According to Parma Recordings CEO Bob Lord, the mission of the Parma Music Festival is essentially the same as the company’s mission: “To combine different types of music and turn people on to things they might not have experienced otherwise,” Lord said.
Those different types of music include everything from classical and jazz to indie rock and pop to electronic and experimental. The third annual festival, taking place this weekend in Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine, features a mishmash of genres performed by a mix of local and international artists.
For a sampling of the festival’s diversity, look no further than the opening-night show at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth on Friday, Aug. 14. The concert includes sets from Ashville, N.C.-based “pop noir” band stephaniesd and local jazz ensemble the Chris Klaxton Group, along with live percussion and electronic works by visiting artists Adam Vidiksis, Bryce Craig, and Ivonne Paredes. A pre-concert reception will feature electronic works by nine different composers.
Sam Renshaw, vice president of A&R and licensing at Parma Recordings, said the festival is designed to present interesting juxtapositions of sound, regardless of genre.
“The differences between genres are illusory in some ways. Great music is great music,” Renshaw said. “I think (the festival is) a live interpretation of that idea.”
For Lord, working across genres is nothing new. The Parma CEO is a bassist, composer, and producer who has been performing with local rock trio Dreadnaught for close to 20 years. He’s also the music director for The Music Hall’s “Writers on a New England Stage” series, providing live music during appearances by literary giants like Stephen King, Dan Brown, John Updike, and others.
“People interact with music differently when it’s presented in front of them live as opposed to when it’s recorded.” — Bob Lord
Lord founded Parma Recordings in 2008, specializing in orchestral, chamber, choral, and commercial recording. The company has three label imprints offering classical, jazz, experimental, and more. They have worked with Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lewis Spratlan, and The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, among many others.
Although Lord believes it’s important for artists to be able to capture their ideas in recording sessions, the festival allows listeners to experience the music in its most intimate form.
“Live performance is still the core of the musical experience,” he said. “People interact with music differently when it’s presented in front of them live as opposed to when it’s recorded.”
The first Parma Music Festival stretched across four days in 2013 and was successful enough to spur a sequel in 2014. This year’s festival brings back some names and events from the past two years while introducing new elements. The schedule has been streamlined to take place over three days instead of four.
Among the returning features this year is Joseph Summer’s The Shakespeare Concerts, presenting works inspired by Shakespeare at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth on Saturday. Solo oud player Mac Ritchey opens. On Sunday, Prescott Park hosts a presentation of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” featuring the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra and Great Bay Academy of Dance, with narration by New Hampshire Public Radio host Virginia Prescott. The Manchester Community Music School flute choir opens.
Members of the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra and Great Bay Academy of Dance take a bow following “Peter and the Wolf” at Prescott Park last year. (photo by Raya Al-Hashmi of RSA Photography)
Other highlights on Saturday include a recital with Czech violinist Vít Mužík and pianist Karolina Rojahn at St. John’s, an open art exhibit with a DJ set by Qwill and a selection of clarinet music by William A. Fletcher at Buoy Gallery in Kittery, and a show featuring Boston-based R&B act Miss Fairchild and Venezuelan-American cellist Carmine Miranda at The Dance Hall in Kittery. Miranda and Rojahn will also offer a workshop and concert at the Portsmouth Music and Arts Center on Sunday.
As always, the festival culminates with a concert at The Music Hall in Portsmouth on Sunday evening. The main event features indie-rock band Kingsley Flood, the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra with Vít Mužík, and Icelandic violinist Eva Ingolf, who will perform works by New York composer Rain Worthington.
Renshaw said the festival offers a broad enough range of music to appeal to any listener’s tastes, while also exposing guests to new sounds that they might not otherwise hear.
“Our mantra is like, ‘Listen, you’re not going to love everything, but you’ll probably find something you really like that you didn’t know that you liked,’” he said.
Swiss clarinetist Matthias Mueller performs with his sensor-augmented bass clarinet at The Music Hall during last year’s festival. (photo by Raya Al-Hashmi of RSA Photography)
Parma travels the world to find innovative music. The company has recording sessions this year in Czech Republic, Russia, and Cuba. Lord relishes the opportunity to bring some of those sounds home to the Seacoast, where listeners have surprisingly eclectic tastes.
“There’s definitely an appetite for jazz and for classical and non-pop music,” Lord said. “Portsmouth is a wonderful leveler of art. There’s very little that could be said to have prominence over anything else. It’s really cool.”
The Parma Music Festival takes place from Friday to Sunday, Aug. 14 to 16. Tickets to the show at The Music Hall are $20, available at 603-436-2400 or themusichall.org. All other concerts are free. For a full schedule and more information, visit parmamusicfestival.org.
Top of page: Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra’s French horn section performs at TheMusic Hall during the 2014 festival. photo by Raya Al-Hashmi of RSA Photography