From fiddle to flute, a long legacy of service.

CPSTL co-founder, Artistic Director and flutist Jennifer Gartley hails from a family with a long and deep history of military service. How she ended up as a musician and not a Four-star General was always a bit of a mystery to us, but then she revealed the truth. One of her grandfathers was a fiddler, and she has the photographic evidence. Gerald also served in a tank unit in WW2.

looks like a good time! Gerald Gartley, 1946, playing the fiddle in northern Maine (paternal grandfather) 

 Minnie Lee and Gerald Gartley, honeymoon (paternal grandparents) 

On the other side of the family, was the grandfather in the rather iconic photo below. Growing up with a grandfather who was a fighter pilot in WW2 didn’t phase Jen much, until she interviewed him for a school project.

“Mostly he was grandaddy to me, but I think I mostly influenced by his incredible work ethic, ability to put things in perspective, and being the leader of our family. I remember interviewing him at one point for a school project, and he told me all of his roommates (also fighter pilots) on his carrier were killed and that he lived through being shot down three times, and it hit me how miraculous it was that he survived and I even existed.”

John D. Wilcox (maternal grandfather) WWII fighter pilot 

Genevee and John D Wilcox, wedding photo.

OUR STORIES.

Our concert at the Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum is titled after one of the works on the program, May Their Memory Be a Blessing by Benjamin Rouder.

The phrase “May Their Memory Be a Blessing” is deeply rooted in Jewish culture, but has recently become available to everyone. Sharrona Pearl says “It comforts the mourners and honors the memory of those they mourn. It is an active statement that people offer to one another, wishing something for the dead while at the same time acknowledging and maybe easing the pain of the living….This phrase now transcends religious, racial, and ethnic lines.” [read more here]

Katherine klick hotle

Our concert program features music of those lost and music that has deep roots in Jewish culture, but also vibrantly celebrates living composers and the today that we are all living in.

As I was building up the story behind this program, as well as figuring out how to market it, I rather impulsively used a favorite image of my paternal grandmother, Katherine Klick Hotle, on our event listing.

KKH, as she signed all of her work, has long been a source of inspiration for me as person, an artists and a musician. Just a few years ago I discovered that she was the business manager for the Women’s Glee Club of Elmhurst College (now University), organizing and preforming in the Sextet that toured Midwest. I was flabbergasted that I have unknowingly walked in her footsteps as a concert producer!

She had a Masters Degree in Science (in the 1939!!) She painted in oils and watercolor. She was an incredible potter, making wildly quirky hand builds with eclectic glazes. She wasn’t a very good cook but she genuinely tried. She lead with kindness and had a cackling laugh that we all adored. So her high school graduation photo is gracing our event page for this concert, because her memory is most certainly a blessing.

From here I flung this idea out to my fellow musicians. “Share your family photos! Tell your story!”

This month we will share our stories with you, both of those we miss and those who are vibrantly still shining their light on us. Stay Tuned.

-Dana Hotle

KKH at elmhurst college, on left. i love this photo. i feel like it captures her fire!

“The Elms” 1938 Women’s glee club. kkh is bottom photo. far right.

RETOLD: Listening forward to history.

On April 19th we bring our program RETOLD to the Sheldon Concert Hall. This program takes a second glance at American history and how it’s told through music by American and European composers.

One of the pieces on the program is “Mother and Child” by William Grant Still. When writing the violin sonata this music is taken from, Still choose three African American artists to link each movement to. The second movement, which is on this program, is inspired by artist Sargent Claude Johnson. Johnson worked most of his career in San Francisco in multiple mediums. Orphaned at a tender age, Johnson carved out a significant place in the arts landscape of his era. Learn more.

Mother and child by sargent c. johnson c. 1932

sargent claude johnson (1888-1967)
Photo by consulelo kanaga

william grant still

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Also featured on this concert are St. Louis composer Cindy McTee, Franz Joseph Haydn and Antonín Dvorák. The concert begins with a brand new piece commissioned by The Sheldon by Isabell Borchardt.

CELEBRATE 15!

We began as a group of friends self-presenting the kind of concerts we wanted to go to, and with your help, created an institution that presents classical music in a way that celebrates the past and expands into the future with creative, innovative, inclusive programs.

