Concert to blend styles, elements

Laurel Ann Maurer feels that new music is unnecessarily shrouded in a dense and dark cloud of misperceptions. She believes that it's vitally important to change people's attitudes regarding today's music.

In fact, as far as Maurer is concerned, contemporary music should be as much a part of one's concertgoing experience as, say, the music of Beethoven or Brahms.

"I'm reminded about something Michael Tilson Thomas once said in an interview," Maurer said, referring to the music director of the San Francisco Symphony. "He said that people often think music is very intellectual, and they're afraid of that. But what they don't realize is that music is emotional."

She added that people need to be more open-minded and more receptive to what they hear. "Music is an uplifting experience. You walk into a concert feeling normal, and you leave it feeling transformed. Something happens to you, and that is what makes music so fulfilling. It's a fantastic experience hearing music that can go from intense despair to the greatest joy and beauty."

As the director of Salt Lake City's Contemporary Music Consortium, Maurer is in a unique position to help change people's ideas. Unlike the music of previous eras, there is no single defining element that characterizes what's being written today. And Maurer likes to emphasize that multiplicity of styles in her programming choices. "It's important to showcase the diversity of new music."

At tonight's CMC concert, Maurer, who is an internationally renowned flutist and frequent performer at these concerts, has chosen a wonderfully diverse program that nevertheless has a common thread running through it. Titled "Harmonic Convergence," the concert consists of works that are tonally oriented in varying degrees. "The music for the concert is more tonally based, but not all of the works are tonal. Music can be atonal and still feel tonal."

The work Maurer specifically refers to is Judith Shatin's "Gabriel's Wing" for flute and piano. "It's atonal, but with its open harmonies and overtones, you sense that it is tonal."

Maurer said that "Gabriel's Wing" is a spectacular work. "The piece is based on the angel Gabriel, and the imagery is that of flight. It's an uplifting experience hearing it. I just love it."

Another piece that Maurer enjoys playing is Gwyneth Walker's Sonata for Flute and Piano. "The work is structured as a standard three-movement sonata, but there is an element of jazz and folk-inspired music in it."

For both the sonata and "Gabriel's Wing," Maurer will be accompanied by pianist Jeffrey Price.