Chris Thile: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival

Suraya Mohamed | September 4, 2024
Footpaths and a man-made stream bisect Anderson Park, an open grassy area in the middle of the Aspen Ideas Festival campus. An 800-pole bamboo sculpture was under construction nearby where Nickel Creek’s Chris Thile, violinist Sofia Hashemi-Asasi, and students from the Aspen Music School were setting up for this performance.

Thile was excited as he coached the group through a rehearsal of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, 3rd Movement. Soon, an audience gathered on the hill to watch the concert and we were finally ready to begin. The long grass rustled close to our microphones and added a texture of tranquility to this joyful performance.

Afterward, Thile played two of his own compositions, “Dionysus” and “Ecclesiastes 2:24.” Before his paean to the god of wine-making, he said “So I think this is undeniably a nice place, right here, part of the natural world that we get so little of these days and it brings to mind wine for me, because I feel like that's one of the most successful collaborations humankind has had with the natural world.”

Before wrapping things up, Thile got emotional. “It’s good for a person to eat and drink and take pleasure in their work, and I don't know when I’ve made music with people who were taking more pleasure in their work, than these extraordinary young musicians I just got to play the third movement of the Bach double with,” Thile said. “I feel very very lucky in the moment.”


SET LIST
Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, 3rd Movement
“Dionysus”
“Ecclesiastes 2:24”

MUSICIANS
Chris Thile: mandolin, vocals
Sofia Hashemi-Asasi: violin soloist
Madelyne Garnot: violin
John Lee: violin
Martha Mulcahy: viola
Ha eun Song: cello
Chad Rogers: double bass

NPR TEAM
Director: Mito Habe-Evans
Editor: Alanté Serene
Videographers: Tsering Bista, Mito Habe-Evans
Audio Engineer: Josh Newell
Post-Production Coordinator: Tsering Bista
Supervising Editor: Becky Lettenberger
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

ASPEN IDEAS TEAM
Senior Producer: Ava Hartmann
Videographers: Ryan Lohr, Will Sardinsky
Audio Engineer: Michael Milota
Audio Services Director: Matt Windholz
Festival Director: Graham Veysey

#nprmusic #fieldrecordings #christhile