At first, we had a limited amount of musicians on stage at a time, building our reserves to grow. In 2010 we programmed our first "big" piece, Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet by the French impressionist composer, Maurice Ravel. Performing this sweeping, luscious piece felt like a milestone for our fledgling organization. And it was. We've performed it several times since, and every time it feels big and it holds the music holds special place in our hearts.

We're bringing it back for our CELEBRATE concert! Here are some pictures from that first performance of the Ravel at The Chapel Venue.

ravel introduction and allegro at the chapel in 2010

A pillar of our organization is presenting music by identities historically excluded from the concert stage, placing them along side their contemporaries, where they belong. A composer that we have deeply enjoyed getting to know is Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, an Afro-British man who lived and composed in the late Romantic style (late 1800's-early 1900's). During his life he was celebrated but quickly forgotten by most after his death.

We’re performing the first movement of his Clarinet Quintet which showcases his sweeping melodies and rich dramatic style and is easily one of our favorites to perform!

samuel coleridge-taylor

cpstl Clarinet quintet performance at the ethical society

MATCHING CHALLENGE: Why donate to Chamber Project?

We love a challenge.

And so you do you! Thank you to everyone who donated to our Matching Challenge, you SMASHED it, raising over $22,000 in less than 8 weeks! (updated 1/11/23)

Create a unique concert series that contradicts conventional wisdom in our industry?
Let’s do it.

Perform every concert of the season in a different venue with different musicians and different instruments?
Let’s GO!

Program at least one piece of music by a women on every program, AND a piece of music by a person who identifies with historically excluded groups on EVERY program?
We’ve got this.

Create unique partnerships and collaborations with artists, organizations and institutions outside of the classical music field. .
We’re thrilled.

Focus our programs not on tradition and ritual, but on our contemporary society.
Bring it.

Create a thriving, warm, community focused chamber music ensemble from scratch.
YOU did this.

All of these challenges were met and more only with the support of our community.
YOU have made this happen.

And now we have a challenge for you, presented by a long time donor. They will match your donation 1:1.
Yes, that means your money is doubled, up to $10,000!

You have created something truly special here in St. Louis, let’s keep it going.
Donate to our Season 15 Annual campaign today!

Send checks to:

Chamber Project St. Louis
P.O. Box 300008
University City, MO 63130

(yes, that’s FOUR ZEROS in that PO box!)

GROOVE - getting it on since 1728

We love to weave together the past and present in surprising ways, and our concert November 18th at the 560 Music Center celebrates this with toe-tapping goodness.

More about this program: 

Representing the rich musical history of  the Caribbean, Jamaican composer Peter Ashbourne opens the program with his lively string quartet Jamaica Folk.

Blake Hernton

St. Louis composer, performer and educator Blake Hernton, also known as Concert Black, incorporates elements of classical, jazz and hip-hop in his “new-age instrumental” style. Chamber Project St. Louis will give the World Premiere of expanded versions of music from his debut EP “Concert Black” as part of our Commissioning Project, now in its seventh year! 

The only confirmed portrait of Vivaldi by François Morellon la Cave

Nearly 300 years ago Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi compiled a set of concertos for the flute, perhaps the first significant set of music for this predecessor of the modern flute that was being developed in Europe.  Vivaldi wrote an astonishing amount of music in his lifetime, and the flute concerto “La notte” is one of his most popular pieces.  A driving rhythmic element is one of the main characteristics of his sound, linking it to the more modern works on this program and linking us back to what the people of Venice were listening to 300 years ago.

Grammy award-winning American composer Libby Larsen’s Barn Dances is a piece we performed frequently in our first years as an ensemble. Inspired by specific steps in cowboy dances, each movement of this music for flute, clarinet and piano expresses a playful take on this uniquely American music. 

Directly inspired by the traditional folk music of the Romanian ensemble Taraf de Haidouks, St. Louis composer Christopher Woehr arranged this wildly expressive, complex and rhythmically oriented music for clarinet and string quartet in 2012. Bringing back an audience favorite for our 15th Season, Roma Suite will bring GROOVE to a rousing conclusion.

MYTH - A Venezuelan goddess queen, a poet with a passion for the sea and a legendary composer almost lost are brought to life September 29th.

