Mozart in the Knobs festival breaks down barriers

Jul. 24—FLOYD COUNTY — As Hillary Esqueda rehearses for her role in the opera "Don Giovanni," she is excited for the opportunity to "demystify" classical music for the audience.

Esqueda, a soprano from Chicago, is one of the fellows in the Mozart in the Knobs festival, a new classical musical festival that began last week in Floyd County.

"Opera in general seems exclusive, but it's really not," she said. "It's an art form that is meant for people to enjoy."

The local festival is bringing classically-trained musicians together for two weeks of performances, which all feature the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Throughout the festival, fellows are working alongside faculty members in a series of performances, including chamber concerts at Mount Saint Francis in Floyds Knobs and symphonic concerts at St. Mary's of the Annunciation Church in New Albany.

On Saturday, a full production of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" will close out the festival at the Ogle Center in New Albany.

The festival offers a fellowship program with an accessible model. There was no fee for the student musicians to apply, and those selected received free tuition and housing. Applicants came from 20 different states.

Esqueda, 35, learned about Mozart in the Knobs through Instagram. She appreciates that the festival allows people of different ages and experience levels to participate.

"People who are just out of school or still in school are coming and getting a little more education and seeing what it's like to be a part of a professional program," she said.

The festival is giving Esqueda a valuable experience as a musician.

"For me, this is a chance to do a role that I really am excited about," she said. "It's very standard repertory. I tend to do a lot of small opera and kind of modern things. It's really nice to kind of dive into some Mozart and get this really big, important role on your resume."

She emphasizes the affordability combined with the high quality of the program.

"You don't have to pay a fee to be a part of this, but you're still getting that experience that you would from a festival-type environment where you're kind of working alongside other instrumentalists and musicians, going to concerts and kind of developing everything over a short period of time," Esqueda said. "So you're really getting everything that you would at a regular festival but without having to pay the money and that financial burden."

Ian Elmore and Gabriel Villamizar came up with the idea for the festival years ago, and they started the Mozart in the Knobs nonprofit to break down barriers for musicians. Elmore, a local musician and Floyd Central High School graduate, is the festival's artistic director.

"Everything's been going perfectly," Elmore said. "It's really inspiring to see the community and the musicians and the faculty come together to create something beautiful."

Kaden Henderson is the double bass mentor at Mozart in the Knobs. He lives in Portland, Oregon, but he is originally from Floyd County. He went to high school with Elmore, and he graduated in 2011 from Floyd Central High School.

Henderson has performed with orchestras such as the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He appreciates the inclusive nature of Mozart in the Knobs, noting that the music of Mozart can often be exclusive.

"So having this festival centered around Mozart, everyone's giving it their all because it's a rare opportunity for us to even get to play Mozart," he said. "So it's really, really special."

It has been meaningful to return to his hometown for the festival.

"This area exports so much musical talent with Floyd Central being there, New Albany High School and then all the programs in Louisville," Henderson said. "And just having the opportunity to import some of that talent back in is really special — to come back and give back to the community that gave us so much."

Esqueda said the festival involves "a very intensive rehearsal schedule." The musicians began rehearsing together a little over a week ago.

"We got everything staged within, I think, three days, which seemed a little scary at first but honestly has helped and it's only making it better because now we can just go through runs and just get our characters in line."

Henderson said the collaborative nature of the festival allows the music to become a "living, breathing thing."

"You have to develop a way of working with each other very quickly because not everything is written on the page," he said. "You have to listen, lean in with each other and make the music come to life."

Villamizar, the festival's executive director and a Miami-based musician, said the short window of rehearsal time has been an important preparation for the challenges of the classical music world.

"To have that kind of time or lack of it, you have to prepare and get your chops in and be off-book, and everyone arrived already with the mentality like, I'm going to be ready," Villamizar said. "So now it's putting everything together, which has its own challenges, but it's only possible because of the immense talent and because everyone came prepared and everyone wants to be here and give it their all."

"This is an opportunity that's not easy to come by, so just in of itself, it's just really inspiring to see how much progress these musicians have made in just a week," he said.

Villamizar said the festival serves as a "bridge between two worlds" as it allows community members to enjoy the music of Mozart.

"It's just super inspiring because people come in after and they're like, 'I didn't know Mozart was for me,'" he said. "I'm getting this a lot, so people who have never really had a connection to Mozart — and Mozart being a euphemism or umbrella term for classical music in general for a lot of people — it makes that accessible at an affordable price, whether it's a free concert, whether it's a $25 ticket, whatever it is. It's getting people to know, this music is great, I can really get a lot out of this."

Henderson said it has been an "amazing" feat for the musicians to put together not only a full opera in two weeks but also eight separate concerts.

"It's almost insane to be like, we're just going to do an opera in two weeks," he said. "When Ian told me, I was like, that sounds crazy and I want to be a part of it. But then doing eight other concerts in that two weeks, it's amazing how we've been able to come together — people from all over the country, all walks of life — and just make it happen."