Missy Mazzoli
(b. 1980)

Violin Concerto (Procession)
Composed 2021 

NPR has christened her “the 21st century’s gatecrasher of new classical music,” a title Missy Mazzoli wholeheartedly lives up to. Beyond mere composition, her multifaceted endeavors encompass roles as a performing keyboardist, educator, advocate, and much more. Mazzoli’s signature is her daring deviation from a singular compositional voice, each piece becoming a fresh exploration of emotions.

Originating from Lansdale, Pennsylvania, Mazzoli’s musical journey took her through Boston University, Yale, and the University of the Hague, with influential tutelage from maestros like David Lang and Louis Andriessen. Pioneering her way, Mazzoli became one of the first women commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. Opera, particularly, has been a radiant chapter in her career, highlighted by a significant residency with Opera Philadelphia.

Mazzoli’s commitment to fostering diversity in the classical realm is commendable. Through initiatives like the Luna Composition Lab, she has ardently supported young female composers, championing inclusivity in a traditionally exclusive space.

Among her recent crowning jewels is the 2022 Violin Concerto (Procession), tailor-made for Jennifer Koh, a distinguished violinist and Mazzoli’s colleague at the Mannes School of Music. This monumental piece emerged from a collaborative endeavor backed by the National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and BBC Radio 3, with the inclusive mission of the ARCO Collaborative as the wind beneath its wings.

The concerto is drenched in the melancholic ambiance of the COVID pandemic, an era that saw Mazzoli in introspective isolation on Sweden's Fårö island. Here, medieval rituals associated with historical pandemics played muse. Mazzoli's reflections delve deep into music’s therapeutic essence, crafting an aural experience where the violin metamorphoses into an incantatory force.

The composer leaves the following note:

Violin Concerto (Procession) casts the soloist as a soothsayer, sorcerer, healer and pied piper-type character, leading the orchestra through five interconnected healing spells. Part one, “Procession in a Spiral,” references medieval penitential processions; part two, “St. Vitus,” is an homage to the patron saint of dancing, who could reportedly cast out evil spirits; part three, “O My Soul,” is a twisted reworking of the hymn of the same name, and part four, “Bone to Bone, Blood to Blood,” derives its name from the 9th-century Merseburg Charm, a spell meant to cure broken limbs. In the final movement, “Procession Ascending,” the soloist straightens out the spiral of the first section and leads the orchestra straight into the sky.

Instrumentation –  two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, tuba, percussion, harp, strings, and solo violin

Duration – 21 minutes

~ Kenneth Bean
Georg and Joyce Albers-Schonberg Assistant Conductor
Princeton Symphony Orchestra