EL SENTIR DE MARIA LIONZA
EFRAÍN AMAYA

Venezuelan born American composer and conductor Efraín Amaya writes, “In Venezuela, I grew up with the invisible presence of María Lionza, the daughter of a native Indian chief, something to do with a legend, something to do with a queen, or something magic. This piece, El Sentir de María Lionza (The Sentiment of María Lionza), comes to be as a reflective response to the socio-political crisis that invades my native country at this time. This is a time of unrest as it was the time of the Spanish Conquest, when this legend takes place.”

Maria Lionza is a mysterious and magical figure, rich with history, culture and ritual. “She is the central figure in one of the most widespread new religious movement in Venezuela. The cult of María Lionza began in the 20th century as a blend of African, indigenous and Catholic beliefs. She is revered as a goddess of nature, love, peace and harmony. “ (Wikipedia)

Read this blog post about her by Alan D.D., a Venezuelan author.

Excellent photojournal piece about Maria Lionza in The Guardian here.

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Alfonsina Stroni, poet. perhaps the most acclaimed Argentine poet of the modernist period, is one of the foremost writers and intellectuals in Latin American literature. Storni was one of the first successful fighters for women to occupy spaces in American literature. (source: digital Storoni)

SUBMERGED
MIGUEL DEL AGUILA

Three-time Grammy nominated American composer Miguel del Aguila was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. His piece SUBMERGED is based on Alfonsina Storni’s romantic, surrealist poem “Yo en el fondo del mar” On the surface, both the poem and music seem innocent and light-hearted, but one feels differently when the author’s fascination with the sea, and her later suicide by drowning in it, are taken into consideration.

The piece follows the form of the poem except for the lively introduction and a coda which illustrate the poet’s childhood near her native Argentine Andes, and in Switzerland. With six harp loud chords, the piece “falls” deep underwater: this slow middle section is mysterious, intimate and magical. It recreates the poem’s isolated submerged world where fish with flowers, octopus and sirens dance while birds chirp happily far above water. The harp uses unusual extended techniques, some stemming from Paraguayan harp playing. The viola adds a rhythmic edge by playing constant multiple stop pizzicati imitating a Charango. The flute is the Quena of the ensemble and it uses often extended techniques as well. “In my interpretation of Storni’s poem this underwater world is that special place of isolation where many artists withdraw to create, a place and mood that can easily turn into depression. A place that ultimately Alfonsina chose to remain and which became her death. In my Submerged, I continued the events of the poem and made the listener return to the real world above water. This return is triggered by the memories of her childhood played by the harp and viola as a music box Ländler which turns into a Vidalita, both music which Alfonsina would have heard in her childhood. ​Written in 2013, commissioned by Hat Trick and Brigham Young University. Program notes courtesy of the composer.

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STRING QUARTET IN B MINOR
TERESA CARREÑO

This program features a large scale string quartet by Teresa Carreño (1853-1917). Born in Venezuela, she was a child prodigy on the piano. The family moved to New York City to further her education. At age 9 she performed for the Lincoln’s at the White House. She became a celebrated concert pianist and travelled the world performing. She also composed at least 75 works, sang and even occasionally conducted! In North American her legacy has largely been forgotten, although in Caracas there is a huge concert hall complex named after her! We are excited to bring her music to St. Louis.

Listen to her play the piano! Recorded in 1905 and remastered! Full play list HERE.

Interactive map of her global performance career HERE

CONFLUENCE: Imagination meets Innovation

Our upcoming concert CONFLUENCE is inspired by our city and the geography that has influenced this region of the world. The "Mighty Mississippi" and the “Big Muddy” Missouri rivers join in a confluence just to the north of modern day St. Louis, creating a historic meeting and trading community sharing cultures and ideas. Celebrating this spirit, the music in this program melds equally rich ideas coming together to shape a new sound.

All of the pieces on the program merge distinctly different sources of inspiration. Ennanga, by William Grant Still illustrates this idea beautifully.

A WW1 veteran, a three time Guggenheim Fellow and a pioneer in his field, African-American composer William Grant Still (1895-1978) led the way not only for African-Americans working in the classical arts, but also in creating a uniquely "American" sound in classical music. One of the ways he did that was by including musical elements from cultures and genres outside of the European roots of his art form.

