Anyone familiar with MinTze Wu, executive director of VOICES, has likely heard of BenFeng Music Productions — an organization she founded in 2013 in Taiwan now emerging as a nonprofit with global ambitions: to change the way classical music is performed. “How can we experience music more holistically?” Wu muses.
Perhaps you know personally how it feels to allow your expression to flow free of restraint. “BenFeng” is a Mandarin word that Wu translates as “running with free spirit.” The concept was born from her experience as a professional violinist with a rebellious nature. Noting the formulaic restrictions in dress, postures and setting, Wu aspired to challenge tradition and allow the same music to exist more freely and creatively. “I’m very aware of the dichotomy of music that has no boundaries, that wants to expand as far as it wants,” she said, “and the presentation that feels very much rigid.”
Most recently, on Nov. 3, BenFeng produced “Death of the Pugilist” at Thunder River Theatre (TRTC). This genre-defying show takes a short story by the same name, written by Daniel Mason, and sets it to a tapestry of musical textures — from contrapuntal Bach to Philip Glass-inspired minimalism to Irish folk and blues — all performed by a small ensemble of virtuosos. Jem Moore, Wu’s husband, acted as the narrator, contributing also with flute and guitar. Joy Adams performed cello, banjo, mandolin and sang. Eric Thorin held down the bass, guitar and tuba. And Blayne Chastain drove the flute, whistle, bodhrán (a traditional Irish drum) and guitar.
Wu called this “Version 4.0” which she determined the most complete, so far. Her oldest daughter Adelaide joined the production as stage manager, while her younger daughter, Camille, flashed cards to the audience eliciting interactive cheers. Costume designer Bineke Kiernan clad the cast in period-appropriate attire and Sean Jeffries bathed the shipyard boxing ring in the right lights to strike a rowdy yet introspective atmosphere.
“This thing has cooked for 15 years,” Wu told The Sopris Sun. “When I started to envision this production in a theater such as TRTC, I could see how we can really create a space and time that can transport people into that story.” She considers the latest iteration “a great arrival” ready to transport audiences from as far as Boulder or even England into that grim yet hopeful story. “Art is not there to just make you feel good,” Wu responded. “To experience the uneasiness of that piece of art helps to reveal something.”
As for Roaring Fork Valley audiences, “The whole reason BenFeng is existing at this moment is we want to continue the barn music series,” Wu announced, referring to the Thompson Barn productions that began with a mini festival celebrating the music of Franz Schubert in 2023. On Jan. 25, Sandra Wong will return to Carbondale with her nyckelharpa, a Swedish instrument, for a program revolving around the intimacy of Nordic music “to honor the darkness and the bringer of the light,” Wu said. Camille, her 12-year-old daughter, will act as the storyteller, while Adelaide, 14, runs the lights. Wu credits Stage of Life Theatre Company and Jennifer Johnson for training up her daughters in the intricacies of theater.
Then on April 18, Wu will perform “The Last Seven Words of Christ” with Delaney Meyers, Camille Backman and Sarah Graf. Seven spiritual leaders from the Valley will join with their reflections on the last seven words of Jesus Christ. “For a deeply unreligious person who is also a deeply spiritual person,” Wu said, describing herself, “to present this ‘Seven Last Words’ music is so, so beautiful.”
The final show in the barn series will be a Venezuelan celebration in June. “With this political climate it feels even more urgent that we see, understand and celebrate another culture,” Wu stated. “Not just through the lens of what we’re fed, but seeing them and hearing them.” The show will be spearheaded by a Venezuelan musician and infused with jazz performed by Josefina Mendez and other musicians yet to be confirmed.
“Every BenFeng show will integrate other artistic elements,” Wu promised. “Be it story, literature, dance or visual arts, there will always be that multidisciplinary aspect.” She also named the “transcontinental flavor” of BenFeng that, although anchored in Carbondale, seeks to influence the world; a true “movement,” if you will.
“People feel like classical music is dying. I feel like we have so much more to explore,” Wu concluded.
Learn more about BenFeng at www.BenFengMusicProductions.org