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A new musical mosaic for Minneapolis
by Marianne Combs, Minnesota Public Radio
July 8, 2004

Jean Montes conducts the Mosaic Orchestra in rehearsal. The orchestra will premiere composer Cary John Franklin's new work "Mosaic: Cedar and Lake." (MPR Photo/ Marianne Combs)

Classical musicians from across the Twin Cities have come together to perform the premiere of a new orchestral work. It's called "Mosaic: Cedar and Lake," and it attempts to capture the cultural diversity of Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, Minn. — At Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis musicians, young and old, crowd the stage. They come from a variety of orchestras and symphonies in the Twin Cities. But now they're playing for the Mosaic symphony Orchestra.

	Montes and Franklin

It's part of Minneapolis Mosaic, the city's celebration of arts and culture.

The musicians have only two rehearsals before their Friday night performance. 18-year old violist Emily Kane says it's a great opportunity to learn.

"Lots of the people leading the sections are from the Minnesota Orchestra or the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra," says Kane. "They just come from such talented groups that being able to play with them you can learn so much from listening and watching and it helps anyone's performance a lot."

Kane says she often learns about different cultures through the music she plays. The Mosaic Orchestra will perform a half-hour concert of music from Mexico, China, and Norway.

It will also premiere a new work by local composer Cary John Franklin. When Minneapolis Mosaic organizers commissioned Franklin to write a piece, they charged him to do two things. First: capture the changing face of the city, in all it's vitality and diversity. Second: keep the piece under ten minutes.

	Mosaic musicians

"The hardest thing was I couldn't possibly represent everybody," says Franklin. "There are so many different cultures in the city of Minneapolis that I couldn't do the whole thing. I only had ten minutes to work with, and as it is it's a little bit over ten minutes."

Franklin was wary of creating a cultural montage, simply stringing together the music of different ethnic groups. He wanted the music to truly reflect the city. So he did some research.

"I got in my car at Lake Street, and started at Lake Calhoun and drove down Lake street to the Mississippi River," says Franklin. "And in that one stretch Lake Street basically represents all the people of the city of Minneapolis. It was one of the first spots immigrants came to in this city and it continues to be."

Franklin named his piece "Mosaic: Cedar and Lake," not only because of the history of that neighborhood, but because "cedar" and "lake" evoke the natural landscape. He begins the piece by paying tribute to Ojibwe and Dakota people who lived here before Minneapolis became a city.

"So, at the beginning of the piece there are bells and there are drums that you hear. And the piece opens with an instrument I love, called a bell tree, played by one of the percussionists," says Franklin.

	Violinists rehearse

Franklin weaves in Hmong, West African, Mexican and Swedish folk songs as well as more classical music from Germany and England. Often times melodies overlap. Franklin says it's not crucial the audience be able to identify the different origins of the music. He hopes they'll simply recognize contrasting ideas and themes and get a sense for the energetic pace of city life.

Conductor Jean Montes is co-chair of Minneapolis Mosaic. He says the goal of the entire Mosaic project is to inspire tolerance for, and appreciation of, cultural diversity. Montes says the way Franklin layers the music from different cultures will help.

"I think that will come out of this piece," says Montes. "That we are different in our own way but at the same time we share the same environment and there are a lot things we have in common."

While he admires the sentiment, composer Cary John Franklin's expectations are a little more low-key.

"The thought is a noble one, and we can all get behind that," says Franklin. "In the end it's just a piece of music, but we hope that it has some kind of sentiment that goes beyond just notes on a page."

"Mosaic: Cedar and Lake" premieres at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis. The concert is free and open to the public, and is part of the Marshall Field's Day of Music.

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