Ennanga - William Grant Still

ENNANGA, which we are performing on Oct. 15 is a prime example of this. The ennanga is a an arched harp played for centuries by the Ganda people in East Africa. Inspired by this music, Still wrote a piece for modern western harp, piano and string quartet, fusing the rhythms and energy of east Africa within a traditional European sound and art form, creating something never heard before.

The Singing Wells Project has an rich collection of East African music, including this wonderful performance on an ennanga by the incredible Buganda Music Ensemble.

Also on the program St. Louis composer and pianist Kim Portnoy playfully mixes musical theater into a violin sonata; globe trotting Czech composer Boluslav Martinů combines influences of a lifetime in his final wonderfully wild and weird work, Chamber Music No. 1, and Kansas City native Shelley Washington celebrates the land that inspired the theme of this program in Middleground.

CHOICE 2020, DIGITAL EDITION

Every year we end our season with a concert curated by our audience. Concertgoer’s cast votes after each concert and we smash up the winners in one fun end-of-season event. This year, we are unable to bring you Choice in person, so we are producing a digital version with messages from musicians, pics and links to recordings, including some of our commissioning project!

SEPTEMBER : ll : WINDOW

560 Music Center

WINDOW / SEPTEMBER / The 560 Music Center
We opened our season with a world premiere by St. Louis composer David Werfelmann. On Vitreous Forms was a huge hit with our audience and was to be featured on our Audience Choice concert this week. You loved it!

Flautist Jennifer Gartley says, "David wrote a showstopper of a piece. We worked on it really hard and our audience loved it. It's such a pleasure to perform new music and have it so well received!"

Also on the program was music by Kristin Kuster, Joseph Haydn and Aram Khachaturian. Photographer Jason Hackett captured some images during a rehearsal with composer David Werfelmann.

Musicians: Kyle Lombard, Eli Lara, Jennfer Gartley, Dana Hotle, Matthew Mazzoni. Not pictured: Kelly Karamanov, Jeffery Barudin

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OCTOBER : ll : RESILIENT

projects+gallery

In October we presented RESILIENT at projects+gallery to a sold out audience. Music by fan favoriteFlorence B. Price and St. Louis composer Cindy McTee began this moving program. Cindy McTee was in attendance and spoke with our audience about her process for composing a memorial tribute for 911. Listen to Leonard Slatkin conduct the orchestral version here.

Felix Mendelssohn's String Quintet Op. 87 followed. Violinist Kyle Andre Lombard is passionate about this piece. He says, "I love the 3rd movement!!! All I’d have to say is that it is one of the most personal and moving pieces I know of, and if you’re not religious at all, this one will take you TO CHURCH! It’s an avalanche of emotions, and I had to stay calm to be able to execute and not get swept up."

If you were at this sold out concert, you know he lead the quintet to a beautiful and moving performance of this masterpiece. This most certainly would've made it onto our Audience Choice concert this week, if only because Kyle would've insisted on it! Give it a listen, you’ll understand why Kyle is so enamored by it. Listen here.

Musicians: Jane Price, Kyle Lombard, Laura Reycraft, Valentina Takova. Not pictured: Amy Greenhalgh

Virginia Harold Photography 10/11/202o

BRAHMS SEXTET: Recorded live in Alice Tully Hall on February 21, 2017. Video produced by Ibis Productions. Artists: Paul Huang, Sean Lee, violin; Paul Neubauer, Matthew Lip...

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NOVEMBER : ll : BEAUTY
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

At our November concert we presented 3 pieces: Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems by Dinuk Wijeratne; Beauty Beneath, our second commission and world premiere of the season by Syrhea Conaway; and one of the juggernauts of classical music the String Sextet in Bb major by Johannes Brahms. 

Our audience and musicians alike loved this entire program. Beauty Beneath by Syrhea Conaway received a mountain of enthusiastic votes and was slated to be performed on Audience Choice, but all of the works were very popular and we likely would've performed a bit of all three pieces from this concert. 

For the first time, the recording of Beauty Beneath is available for you to listen to! 

L-R. Executive Director Dana Hotle and composer Syrhea Conaway discussed music on KWMU. Listen here>

Our musicians were passionate about this entire program, and they all wanted to do it again immediately.

