Before he died in May, Arkady Fomin spent 17 years pouring his ebullient spirit, infectious enthusiasm and strict adherence to European traditions into the Music in the Mountains Conservatory.
It paid off. Under his watch, the summer music education program grew into a highly respected and well-attended program.
“It started as an addendum to the festival,” said Music in the Mountains Artistic Director Greg Hustis. “He grew it into an educational powerhouse with a stellar faculty and nearly 100 students.”
Fomin, also a longtime Dallas Symphony Orchestra violinist, made lasting imprints on his students, pushed them beyond what they thought possible and changed some lives. He also helped attract world-class musicians, such as his former student, renowned violin virtuoso Vadim Gluzman, to Durango’s classical music festival, initiating long-lasting relationships that have helped boost the festival’s profile.
On Saturday, Gluzman and the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra will pay tribute to the influential teacher’s legacy with a performance of Johannes Brahms’ excruciatingly beautiful “Violin Concerto in D., Op. 77.”
“The Brahms concerto is inarguably one of the three greatest concertos ever written for the violin,” Gluzman said. “I couldn’t think of anything more appropriate. This is the perfect program to dedicate to him.”
Gluzman added that the idea is to make the performance a celebration of Fomin’s memory, rather than a sad affair.
“I’m sure that is how he would have wanted it,” Gluzman said. “He loved life so much, and he loved every aspect of it. He enjoyed it all so wholeheartedly.”
Hustis said the festival doesn’t want to be maudlin about Fomin’s death but felt the need to honor his legacy publicly.
“It just seemed like the right thing to do,” Hustis said.
Fomin got involved with Music in the Mountains 18 years ago. He had met Hustis in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where they both played, and it wasn’t long before Fomin began talking to Hustis about an idea to start a summer conservatory somewhere in the Southwest. He and Hustis ended up taking a driving tour of several cities to check out potential sites before Hustis realized that the answer was right under his nose.
“Finally I said, ‘You know what, Arkady, this is ridiculous. Come to Durango,’” said Hustis, who already participated in Music in the Mountains at that point. Festival founder and conductor Mischa Semanitzky thought it was a great idea, and that was that.
With an Old World European style of teaching, a mischievous sense of humor and unbounded energy for the music, Fomin proved an exceptional teacher.
“He had fantastic energy, he had fantastic enthusiasm, he inspired kids unbelievably,” Hustis said. “He could scare them, he really could. But at the same time, he encouraged them, he inspired them, he did a lot to bring out their good qualities. He was quite a force.”
Gluzman studied under Fomin when he was a budding musician in Dallas. The four years spent under his tutelage, Gluzman said, were the most formative years of his life. All of the subsequent awards, accolades and career achievements, he said, “I owe it all to him.”
Fomin first brought Gluzman to Music in the Mountains in the late ’90s to work as a conservatory faculty member. The Israeli violinist has been back to the festival almost every year since.
“There’s no festival in the world where I’ve played as much,” Gluzman said.
Hustis said it’s thanks to Fomin that the festival has enjoyed such a long, wonderful association with Gluzman.
“Not only is he one of the greatest violinists, he’s also one of the greatest people in the business,” Hustis said of Gluzman. “His friendship and loyalty to this festival is extraordinary, it really is. A lot of that – I’m sure especially initially – is attributable to his relationship to Arkady. ... There just didn’t seem to be anybody better in the world who could express our respect and sadness that Arkady is gone.”
Gluzman said he is honored to do it.
“He gave so much to Durango, to the festival, to the young people in Durango,” Gluzman said. “He was one of those people who needed to give. He had so much in him that he needed to share. So this will be a program in his honor.”
kklingsporn@durangoherald.com
If you go
Music in the Mountain’s Festival Orchestra will perform “The Finest” at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Community Concert Hall, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive. Tickets are $54/$44/$20 and are available at www.musicinthemountains.com.
