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Tomorrow starts the Big Ride™ - 50 miles, somewhat flat, from Philly to Hopewell, NJ, where I’ll meet Mona at her house. It is looking like we’ll endure four or five days of rain which (literally) dampens some of the fun but, hey, it will still be a hoot. Between you and me, I’ll take rain over cook-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk heat. I hope to be on the road by 7:00 am.

A reminder that NCMF cycling jerseys are for sale in-store at Riverside Cycle with all proceeds going to the festival. Thank you, Riverside owner Tom Reinke! We love our local bike shop.  Also a reminder that you can follow us LIVE along the route. (That’s pretty nifty tech.) Of course, this being a fundraising ride, we are still accepting donations.

Every day, I’m going to look back briefly on a favorite work from the last 25 years. Today, I find myself in 2015 when we did George Crumb’s Black Angels for electric string quartet. The members of the group were Emilie-Ann Gendron and Grace Park (violins), me on viola, and Eddy Aaron (cello). Crumb was still alive at that point (he died in 2022 at 92) and I’d had the unique opportunity to work on this 20^th century masterwork with him.  

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Written as a response to the Vietnam War and the terrible fissures in American Society that Crumb witnessed, the piece is fundamentally about good vs. evil and contains a terrifying depiction of the devil but also a jaw-dropping, wonder-inspiring passage evoking the voice of God. It is some of the most intense and profound music ever written.

A deeply religious couple who were fans of NCMF told me they initially planned to stay away, repulsed by the title because they assumed Black Angels was some kind of heavy metal schlock that mocked religion. Far from it, it is a deeply affecting work of art wholly unlike any other.

For those of you who weren’t there to hear it at NCMF back in 2015, don’t worry – you’ll have your chance soon enough…  

For now, wish me luck tomorrow morning!

‍David Yang, Artistic Director

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