Valentina says: 

“Of course the Brahms Sextet is a monumental and beautiful piece that we were all lucky to be able to perform, but a really fun thrill for me were the Wijeratne’s Pop Songs! We rarely get to be pop stars and play in an improvisatory style, and it is very exciting when we find a piece of music that gives us those opportunities. Chamber Project is especially good at finding those real gems in classic chamber music form!” 

Listen to Pop Songs...here

Laura says: 

“The Brahms B-flat Major Sextet was a piece I had been longing to perform for two decades. It is one that everyone reads in late night chamber music reading parties. I had read it many times but didn’t get to dive in and rehearse until last fall. My favorite movement is definitely the second movement which is Theme and Variations. The first viola introduces the theme and trades off with the first violin. From there the variations become more animated, even stormy, with the growling scales in the cellos and 2nd viola before coming to a noble conclusion. I love how the cello plays the melody in a low register at the end and the pairs of violins and violas weave in their laments. The movement feels so complete and satisfying when you reach the last chord.”

Listen here to the Israeli Chamber Project perform the second movement.

with guest cellist, Peter Wiley (Guarnetri String Quartet, Beaux Arts Trio) www.israelichamberproject.org www.facebook.com/israeli.chamber.project Itamar Zor...

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FEBRUARY : ll : RECESS
The Schlafly Tap Room

A rare concert of music for winds presented our third world premiere of the season, I don't wanna dance... by L.J. White along with music by Jean Françaix and American composer Valerie Coleman.

Provided to YouTube by Entertainment One Distribution US Valerie Coleman: Tzigane · Imani Winds Startin' Sumthin' ℗ Entertainment One Music Released on: 2016...

Clarinetist Dana Hotle says, "We've performed quite a bit of Valerie's music over the years, but never one of her woodwind quintets. She was a founding member of one of the best woodwind quintets in the world so she knows how to write for them, and Tzigane did not disappoint. It was one of the most fun pieces I've performed and I was looking forward to doing it again on CHOICE. We will have to bring it back in the future as our audience loved it as much as I did!"

Listen to Imani Winds perform Tzigane by Valerie Coleman:

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MARCH :ll: TENACITY
World Chess Hall of Fame

Perhaps the last live concert that happened in St. Louis before events shut down the next day, the theme of this concert has proved to be timely.

Featuring the music of composers who overcame obstacles of war, prejudice and isolation we performed the rarely hear music of Hungarian composer Lazlo Lajtha.

Provided to YouTube by Hungaroton 2éme Quintette Op. 46: IV. Allegro · László Lajtha · István Matuz · Katalin Vas · Gergely Matuz · Tamás Rónaszegi · Emil Lu...

Harpist Megan Stout says, "Working on the Lajtha Quintet was so rewarding! While the piece is very tricky, he had an unusually great handle on what sounds and ideas work well on the instrument and how they could be executed. Also, he shared the main melodies with the harp and sometimes they were simple, light, and fast ...not leaving me with only rich chords, arpeggios, and glissandos while others play the melody, which often happens for the harp."

You can hear what Megan is talking about about 40 seconds into the fourth movement, which begins with an eerie mood which dissolves almost magically into a beautiful sweeping melody.

Join the Project and make a difference

This time of year non-profits ask you to donate your hard earned money, including us. Without the support from donors, the work we do would not be possible. Frankly, we would not exist without you. Donations ranging from $5-$5000 all matter to us and we use your money carefully and intentionally to create the best music we can.

But what is it that we do that sets up apart, that makes us worthy of your donation? Here’s what happens when you donate to Chamber Project:

• You help us change the status-quo as we re-define the classical music cannon to be more inclusive and expressive of our community. more

• You fund our new (free!) education initiatives which we are piloting this year with the St. Louis County Library. more. Additionally you keep our tickets prices low to make our events accessible to more people, including $5 student tickets.

• You support local musicians. We hire local talent and cultivate the arts in our community through our Commissioning Project. more

We appreciate your support and look forward to bringing you even more great music in 2020!

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Donate today

by PayPal:

by check:

PO Box 300008
University City, MO 63130

Making Change

Did you know that on average only 8% of the music performed in classical music is by women? Doesn't seem right does it? The number for underrepresented racial, ethnic, cultural heritages is even lower, 6%. This is not what our community looks like is it? That's why our programming is different. Read the study here.

This season, 31% of our programming is music by women and 36% is by underrepresented groups. And at 50% of music by living composers we are smashing the typical 16% of our industry.

