The Grachtenfestival theme 2018, Dichter bij de Muziek, fits Ensemble Mescolare like a glove. The quartet wants to treat the audience on a musical journey through a myriad of styles and blends (mescolare in Italian) classic and jazz. A.o. Ravel’s Kaddish is mixed with improvisation. In Talk To Mevan Philippe Geiss they show the course of a conversation, sometimes funny, sometimes serious, troubled or very loving. With Right by Jan-Peter de Graaff Mescolare shows that modern music can be accessible for a wide audience. He has written a march wherein the count is turned, like a little boy who is a tad too slow for the fanfare. With pieces by Diepenbrock and Trenet the quartet performs two interpretations of the poem Chanson d’automne by Paul Verlaine.
A century ago there was another composor who sought connection between classic and jazz: George Gershwin should definitely be part of this program. Mescolare performs two of his Preludes. Stephanie Francke is saxophonist as well as composer and she based her work Two Moons on the novel 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. Latino music is a must on a summery concert and the quartet will perform the merry Antiguas Luciérnagas by Gustavo Mozzi. Concluding work on the program is by the young de Rotterdam born composer and saxophonist Wietse Voermans. In his work Spoken the title is reflected in the uncanny elements (ghosts) as well as in contrasting solid forte parts.