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Did you know a little slice of European musical tradition has been taking place in this Philadelphia apartment every month from September through May for the past four decades?
“It was designed to continue and kind of create a contemporary spin on the salons of Europe that can date back to 17th and 18th centuries — Italy and France,” said Andrea Clearfield, composer, curator and founder of the unique Philly salon. “People would gather in their homes to share literature or ideas or philosophies, and later music and arts.”
Back in 1986, Clearfield began welcoming guests into her home. Once inside, they would take their shoes off, squeeze together inside her living room, sit on the floor, and watch 10 different music ensembles perform 10-minute sets.
Over the years, Clearfield has hosted a slew of musicians with genres spanning jazz, rock, contemporary, folk, electronic, fusion and more. On Sept. 27, she is celebrating four decades of her home “szalon.” (The “z” is because a Zoom element was added during the pandemic.)
“I spend a great deal of time alone writing music in my studio,” Clearfield said. “And then once a month comes a full house of audience ready to hear 10 different ensembles.”
Laura Bertin, a close friend of Clearfield’s, has been volunteering and checking people in at the door since the beginning. She’s the first person guests see. She asks guests to take their shoes off and offers socks, so that they stay cozy. They even have non-skid socks in case someone needs them.
“We don’t want people slipping on steps,” she noted.
Bertin was at the very first show in 1986, when Clearfield lived in a smaller apartment on Spruce Street.
“It got so filled up we would end up towards the bathroom or in the tub, sticking our head out the bathroom because it was standing room only,” Bertin said.
A ‘tasting menu’ of music
While Clearfield’s szalon has changed over the years — physically it’s in a new, larger space, and now it’s also available on Zoom — the format of 10-minute-performances from 10 different performers has remained constant. The show, Clearfield said, is a chance to connect with each other.
“I encourage people to, in my opening announcements, to exhale and drop in and allow themselves the grace of being receptive,” she said. “And so I think in a world where one is always active, and scrolling or whatever, giving input or multitasking — to be able to do that and really receive the music in community and on a deep level is so important.”
Clearfield curates all 10 performances — choosing ensembles like Valentin Kovalev and Aiwen Zhang Kovalev, a husband-wife saxophonist duo that will be part of Sunday’s lineup.
“We are gonna perform five pieces for two violins and piano by Dmitri Shostakovich — one of my favorite pieces to play,” Kovalev said. “But we made transcriptions for two saxophones, for soprano and alto saxophones.”
The musicians will deliver a familiar yet unexpected tone to Shostakovich’s work. Together, the different ensembles will create one complete show.
“You don’t have to be a music specialist to really enjoy the whole experience that she’s bringing together,” Kovalev said. “It’s really just like a tasting menu… You just fully trust the selection of the chef.”
Kuf Knotz and Christine Elise are another duo playing for Sunday’s show. Their style includes “a mix of hip hop, soul, and new age that is very dance friendly.”
“A lot of spaces for intimate performances or mid-sized performances don’t exist anymore,” Knotz said. “To go there and be inspired, it kind of gives you a spark or lights a fire for a lot of the artists too. “
“It feels very community based,” he added. “Everyone’s in this beautiful room. The sound is great. The audience is always very open and welcoming as well, because they feel like it’s an exchange of energy.”
Bill Koutsouros, who is part of the world fusion ensemble Animus, said the band will be going “on the fly” for this weekend’s set.
“I like to improvise a lot,” Koutsouros said. “So we’re going to play something. We don’t know exactly what we’re going to play yet. We’ve been discussing a couple different options of what pieces we might want to do, or you know how we might blend things together.”
40 years of team effort
Putting on a monthly show in your house is no easy task. Clearfield relies on a network of friends and volunteers. Some help in the kitchen to create a nice spread. Others pick up flowers, or even serve wine. And her volunteers are dedicated to the cause.
Longtime tech director, Gerardo Razumny — has avoided traveling to his home country of Argentina in their summer (our winter) over the years, just to make sure the show is up and running.
“I don’t think it’s easy to throw a concert in one’s house,” said Joyce Lieberman, WHYY’s own recently retired longtime audio engineer. She has been volunteering for the salon a few years now — setting up mics, checking levels, making sure that the Zoom recording is picking the sound up correctly.
“You want to make sure that your microphones are good or your acoustic environment’s good as well,” she explained. “If you have someone singing loud, you want to make sure that you have a big enough room where the sound isn’t going to be bouncing off the ceiling or the wall — and you get a lot of slapback echo and things like that. So, at the initial setup, it’s not really simple.”
Initially, Lieberman came in as an audio consultant for the space. “I was secretly telling myself, Joyce, don’t volunteer, don’t volunteer,” she said. However, she stayed on to give Razumny more support and because she believes in the mission
“It’s the music that’s really special and I’m behind the scenes,” she said. “I’m really glad to be part of a community like this.”
March 2020 was the only time that Clearfield has ever had to cancel the salon.
“I was heartbroken,” she explained. “It was 33 years of salons that had gone on, and COVID, of course, required all of us to stay home.”
However, even that became an opportunity to expand the salon’s reach into a Zoom “szalon” and could encompass musicians from anywhere in the world.
“We were up and running by April 2020,” Clearfield said. “And I found that that particular platform of Zoom, even though it was designed as a conference platform, was actually perfect for the salon in that I wanted to retain the personal and interactive element… [People] could respond to the performers writing in the chat. In the early days, they were clapping, and the performers could hear.”
‘It’s always about people’
Clearfield said that it is important to keep spaces alive, where “people can appreciate classical music and contemporary music and the music of the younger generations.”
“What is it they’re writing and how are they contributing? Where is music moving?” she asked. “I think all of this is so important to the time we live in.”
This Sunday marks not just 40 years celebrating a concert, but 40 years celebrating a Philly community.
“I really do believe that the world connects around this global language of music,” Clearfield said. “And that kind of connection brings peace and understanding, beauty at a time when I think it’s really important to nurture those things.”
“This is hard work,” Bertin said. “There’s no one like Andrea Clearfield, someone so warm, and will give you the time — as much time as you need if you’re going through something.”
Lately, Bertin has been going through something. Her older sister recently passed away. When we chatted on the phone, it was two days after the funeral and she was talking to me from her sister’s garden. The szalon, she said, is in many ways a healing space. She’s very much looking forward to the 40th anniversary show.
“It’s always about people, people connected,” Bertin said. “It keeps us in the heart and away from fear — what’s going on in the world, because that doesn’t serve us. But if we can create art that really shares the deeper meaning of life and peace and love and connection, then I think then we can feel unified.”
Clearfield’s husband Manfred Fischbeck, passed away last March. Since then, performers have read poems in his memory at the szalon. Clearfield has played songs she wrote for him.
“It’s so good, when you can get together and be in joy, because that’s really what we’re here for,” Bertin said. “That’s what we do there, and that’s what she’s going to continue to do, hopefully to the 50th and beyond.”
Learn more about the 40th anniversary show Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. and join the Szalon via Zoom here.
