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We were talking about

John Corigliano’s

th birthday coming

up. There were so

many other wonderful

composers turning

, wouldn’t it be

something to celebrate

them as well?

is titled

Carpentersville

. Issued

in

, its cover image is a

family photo of Schaufer as a

sandy-haired little girl stand-

ing with her father, Henry, in

her family’s sunny driveway.

Her small bike, complete

with training wheels, is in the

background.

So Schaufer’s Ravinia debut,

a vocal recital on September

in Bennett Gordon Hall, will

be something of a home-

coming for the Chicago-area

native. But the program will

also o er a fascinating glimpse

of Schaufer’s eclectic musical

tastes. Titled “ e Class of

,” it will showcase music

by American composers cel-

ebrating their th birthdays

this year. e list stretches

from Corigliano, Joan Tow-

er, and Frederic Rzewski to

folk-rockers Gordon Lightfoot

and Peter Yarrow (of Peter,

Paul & Mary fame), with Wil-

liam Bolcom represented by

his inimitable cabaret style.

“ e idea for the concert

was inspired by a lunch with

[composers] John Corigliano

and Mark Adamo at their

country house,’’ said Schaufer

during a phone interview from

London. “We were talking

about John’s th birthday

coming up. And that there

were so many other wonderful

composers turning , and

wouldn’t it be something to

celebrate them as well? ere

had been an orchestral record-

ing project [in

] by the

name of

e Class of ’

, but

nothing had been done on the

vocal side. is was my inspi-

ration, my kick under the table

from the boys to say, ‘Come

on, do something.’ ”

Schaufer earned an un-

dergraduate degree in music

from Northwestern and did

graduate work in voice, opera,

and new music at the Univer-

sity of Texas–Austin. She was

studying at Tanglewood in

summer

during celebra-

tions for Leonard Bernstein’s

th birthday. Bernstein, who

died just two years later, was

a vital presence at the festival

for decades as a teacher and

conductor.

“Ever since I was at

Tanglewood,” said Schaufer,

“I’ve wanted to start my own

arts organization. I wanted

to support composers by

commissioning them, being

a conduit for them to have

a better income stream and

exposure and performances.”

Last year she and her husband,

English tenor Christopher

Gillett, founded Wild Plum

Arts for that very purpose. She

commissioned a piece from

Corigliano for “ e Class of

” and presented the entire

recital earlier this summer at

London’s Wigmore Hall.

Schaufer explored countless

databases, looking for compos-

ers and repertoire that would

add up to a meaty, entertain-

ing recital. A er winnowing a

list of classical composers, she

noticed that “the big voices of

the folk revival of the

s

were present in this class of

.” In addition to songs

by Lightfoot and Yarrow, her

program includes one of the

most popular folk tunes of the

s, the melancholy “Five

Hundred Miles,” composed by

Hedy West. West died in

at age , the only composer

on the recital who is no longer

living. Michele Brourman,

Schaufer’s associate from the

cabaret and musical theater

worlds, arranged the three folk

songs.

“I fought the impulse to

sing ‘Pu , the Magic Dragon,’ ”

Schaufer joked, referring to

the mammoth

s folk era

hit co-written by Yarrow.

e recital ranges in mood

from high-energy, uptempo

RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 20 – SE3TEM%ER 2, 2018

10