BeethoVan puts a piece of the Spokane Symphony on wheels for a Spokane Valley Summer Solstice Sunset Concert
As the Spokane Symphony branches out to focus on community outreach, the Summer Solstice Sunset Concert will drive the BeethoVan to Spokane Valley.
The free Friday evening event at Mirabeau Meadows is the third Spokane Symphony “pop-up” show this summer, coming after recent showings in Manito Park and the Perry Street Market. This event in particular has only been a few weeks in the making.
In fact, all of these first-of-their-kind pop-up performances, which feature a small group of musicians from the Spokane Symphony, stem from very young ideas, born by the BeethoVan.
The BeethoVan, a 16-foot box truck featuring a mobile stage, was originally owned by the defunct Inland Northwest Opera. In October, a grant from the Hagan Foundation permitted the purchase of this unique vehicle, which allows the symphony to explore the region beyond the walls of the Fox Theater.
“This is part of our trying to figure out how to best be in the community and unique places,” said Jason Moody, the Spokane Symphony’s director of education and community engagement, as well as a symphony violinist himself. “We believe strongly in sharing the power of music with all of our community, and the truck is a great opportunity for us to be out and about.”
Whether performing in the back of the truck or on a stage built out from the vehicle, it roughly allows for a quartet or quintet at maximum. Friday’s performance will feature a string trio alongside a harp player, Earecka Tregenza, who happens to be Moody’s wife.
The harp is a relatively uncommon addition to a small string ensemble, but the delicate instrument helps fill out the sound of the trio. Tregenza will also be performing a few solo harp pieces, giving attendees a special look at the somewhat atypical instrument.
“It’s really a gorgeous and one-of-a-kind instrument, and I’m quite biased because my wife is the harpist,” Moody said with a laugh. “But clear-eyed I can also say that it always lends a very special timbre to any ensemble.”
The performance will feature shorter, more recognizable arrangements of popular classical pieces while intentionally focusing on “beautiful music” to accompany the setting sun.
“Beautiful, short pieces that lend themselves well to sitting outside and watching the beauty of nature,” Moody said. “And then having that enhanced by this amazing music.”
Events like the Summer Solstice Sunset Concert are key aspects of the Spokane Symphony’s dedicated efforts toward furthering the relationship between classical music and the Spokane region.
“We want to be in the community, but there’s few things that can develop a sense of community like sharing a concert experience together and having a group of people, in the same place, enjoying something,” Moody said. “It’s really just to create community, that’s one of the big goals.”