Chasing Dreams for Later Light

Boston | Juventas New Music Ensemble announces Chasing Dreams for Later Light. It will be presented on November 15, 8pm at the Multicultural Arts Center in East Cambridge and November 16, 4pm at First Parish Sudbury. 

Chasing Dreams for Later Light follows the unfolding of a composer’s creative journey. Each work on the program—composed by Juventas Artistic Director Oliver Caplan—is connected, some emerging from musical fragments once set aside, others rooted in shared musical or collaborative origins. This program brings them together for the first time, offering a window into Oliver’s distinctive voice as a contemporary composer.

Caplan’s history with Juventas is a long one. He was appointed Artistic Director in 2017, but was collaborating with the ensemble long before then. In 2009, Juventas premiered his trio for violin, cello, piano, Illuminated by the Light of Two Ships Passing in the Night. Reflecting on this experience, Caplan says “At the time, this was one of my first professional performances. Illuminated has now been performed 23 times by 9 different ensembles. This demonstrated to me the doors Juventas can open for an emerging composer, and one of my favorite things about being Artistic Director is passing this gift forward.” Since this initial collaboration, Juventas has performed a variety of Caplan’s works including three album release concerts and his short opera, Symposium in 2012 as well as countless works by emerging composers. 

Caplan’s music has been praised as “the most intimate and moving music of the evening” (Boston Music Intelligencer). The pieces on this program are interconnected and deeply personal highlighting stories, people, and places close to the composer’s heart. During a trip to the New Hampshire woods, Caplan and friends rowed to the middle of a lake during a blue moon, taking in the arresting beauty of the stars together. From this moment of connection and nature, Lunastella Fuga was born. 

During the creative process of writing Lunastella Fuga, Caplan discarded six melodies before landing on the perfect one for that particular piece. Like any good composer, he filed these away for future use. Two of these themes became the source material for To the Sea, a piece about the strength found in community, and Chasing Dreams for Later Light, which lends its title to this concert program. 

The final two pieces in this program, Green Mountain Fugue and All the Wings You Gave Us honor two important people in Caplan’s life who have since passed. Green Mountain Fugue pays tribute to Lynda Copeland and was commissioned by her 3 daughters. Lynda and her family were an important presence of Caplan’s second home of Halifax Vermont; the piece deals with the ideas of family, love, and tight-knit community. 

All the Wings You Gave Us was written in memory of Caplan’s mentor, Bill Scribner. The piece was originally commissioned by the Bronx Arts Ensemble, which Bill founded. Of this piece, Caplan says, “As a young composer, Bill mentored me and fostered some of my first professional engagements. When someone believes in you, they brighten your life for good. Experiences working with Bill and the Bronx Arts Ensemble helped nurture my growth as I honed my voice as an artist…Bill touched the lives and hearts of countless community members, and his work lives on in the music we continue to make.”

Chasing Dreams for Later Light is conducted by Kristo Kondakçi and features performances by Ryan Shannon, Lu Yu, Anne Howarth, Celine Ferro, Nicholas Southwick, Catherine Weinfield-Zell, Nathan Varga, Nicholas Johnson, Sam Childers, and Justin Ouellet.

As part of Juventas’s work to increase accessibility, the November 15 performance will also be live-streamed on YouTube, free of charge. Tickets to the in-person concert are $15-36, with a $1 Music for All option, available to anyone who can’t afford Juventas’s regular prices for any reason. For tickets and more information visit https://www.juventasmusic.org/chasing-dreams-for-later-light.