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Ouluska Pass ensemble returns to Saranac Lake

Chamber music group performs with paintings and saw Thursday at BluSeed

Gregor Kitzis and Kate Dillingham of the Ouluska Pass Chamber Ensemble play for residents of the Saranac Village at Will Rogers in August 2017. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

SARANAC LAKE — The Ouluska Pass Chamber Ensemble is playing here this week for the first time in eight years, with a goal to “demystify” classical musical.

The chamber quintet, paintings and a handsaw are all part of the ensemble’s Thursday performance at 7 p.m. at BluSeed Studios, 24 Cedar St.

The ensemble assembled in Saranac Lake more than 20 years ago when musicians from the Gregg Smith Singers spent evenings after concerts at the Waterhole, dominating the ping-pong and pool tables. One night, the bar’s then-owner Billy Allen asked the group to play between sets, pumping their performance of German composer Johannes Brahms’ work through the PA system in the bar.

The next year, the head of the local arts council, Caroline Rubino, called the ensemble up to perform again, and for the next 14 years, various iterations of the Ouluska Pass Chamber Ensemble toured the Saranac Lake region, always stopping at the Waterhole for a performance.

Though several members come from New York City, the ensemble is a product of Saranac Lake. Its name comes from the Ouluska Pass between the Seward and Seymour mountains, which can be seen from Allen’s home.

As the ensemble originated in Saranac Lake, one of its original founders, Gregor Kitzts, wants to open chamber music to all local people. His goal is to contradict its elite image, allowing listeners to realize a music degree is not required to appreciate the work of Brazilian folk composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, or even Mozart and Bach.

“Music begins where words leave off,” Kitzis said. “I want to get that to the audience. I want them to feel something that they haven’t felt before.”

Introducing each piece, Kitzis reveals the stories behind composers, their work and the history of chamber music.

“I think it’s important to turn the performers into friends, to turn the composers into people, to humanize the whole thing,” Kitzis said.

Playing a concert at the Saranac Village at Will Rogers on Monday evening, the ensemble sat surrounded by an audience of Will Rogers residents, similar to the way their music was originally played. The term “chamber music” stems from from the days before electricity brought songs into homes, when family and friends performed in their “chambers” or living rooms.

The ensemble will take pieces performed at Monday night’s Will Rogers concert to use in a “Sight and Sound” concert at BluSeed Studios. The musicians will choose five paintings at the studio they believe to fit the mood of the music selection. These will be numbered and on display for the audience during the concert.

The audience will match the paintings they believe best capture the mood of each musical piece, and after the intermission they will compare notes with the rest of the audience. In 25 discussions, the ensemble will lead analysis of the works and open up the stage to debating why certain music matches a certain painting.

“By the end of it, people realize that they know much more about classical music and painting than they thought they did,” Kitzis said. “It’s about hearing music you don’t know, comparing it with paintings you don’t know, and talking about things you don’t know around a whole bunch of other people who also don’t know.”

With no two pieces in the lineup using the same instrument combination, there will be a variety in the music, with the ability for varied interpretation.

A standout is the performance of Bach’s “Air” with Kitzis substituting the first violin with a 30-inch handsaw. The tool, the same used to cut lumber, is played with a bow like a stringed instrument. When bent, it produces an eerie, almost human note somewhere between a hum and an operatic wail.

It is what Kitzis refers to as a “people’s instrument.” — cheap, not complicated and easy to learn. Four years ago, Kitzis make his Carnegie Hall debut on the saw and always is excited for the opportunity to play the unconventional instrument.

The inclusion of the saw is one of several changes since the band last performed in Saranac Lake eight years ago.

In the 2008 financial crisis, the group lost funding and its tax-exempt status, which kept it from returning to Saranac Lake until now. Flutist Laura Thompson reapplied for a tax exemption and acquired a grant to bring the series back.

As Kitzis says, a lot can change in eight years. He is now performing alongside his wife, Thompson, who plays Baroque flute. He is excited to introduce her to the North Country, which is distantly removed from the atmosphere of New York City. While performing in Saranac Lake, Kitzis wears Merrell hiking boots instead of shined black dress shoes and appreciates the freedom from the musical expectations he finds in the city.

The Ouluska Pass ensemble is already making plans to return next year and looks to lengthen its portable “Sight and Sound” series to include more concerts in more locations.

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