Youth

We kick off our 2012-2013 season this Friday with a program we're calling "Youth".  Here's a little post about the music and the musicians, and what the musicians think about the music. MEET THE PROGRAM:

R. STRAUSS      Till Eulenspiegel - Einmal Anders! TANN                 Duo NIELSEN            Serenata-Invano BEETHOVEN      Septet Op. 20

Till Eulenspiegel is one of Richard Strauss' most famous works for full orchestra. It musically tells the story of Till Eulenspiegel - The Merry Prankster of German folklore which dates back to the Middle Ages. Till stirs up trouble in a market, harasses the monks, flirts with the ladies and mocks the academics - until he gets caught. This clever arrangement (Einmal Anders means, 'Another Way") for quintet (violin, clarinet, horn, bassoon and double bass) captures the very essence of Stauss' original composition.

Laura and Adrianne will be performing Hilary Tann's Duo which directly contrasts the playful boisterous Till with smooth long lines weaving between the viola and the haunting sound of the soprano saxophone. The "youngest" piece on the program provides an intimate encounter with these two instruments.

Carl Nielsen's Serenata-Invano (Serenade in Vain) tells the story of youthful love. A young man hires a band to serenade his love - I won't give away the end by telling you what happens.

After intermission (time to grab another beverage!) we bring seven musicians to the stage to play the amazing Septet by perhaps the most famous of all composers, Beethoven.  Beethoven was bursting onto the scene as a young man (19!) when he wrote this joyful, energetic music. Featuring the violin, the Septet is rounded out by 3 more stings; viola, cello and bass, and contrasted with clarinet, bassoon and horn. It sounds like a small orchestra!

MEET OUR MUSICIANS

When asked what his favorite piece on the program was, Kyle said "So, if I had to say my favorite piece, it'd be the Strauss...because it gives our listener a taste of what his coloring for full orchestra was like, without the 90 piece ensemble. Music which provides entertaining characters that the audience can easily recognize is just purely more enjoyable for both performer and listener alike."

We've given Kyle about 10,000 notes to learn for this program, and every one sounds brilliant. Kyle is from Kansas City, and has lived on this side of the state for quite some time.

Dana says this about Youth, "I am really excited about this program! The combination of pieces is just fantastic. They're all really fun to play, and I know the audience is going to love it. The Beethoven just sparkles with positive energy. The Nielsen is new to me, and the first time I heard it I couldn't believe how beautiful the combination of clarinet, bassoon, horn, cello and double bass were. There is a moment in the middle where it slows down, and it's just gorgeous."

Dana is a co-Artistic Director for Chamber Project and is a hometown girl. If you're lucky you'll meet most of her family at this concert.

Tricia is playing with us for the first time. She's a recent transplant to St. Louis - so be sure to welcome her! She says this, "I'm particularly excited to play Till Eulenspiegel-Einmal Anders.  It's pretty incredible that five instruments, through shear force of personality, can carry a piece originally written for a huge orchestra.  This is a wonderful ensemble of players and we've had a lot of fun putting this concert together."

What she doesn't tell you is that Till Eulenspiegel begins with one of the most famous horn melodies ever written - she basically kicks off the concert and sets the stage for the musically hilarity that follows.

Adrianne Honnold, recently back from touring Europe with the St. Louis Symphony, has this to say about the Hilary Tann Duo, "This piece has three different moods that make for an interesting journey; plaintive, aggressive and hopeful."

Adrianne performed at the World Saxophone Conference this summer in Scotland - she had quite an amazing trip! (Take a close look at her hands during her performance, there's something new on one of them...)

Melissa Mackey returns to perform with us for a second season. Melissa suggested we play the Beethoven Septet, it's one of her favorite pieces to play.  Melissa is the Associate Professor of Bassoon and Music History at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She wrote a short blog post about the Beethoven Septet on her own blog - check it out!

The bassoon is featured quite a bit in this program. It's a great chance to check out this very unusual, and very cool instrument. Melissa's bassoon is over 100 years old!

Antonio Innaimo is joining us for the first time, but if you've been to the MUNY , you've heard him play - he's the Principal Cellist of the MUNY Orchestra! When not sweltering his summers away here in St. Louis, he lives in Florida. Tony says, "It's such a joy to work with such consummate chamber musicians, performing such fine works!"

Laura Reycraft, co - Artistic Director of Chamber Project is back with us after a little time off last spring to be a new mom! We're thrilled for her and happy to have her back. Here's what she has to say about this program -

"I love playing the Beethoven-it is so fun!  The viola part alternates between accompaniment and melodic material, acting sometimes as a second violin and occasionally as a bass instrument.  The fresh energy and enthusiasm is palpable throughout the 6 movements, although I think my favorite is the last movement with its extremely serious opening and then light fast section.

The Tann has grown on me as I have learned it through listening to a recording and practicing.  The dissonance created between the two instrumental lines is complex and interesting and more melodic that I first thought."

Christopher Haughey is joining us for the first time. He grew up here in the St. Louis area, and has recently returned to join the United States Air Force Band of Mid American located at Scott Air Force Base. They keep him busy performing in three ensembles! We're glad he had the time to work some chamber music into his busy concert schedule!

Come to the concert and meet all of these great musicians!

DETAILS:

September 14, 8:00 pm at The Chapel Venue Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door (cash/check only) $4 students. Tickets include two drinks: beer/wine/soda. purchase tickets online here

What Does it Take?

