Today’s guests are composer Robert Paterson and violinist Victoria Paterson, the visionary duo behind Mostly Modern Festival & Projects, an organization dedicated to celebrating music by living composers through performance, education, and community outreach.
Robert’s work is known for its rhythmic energy, emotional range, and inventive themes—from environmentalism and mythology to technology and modern relationships. Based in Saratoga Springs and NYC, he’s been recognized with numerous honors, including the Classical Recording Foundation’s Composer of the Year at Carnegie Hall and a Grammy® for Three Way. His music is performed by major orchestras and ensembles across the globe and regularly featured on NPR. He is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Mostly Modern Festival, which takes place in both Saratoga Springs and the Netherlands.
Victoria has built a multifaceted career across classical, Broadway, and commercial music, performing everywhere from Carnegie Hall to The Today Show. As General Director of Mostly Modern Projects, she leads year-round programming that brings music into hospitals, public parks, and senior centers, while also mentoring emerging artists across the country.
ROBERT PATERSON
I think in an age of seeming isolationism, where some countries, maybe even our own, tend to isolate, this is such a great way to bring people together. When you're doing music and the arts, all those barriers just fall away. People are just collaborating and having fun. It’s such a bridge-building endeavor. I don't mean that to sound cheesy either, because I just think it is really amazing. They end up being ambassadors who go back to their own country and say, “Wow, I had a great time at this festival in America or in the Netherlands.”
It ends up being one more step in our way, with our organization, of trying to connect people together in an age when so many people seem to want to hide out and not connect. We’re big advocates of connecting, and that’s another great reason why I think we love to do this. too.
VICTORIA PATERSON
I thought I had spent my whole year, I had spent 20 to 25 years playing in Broadway pits under the stage, which is incredibly exciting in a different way. But I thought, wait a minute, I really want to do this outreach as a professional full-time endeavor and grow that with our nonprofit.
So, ever since then, which was five years ago, I’ve just continued that journey of playing in hospitals, playing for Alzheimer’s patients, playing for Congress Park here in town, playing at Café Lena, and playing for children. I just think that needs to be part of the fabric of classical music, not just the concert hall.
The concert hall is amazing. We were just in a mini-concert at Carnegie Hall and in the Netherlands. These are amazing spaces, but I think it's really important to be out and about all year round doing this kind of outreach.
ROBERT PATERSON
So Chris wrote this piece about that, and we were weeping in the lobby after the piece during intermission. We couldn't control ourselves. It was mostly the piece, but it was also just the emotions it brings out of you that are overwhelming when that happens.
I think that’s so important to life. It’s not just about the necessities; it’s about the emotions and experiences you have as a human being. That’s what this gets to in the arts for me. I have to keep reminding myself of that every day. That’s what I’m creating music for. If somebody comes up to me and reacts that way, I know I’m doing something right, whether it’s my music or what we program.
