunday afternoon at the historic Strand Theatre in Hudson Falls, the event sees a multitude of local composers come together to perform and discuss their works in a new setting.
Two years ago, the CCCC was dreamt up by Anthime Miller and Catherine Reid as an opportunity for local composers to premiere their works in a larger, more personal format. This year sees a full baker’s dozen of musicians on the lineup. Among them is local songwriter Lucas Garrett, joining the bill for the first time this year.
“As a newcomer to this consortium, it’s humbling to see such a myriad of musicians working together to pull this off,” he tells me. “There’s such an admirable dedication that’s going into selections we are going to be presenting. And, that level of passion and camaraderie surely comes across in these performances; it’ll definitely be palpable to the audience.”
Lucas can often be found performing his own works in a typical, singer/songwriter or rock oriented setting. Preparing for this has been quite a departure, but also a welcome challenge, allowing him to think about his compositions in a different way.
“It was delightfully entertaining for me to flex my ‘orchestral’ muscles a bit for this event. For one of my pieces, I’ve arranged the music for soprano sax, viola, guitar, and cello. I’ve never worked with that particular combo, and the timbres that blend together for the piece have me really excited. The piece was written for string quartet, but as we didn’t have all the instruments at our disposal to perform it as such, a clever re-write suggested by Anthime had me move the first violin to soprano sax, the viola to second violin, and my guitar to play the viola’s part. I never would’ve thought to do that! This event has inspired me to think further outside the box, instrumentation, and that really strikes at the ethos of this group.”
There is sure to be a unique sense of collaboration on stage this Sunday, with all 13 composers joining forces in different ways, at different times. Alongside Lucas, the full slate of performers includes Greg Auffredou, John Benware, Stephen Gallucci, J.P. Hubbs, Elizabeth Woodbury Kasius, Brendan Klippel, Jonathan Newell, Ben Rowley, Mickie Wadsworth, and Adam York, plus Catherine and Anthime themselves.
When reflecting on the opportunity to be a part of this year’s performance, Lucas is quick to beam about Anthime and Catherine’s efforts to present both local audiences and local artists an opportunity to experience something different.
“Oftentimes, as composers, we are commissioned to write certain pieces, but never get a chance to perform them for the public. The CCCC works as a great vehicle for giving local composers at various levels of their careers a chance to have their own unique voices heard.”
The Cooper’s Cave Composer’s Consortium begins at 3:00 PM on Sunday, November 3rd at The Strand Theatre in Hudson Falls. Tickets are available at the door, for a suggested donation of $20, or $15 for students and seniors. The venue and curators would like to stress however that no one will be turned away for a lack of funds. Enjoy the show!