Upper L: Nilou nour, kristin kuster, valerie coleman, shelley washington, cindy mctee, syreah conaway, florence b price.

This is nothing new for us, we've been doing it for years, and we're going to keep doing it, reaching for even broader representation because we can do even better.

It doesn't mean we don't love and perform the music of the past, in fact our goal is to re-define the core of what classical music is by putting the music of women, minorities and living composers on equal footing with the rich history of our art form.

We need your help!

Donate to our annual campaign to help us make change. People are starting to notice what we're doing and how successful we've been at it, but we can't do any of this without the support of our community.

Join the Project, donate today!

By check: PO Box 30008, University City, MO 63130

Click here to link to PayPal

Meet our Season 12 Composers!

Our commissioning project is now in its fifth year! We’re thrilled to introduce you to the three composers who will write new music for you this season. But it doesn’t stop there, each concert this year features the music of a St. Louis or St. Louis connected composer. We anticipate almost all of them coming to the concerts, so be sure to get your tickets and meet a composer.

To learn more about our past commissions click here.

Click on their pics for more info.

Season 12 Commissions

David Werfelmann

World Premiere on Sept. 7 at the 560 Music Center

Music Professor at Webster University

Syna So Pro

World Premiere November 22 at the Contemporary Art Museum

St. Louis musical force.

LJ White

World Premiere February 9 at The Schlafly Tap Room

Music Professor at Washington University

Season 12 Composers from St. Louis area

Cindy McTee

Adagio for string quartet - October 11 at projects+gallery

Retired professor at University of North Texas, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellow, now resides in St. Louis

Shelley Washington

Middleground for string quartet makes STL debut on April 17 at the Missouri History Museum

Native of KC, working on PHD from Princeton University

Kim Portnoy

From an Imaginary Musical for violin and piano will be performed on April 17 at the Missouri History Museum

Local legend, Kim Portnoy is also a jazz pianist and is the Director of Composition at Webster University.

Nilou Nour

White Helmets as white as death will be performed on March 12 and 14.

Nilou was the Resident Composer for the Young Composers Competition in St. Louis in 2018. She recently won two major competitions.

Getting to know Florence B. Price

Florence B Price has a rich, interesting and inspiring story, just like her music. We’ve complied a list of resources that have helped us get to know her and her music.

https://www.allclassical.org/womens-history-month-florence-price/

https://www.aaihs.org/the-life-and-music-of-florence-price-an-interview-with-rae-linda-brown/

https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/plus-ca-change-florence-b-price-in-the-blacklivesmatter-era/

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/05/the-rediscovery-of-florence-price

https://www.biography.com/people/florence-beatrice-price-21120681

https://songofamerica.net/composer/price-florence/

Documentary: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4935076/

Meet Composer Stephanie Berg

In 2016, we commissioned Stephanie to write a piece for us and we loved it so much, we asked her to write another! We’re excited to premiere her new work “Who We Are” on two upcoming concerts with the theme #timesup. These concerts showcase the rich story telling and fierce intellect of women working in a field which historically, and largely continues to be, dominated by men. We asked Stephanie a few questions about her new work, and her perspective on being a women in this field.

Pulitzer Prize winning composer Jennifer Higon

Who are the women (artists, composers) who have inspired you? 

I had the pleasure of both meeting Jennifer Higdon and performing her works, and I am just so impressed with her.  Her music can be so raw and powerful--nothing held back--and in talking to her, I got the impression that she herself is the same way.  She is truly a force to be reckoned with (while also being friendly and down-to-earth)! There are many, really, but she stands out in my mind. 

In what ways has the lack of representation of women and people of color in classical music effected you? Is it something you think about notice? How old were you when you realized there is a gap in representation? 

Composer and clarinetist Stephanie Berg

Somehow, I was raging “girl power" kid from the beginning.  I seemed to want to go wherever people said "girls don't" or "won't” or “can’t,” whether it was mud pits, handling bugs and snakes, playing video games with my nerdy guy-pals, or dominating in my math and science classes.  Part of it was that I liked to challenge convention (at, like, age 8??), but part of it was also that I wasn’t bothered by being the only girl in a situation. So when I noticed (probably high school-ish) that recognized female composers were rare, it didn’t phase me in the slightest.  It was just another challenge. As far as how this has affected my career, it’s really hard to say; composition is just a hard field in general and I’m amazed at the success I’ve had in any case.

