We long for instant gratification. We have little patience when things don’t happen in a timely matter. We rely on electronic devices to run our lives, and we expect them to work perfectly all the time. We are a frenzied, often self-absorbed society.
Sometimes, though, we remember to savor. To slow down. To sharpen our perspective and refresh our senses. This is that time.
“Slow culture” is the term Barrett Wissman, principal and co-chairman of IMG Artists, coined for Palm Springs Life Festival, a monthlong celebration of the arts (March 20 – April 24) he’s producing in partnership with Palm Springs Life.
The festival also showcases the talents of Midori.
Fashion Week El Paseo introduces the valley to top designers. Palm Desert Food & Wine showcases notable chefs, winemakers, and craft brewers. Palm Springs Life Festival brings an impressive lineup of musicians to our midst, most of them performing at multiple Coachella Valley venues for the first time.
We asked Wissman about this event, and how it came together.
Why do the tools that help us every day sometimes undermine our ability to appreciate life?
People in the digital age today spend very little time actually enjoying themselves and I think that’s why live events are very popular now. So much of people’s lives are inside, [spent] communicating on the computer; I think the opportunities to enjoy things outside that combine disciplines involving all senses are a rare thing for people today. I actually believe there should be a movement that should be called slow culture, and not just slow food. For me, that’s really what people should take out of this [festival] and what people should enjoy.
If someone has only a day, who do you think they should see?
Angel Romero is […] considered probably the greatest guitarist in the world. […] To have a solo guitar on stage is unusual, and I think that will be really something else.
Violinist Sarah Chang is performing with Salastina Music Society, a young group from Los Angeles [performing chamber music]. They’re absolutely wonderful.
renee fleming photo courtesy of decca/andrew eccles
Soprano Renée Fleming, the "People's Diva," will be conducted by Placido Domingo.
As a talent agent, you interact with creative musicians all the time. What’s the most rewarding thing about working with them, and the most challenging?
I think it lies in the same answer. They play all year. They go around from orchestra to orchestra, venue to venue, playing. One of the things I’d really like to try to do in a festival like this is bring artists together to perform … soloists that normally don’t get to perform together. For example, Jean-Yves Thibaudet is playing with Nina Kotova, and to have both of them playing together on the stage at the same time is really rewarding because you don’t get to see that on a normal basis. To see Plácido [Domingo] and Renée [Fleming] together, that’s a once in a lifetime [experience]. …[But] getting people’s time to match each other, dealing with all sorts of complexities of what artists want and need, and coordinating all that is not always easy.
Do you play any role in their program’s musical choices?
Sometimes I will try to have an influence in that because I may know the audience, but in the end it’s their decision.
You’re also a concert pianist yourself. Do you still play?
I do from time to time. The trouble is finding the time. I’m kind of a perfectionist. Finding the time to do it while you’re doing all the rest of these things isn’t easy.
Cellist Nina Kotova performs on March 31.
Besides classical music, what else do you listen to?
Oh, I listen to everything. I like everything from jazz, to urban music, to electronic dance music. I like all kinds of stuff — hip hop, too.
What piece of classical music do you absolutely hate?
Oh, boy. I don’t think there’s anything that I hate, but some things, like in anything, if you hear something too much, it gets exhausting on your ear. Something like Beethoven’s “Für Elise” that every piano student learns. I’m pretty sick of it.
Tell us something we don’t know about Plácido Domingo.
Plácido is an amazing person. […] He still does over 100 performances a year. He has a repertoire. He knows something like 200 roles by memory. […] Today [Jan. 21] is his birthday, and Real Madrid, the soccer team, is throwing him a birthday party at the stadium in Madrid.
Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet
Is there any other huge or upcoming talent that you wanted to perform at the festival and you couldn’t get him or her to commit?
I really wanted violinist Pinchas Zukerman to come, but he couldn’t because of his schedule. Hopefully next year he’ll be able to come.
What’s the most rewarding thing about putting together this festival?
The whole idea of combining everything that appeals to the senses; the art of life, the concept of music, food and wine, and fashion together, and how they interrelate is really what this is meant to be about. […] There are a lot of music festivals. There are a number of fashion weeks. They have lots of food and wine events. Very few people try to bring a whole array of events at the same time.
Sarah Chang
Palm Springs Life Festival’s lineup
March 20: Plácido Domingo and Renée Fleming with the LA Opera Orchestra. 8:30 p.m. The Show at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa
March 25: Violinist Midori in Concert. 7 p.m. The Helene Galen Auditorium at The Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower
March 26: Violinist Sarah Chang in Concert. 7 p.m. Rancho Mirage Amphitheater
March 31: Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Cellist Nina Kotova. 7 p.m. Rancho Mirage Amphitheater
April 1: Classical guitarist Angel Romero. 7 p.m. Rancho Mirage Amphitheater
Palm Springs Life Events
April 2–9: Fashion Week El Paseo featuring Monique Lhuillier, Zandra Rhodes, Marc Bouwer, and Michael Costello and the Stars of Project Runway, among others.
April 8–10: Palm Desert Food & Wine featuring Cat Cora, Gale Gand, and Kelly Childs.
April 23–24: In Vino Veritas offers tastings from 30 Italian wineries. Various times. The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage
Visit www.palmspringslifefestival.com for more information and tickets.