The Ringling Resonance

In Sarasota, the Sarasota Music Festival has spent sixty years proving that classical chamber music can survive the high humidity of a Gulf Coast summer. The festival was founded by the oboist Paul Wolfe, who envisioned an intimate retreat where famous European masters and exceptional students could play together in the shade of the banyan trees. The initial venues were small, wood-framed community centers where the air-conditioning regularly failed, forcing violinists to play with towel-wrapped necks. Over time, however, the festival evolved into a highly prestigious institution, drawing international crowds to the elegant, pink-marble grounds of the Ringling Museum.

The relationship between the classical repertoire and the tropical environment of Sarasota is one of productive friction. String instruments do not like the salt-heavy air of the Gulf, which can warp an Italian cello or snap a gut string on a baroque violin within an hour of exposure. Musicians must adapt to performing in sealed, highly controlled archival spaces, while the wild Florida summer hums just outside the double paned glass. To hear a late Beethoven quartet performed within walking distance of a mangrove creek is to experience a strange, beautiful collision of European intellect and subtropical nature.

This year’s scheduling features several contemporary works that attempt to capture this tension, including a new piece by the Cuban-American composer Elena Gomez. Her work, scored for oboe and string trio, mimics the call of the night heron and the slow, rhythmic crawl of the tide. It is a long way from the traditional Viennese classicism that once dominated the festival’s programs, but it feels entirely appropriate for a city that has always balanced its cultural ambitions with its swampy reality. The performance leaves the audience with a sense that even the most formal music can be softened by the southern air.