Composer Hopes Music Will Strike Chord With Souls
Don’t try to understand Gerard Mathes; just listen to him.
Hear his religion, explorations, connection to family. Hear the ideas he pours into his musical compositions and feel something.
“I don’t try to appease the audience,” Gerard says, his expressive hands accenting everything he says. “Communication doesn’t have to be good or bad. I just want to stir something.”
His latest concerto, “Nine Celestial Moods and Sunrise,” for guitar and orchestra, is in rehearsal now for its debut next spring at North Idaho College, where Gerard teaches music theory.
NIC’s orchestra conductor asked Gerard to compose the work for Matt Smith, a veteran rock ‘n’ roller studying classical guitar.
“Gerard’s a genius,” Matt says. An old KISS tattoo discolors the back of his right hand, but his fascination now is with Gerard’s music. “I’m hoping to play this piece with other orchestras around the country.”
Gerard plays violin, not guitar. That’s one reason this project intrigued him. The more challenging the better for this graduate of the Coeur d’Alene School District’s strings program and the University of Idaho.
His jet-propelled mind also needed the complex task of balancing the softness of a classical guitar with the power of a full orchestra.
The guitar work wasn’t his idea, so he had to find a starting point. For Gerard, inspiration evolves from introspection. His look within revealed his beginnings in a family with nine kids. He abandoned the family idea, but stuck with the number nine, which made him think of the planets.
The planets’ mythological personalities offered endless opportunities for musical interpretation. Gerard wove in personal memories and sounds he thought were appropriate for guitar.
He heard a rough version of his 16-minute concerto on a synthesizer, but will have to wait until May to hear it performed by a full symphony. It’s tough for him to wait and wonder whether he accomplished his goal.
“If someone is open to listening, it will reach down to the human side of them,” he says. “That’s what I really want to do - reach the human being.”
Can do
It’s appropriate that Coeur d’Alene High’s Lori Blessing is director of the campus’ Young Volunteers in Action program this year. From the moment she started teaching two years ago, Lori made it clear people have to take care of each other.
YVA kids volunteer wherever they’re needed in the community.
Lori decided that for Make a Difference Day, Oct. 26, YVA would collect aluminum cans for the Coeur d’Alene Women’s Center, which helps women who’ve been battered and/or raped.
Crunch the cans and drop them in a plastic bag instead of the recycling bin this week. Take them to Lori’s Room 103 any time next week and set a good example for her students.
Let’s party
Coeur d’Alene’s Ken Korczyk believes big birthdays deserve big parties. So he’s invited every former client and employee to TESH’s big 20th birthday bash Sunday at The Coeur d’Alene Resort.
TESH has trained nearly 3,000 developmentally delayed people to work and live on their own since 1976. Not bad for a non-profit organization.
Ken’s promising fancy hors d’oeuvres and punch for $5 a person. The party will run 3:30-6 p.m. Call 765-5105 by Thursday to RSVP.
Striking gold
The stand of aspens on Hayden Lake’s Lancaster Road between Strahorn and St. James is a “curtain of gold,” according to an anonymous reader. Where do you go to renew yourself?
Extol its qualities to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; fax to 765-7149; call 765-7128; or E-mail to cynthiat@spokesman.com.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo