EGREMONT — It was a night of world-class music, rib-tickling humor, and avoiding the elements. But it all came together last night, as two Grammy-award-winning classical musicians performed for an hour, chatted up a storm, and raised a bunch of money for the premier youth environmental organization in the region.
Billed as a “concert and conversation,” the event featured cellist Yo-Yo Ma and classical pianist Emanuel Ax, both close friends since their days at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
As one might expect, the music, a captivating and highly skilled series of string and piano duets selected specifically for the occasion, was sublime. The two men have partnered often since they first performed publicly together in 1973 at the Marlboro Music School and Festival in Vermont.
It should, therefore, come as no surprise that their musical chemistry is rapturous. What most did not expect was that their personal rapport enables them to catch and hold an audience with philosophical musings and stories of their long friendship.
See video below of the conversation between Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, moderated by Greenagers’ Executive Director Will Conklin. News media outlets were not permitted to photograph or record the actual musical performance:
An hour before the 6 p.m. event benefiting Greenagers, a local environmental youth organization based at April Hill Farm in South Egremont, the skies grew dark and thunderstorms rumbled through the area, raising doubt about whether the event would take place at all. But the skies partially cleared just in time for about 200 donors to be seated under a tent. The event raised approximately $140,000, said Greenagers’ Board President David Sheehan.
In an on-stage conversation with Greenagers’ Executive Director Will Conklin the two musicians had after the performance, Ax thanked the attendees for not only supporting Greenagers but for “driving over here in this weather.”
“There’s no guarantee you’re getting out of here,” Conklin joked.
Conklin asked the men what they did during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ax said he volunteered to play music in the intensive care units at hospitals.
“A lot of musicians did pitch in and I think a lot of us probably felt that we wish we could do more,” Ax said. “All I could do was play music. I would love to have been a first responder, but I’m not qualified.”
Asked why he felt connected to Greenagers and was willing to give his time to help the nonprofit organization raise money, Ma replied, “I think one of the things that struck me, looking the program today, is that Greenagers is a cultural organization and I think what culture does is transmit useful knowledge that helps people in times of need, and it only works when it’s received and activated. I think that’s the principle of what Greenagers does, and what attracted us to the organization is that it’s precisely what we do with music.”
Greenagers said Ma and Ax volunteered to present a benefit evening of music after becoming familiar with the work of Greenagers in the past year. Ma, who started playing the cello at age 4, also praised Greenagers’ emphasis on preservation and environmental stewardship: “You try to make sure that a place like the Berkshires is going to be a great place 100 years from now.”
The cellist added that working with your “head, heart, and hands is possibly the best way to actually live fully and experience our world.” Of the precision required to build things such as Greenagers does, Ax said, “In a way, carpenters do that. Measure twice, cut once.”
“That’s what the mohel said to me,” Ma cracked. The line, a reference to a person who performs ritual Jewish circumcisions, nearly brought down the tent.
“We’re done here, folks,” Conklin quipped.
In a statement before the performance, Sheehan, Greenagers’ board chair, observed that the concert was taking place as the organization begins its summer harvest of farm food “for people in our community who need it.”
“We are honored to welcome this brilliant and generous duo to April Hill,” Sheehan said. “After an extraordinary year of working with our community to adapt and cope with COVID-19, this concert marks a big leap toward Greenagers’ continuing evolution with jobs and programs for our area’s young people. ”
Expanding on what Ax said earlier, Conklin added that, “It’s no accident that the words culture and cultivate, the agricultural sense, come from the same root — cultura, growing.”
“The culture we strive to create [at] Greenagers is about growth, not a simple, linear movement,” Conklin said in a statement before the event, “but one that creates a strong network of fibers out of the rich humus of community support, with the knowledge that our hands can do amazing work so long as our hearts are in the right place.”
After the conversation, the attendees proceeded to another tent for a reception with the distinguished musicians. As if on cue, clouds began to gather, signaling another round of storms. But the respite provided a window for a midweek Berkshires treat.