I think that it’s crucial to have conversations about representation gaps, and I am so very grateful for the people having these discussions and actively combating the problems; they've paved the way for people like me to be able to thrive in this business.  But for me in my daily life, in my own brain, I find it best to proceed as if I don’t know that I’m “different.” I feel that for every door that was perhaps closed to me because I am a woman, another was purposefully opened by people who have concerts like these, for example. And I try not to let the closed doors bother me; after all, what is a closed door, but an invitation to try the handle? 

Your new piece is titled "Who We Are". Can you tell us a little more about the piece and the title? 

I wrote this piece with women in mind, but I also wrote it really for all marginalized people.  “Who We Are” refers to who we are as human beings: resilient, strong, and enduring in the face of seemingly endless adversity.  I can relate to the struggles of women to be heard and to be taken seriously, as I have walked that path. But I see those same struggles echoed in the faces of so many others as well.  “Who We Are” is a call to truly see each other and the unique gifts that each of us have to offer, to honor the strength and tenacity that we all have.

Stephanie also creates beautiful scores, something the public doesn’t get to see. In addition to creating cover art for each score, she included a beautiful statement about the work. She graciously gave permission to share these here. Learn more about Stephanie and her music at stephaniejberg.com

Two chances to hear “Who We Are”! March 2 at Southwestern Illinois College and March 9 at the Missouri History Museum. Visit our events tab for details.

Meet composer Darwin Aquino

Meet Composer Darwin Aquino

We’ve commissioned Darwin to write a piece for our concert on Nov. 16 at the 560 Music Center. When we met Darwin we were instantly charmed by his enthusiasm and kindness!We are lucky to have him call St. Louis home! Come to the concert to meet him and enjoy his music!

Tell us a little about your path to becoming a conductor and a composer and your road to St. Louis.

I started composing when I was a little kid in my country the Dominican Republic. Just for fun. The violin is my instrument, so I was inventing in my head small pieces and playing them myself. With time I started to put them on paper and moved to other instruments. We had a piano in my house because my sisters played. With the years, contemporary composition became a huge part of my creative life and my work expanded to chamber, orchestra, vocal music, etc. I just love to live in a “World of Imagination” (as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! One of my favorites movies and soundtrack). Later I went to study composition in France with Ivan Fedele and began to explore in many new trends. Conducting came after…it is a funny story: I was the concertmaster of the National Youth Symphony Orchestra in my country and the conductor could not continue working for us. The orchestra, with a brilliant tradition of years, was going to fall apart. I said to him: can I continue the orchestra and conduct the rehearsals?... With out knowing anything about conducting actually. It was the best learning experience of my life. Then I became the music director of the Dominican “El Sistema” and later came to the US to achieve my masters in conducting. My road to St. Louis has to do with conducting Opera, which I love. Living in Florida I worked with many professional singers who later recommended my work to Winter Opera St. Louis. Conducing my second opera with them here I met my fiancé. After that, everything in my life was pointing me to move to St. Louis and continue my musical career from here. I don’t regret it.

Where did the idea for your piece for Chamber Project originate from/what was the biggest challenge when working on this project?

The title says everything I think: "Redescrubrimiento (which means “rediscovery" or "new encounters", in Spanish): A Dominican in St. Louis”. Of course it deals with a redefinition of myself in all senses. New things coming into my life, artistic experiences, another city and people, etc. Actually it was the first composition that I was offered to do here in town, after a period where I did not compose much because I was traveling a lot for work. I thought, if there is An American in Paris, why not A Dominican in St. Louis? The biggest challenge was to be able to mix my impressions of St. Louis with the folkloric music of the Caribbean (which has been my main trend of expression as a composer since 2007). That is why the audiences will find tropical rhythms, percussion instruments and colors mixed with moments of deep calm and silence (which captivates me the most about this city). St. Louis is very quiet and the Dominican Republic is extremely active. But at the end of the day I love both places with all the different things they have to offer. Finally. the piece pretends to have a comic balance between noise and silence.

Darwin conducting Winter Opera St. Louis

What interests you most about music?

That you can find truth. Not in a rational way but in an emotional one. Music, as the Universe, has an internal will power, that undoubtedly is the closest that we have to feel something “real”.  

Who is your current inspiration?

My love Benedetta Orsi and our plans to build a family here.

What do you think the role of classical music is in today's world?

I think it plays an important role: we should not forget that great/real things need time to develop and exist. We live in a world that moves extremely fast and we don’t have time for anything (except for social media!). I strongly believe that is taking from us our humanity and spiritually. Classical music makes you go inside yourself and expand time in a creative manner, which is in my opinion one of the best tools we have to really know ourselves. You can not do that watching pictures and videos the whole day…Everyday we want more things and faster. Is not human, is not possible. We are not made to live like that.

What is your favorite thing about St. Louis?

The silence of the city and the kindness of its people. I could not ask for a better welcome of my musical work here. Also the top music scene the city has. Plus, a couple of Mexican restaurants…!

What's next for you?

I’m so blessed to have a full season of engagements in composition and conducting. Many things are next! For example the world premiere by Robert Davidovici of my new Concerto for Violin, Strings and Percussion at the Florida International University. Washington University Symphony Orchestra is welcoming me as their new conductor-in-residence with an amazing concert on October 28th. Also my orchestral piece YOAminicana will be premiered in St. Louis by this ensemble in our “Fiesta Latina” concert.  As a conductor I have upcoming symphonic concerts in New York City and the Dominican Republic, to then come back to do Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri and Bellini’s Norma with Winter Opera St. Louis. The end of the season will bring to life a new composition for Female Voices, Piano and Percussion, commissioned by the Women’s Hope Chorale. Can’t complain! I want to take the opportunity of this interview so say THANKS from the bottom of my heart to the city of St. Louis, its people and musical institutions, who have received me in such a wonderful and inspirational way.  

Meet Composer Andrew Stock

Tell us a little about your path to becoming a musician and a composer.

I grew up in the visual art scene, so everything seems like material to me. I’m sensitive to the aesthetic aspect of experience and of ideas—what I want right now to call the ‘inside’ of things. Music doesn’t mediate this with language, so it’s a good instrument.

Where did the idea for tour originate from/what was the biggest challenge when working on this project?

I wrote tour after expending a lot of energy on a different piece, which I never finished. It was too fussy. I often have the feeling that I’m trying to communicate everything, but you can’t communicate everything—you have to only suggest some things, which take on lives of their own.

In 2016–17 I was traveling a lot and taking notes about the sounds I heard in different places. I found that it’s hard to do documentation like this; you have to make decisions about what to pay attention to and how to translate this information into language. So the first part of tour asks for this kind of exercise. The second part asks that this documentation be turned into a performance, and there’s a distance, an abstraction, between the source sounds and their eventual (re-)realization. Something is ‘lost in translation’ (maybe also ‘gained’). I like making seemingly simple situations virtuosic and demanding.

What interests you most about music?

I wouldn’t want to say.

Who is your current inspiration?

I don’t think I have one.

What do you think the role of classical music is in today's world?

I always think this question is a little funny, like, “should there be art?” There should be art. But I can’t speculate, really, about the precise significance art has for everyone. For me it’s a way of living life, in the sense that making or participating in art is enacting presence. That has an ethical dimension.

Who are some of your favorite composers/performers/musicians?

I swapped this question in from one of your earlier interviews to replace a more locally-oriented one, but there is a local relevance insofar as nobody I’m going to name ever gets played here. “Favorite” makes it too hierarchical and too personal—these are just some people whose work I like, and there are others. I’ll only list living composers:

Ferneyhough, Barrett, Finnissy, Braxton (who actually will play in St. Louis on Oct. 8), Lucier, Wolff, Szlavnics, Frey, Lim, Chris Newman, the Johnsons Evan and Tom, Dench, Andrew Greenwald, Eric Wubbels…

What's next for you?

More work. I always have a lot of long-term projects percolating in my mind, which I don’t usually finish until an opportunity comes up (or until I can make one) in the form of a commission or a residency or whatever. Right now I’m engaged in a series of large solo pieces (and chamber pieces that behave like solos, or which have something to do with soloness), which I started in 2016.

Personal website

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Hear Andrew’s music on Oct 14 at the Schlafly Tap Room. tour has challenged us and opened us up to a world of new possibilities!