This post is by Chamber Project Artistic Director and clarinetist, Dana. What does it take to put together an entire season? The only way to find out is to do it!

We've got ten concerts, six programs, 18 pieces, 17 musicians, six venues (and a kitchen sink) all ready to go starting September 14th!  This is our 5th Season, and by far our biggest and best one yet. Our concerts this year are filled with fantastic pieces, and we're really proud of the combinations we've put together (otherwise known as 'programming').  We've got a lot of musicians who are new to us and new to St. Louis this year. We will perform a number of pieces that we believe to be St. Louis premieres, along with some some old favorites  - you're not going to want to miss any of this!

As you know, we're all trained as musicians; we are not trained as businesswomen or as marketing specialists, graphic designers, personnel managers and so on. Putting this all together has been very challenging, and very rewarding.  When we got started, over 5 years ago, I stumbled onto this quote and it keeps me going!  (yes, on the internet, so I hope it's real): 

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Martin Luther King Jr.

When we started Chamber Project, we had no idea that we had no idea what we were doing. We've pushed ourselves and each other to learn new skills, to take risks and to be better musicians.  We love music and we wanted to share it, so we kept going, even when we didn't know where exactly it was going.  

Preparing and organizing this season has challenged us to be more creative, and more daring than we've been before. As I pondered what to say in this first blog about this season, I was once again struck by how much being a musician can prepare you for just about anything. As I thought about it, I realized that the  skills you need to be an excellent musician are the same skills you need to start and run a non-profit arts organization. Even though every step of this has seemed new to us, our training as musicians prepared us more than we realized.

I jotted down a few of the key elements that jumped out for me about what this all takes. Maybe you'll find a little inspiration here, so I thought I'd share them.

COURAGE. As a musician, to get up on stage and let the world hear you play is pretty courageous.  For us, producing a concert and not knowing if anyone would come - and then they did and they had a great time and everyone felt great.  Courage, as my Mom said, is not the absence of fear, it's moving forward in spite of it. (Why is Mom always right?)

COMMUNICATION. Musicians have to communicate with each other - or it's not music, it's just people making noise at the same time. To put together a season of concerts, we have to communicate ideas, disagreements, information. We talk with venues, with other musicians, with - well, I could go on. To communicate successfully,  you have to LISTEN. I could write a whole blog post just about listening....

COLLABORATION. Real collaboration. Which means not always being right and not always getting what you want. Trusting that the people might have a better idea than you do. This is true in playing music, and in anything else that requires more than just you to happen.

PATIENCE. This is a big one. The patience to practice the same thing over and over, the patience to wait while you build a skill on your instrument. Working together to create concerts requires a ton of patience. Waiting for someone to respond to something you think is urgent, waiting for the right ideas to come, the right people to sign on to your programs. Waiting for your slow internet to load the pictures into this blog.

PERSEVERANCE. Just keep at it. Keep practicing, keep following your heart to do what you love, even when it's a struggle. If it's on your instrument, or learning how to use Excel, or researching composers to find the piece that is just the right fit with that other one. Just keep trying.

And back to the MLK quote. It takes FAITH. Faith in the belief that music matters. That art matters. That through music, we are all able to be a little more human, to have fuller, richer lives. That all of this effort, all of this passion matters. We believe it does.

We hope you'll come to as many concerts as you can this year. We could not be more excited about what this season has to offer! We kick things off on September 14th with a program we're calling "YOUTH".

If you want to know more, check out our website: www.chamberprojectstl.org or visit our Facebook events page.

And on this blog, we're going to continue the 'Inside the Music' posts about each program, where you learn about the music before the concert from the musicians who are playing the concert. We're also going to introduce you to more of our musicians and have some guest bloggers. So stay tuned!

Rear View Mirror

Jen here, flutist from Chamber Project St. Louis.

I have a bit of a a love/hate relationship with the concept of nostalgia.  There are certain songs that get me every single time even though they really aren't very good.  Madonna's "This Used To Be My Playground" = Jen in a big puddle on the floor.  Green Day's "Time of Your Life," oh man, just get me a kleenex in advance.  I am not sure if I am scared that the best days are behind me (can we say mid-life crisis at 32?), or if I just appreciate those great times gone by.  I am going to go with the latter.

It has been a little over a week since our final Chamber Project concert of the season, just enough time to pull back and get a little perspective.  Final things always seems like a whirlwind. Graduations, weddings, funerals, transitions in general can be kind of stressful.  I am going to be forthright and honest by telling you the end of CPSTL's Season 4 felt a little like a tornado.  Good, but slightly tornadic.  I am not sure if it is a contradiction to be "slightly" tornadic, but let's go with it.  Going non-profit has required us start planning subsequent seasons much farther in advance and getting ten people in rehearsals is well...challenging.

We have the unique opportunity every season to present a retrospective in music at our Audience Choice concerts. Ten women played music chosen by the audience to a completely full house, and an amazingly responsive audience.  All of the stress seems to disappear when you just relax, choose to have fun, and realize you are so blessed and lucky. **See the previously mentioned appreciation of times gone by**

Looking back at the rest of the season has taught me a few things.  I get kind of annoyed when people insist that you should learn something from everything in life.  I don't always think you have to learn something from a failed relationship, or a great vacation, or an instructional exercise video.  Some of these things I may have already known, but perhaps needed a gentle reminder.

Embrace growth: We are growing.  I mean really, really growing.  More musicians, more audience, more performances, and Laura even grew a baby.... Sometimes, the growth can be a little overwhelming, but it is also unbelievably exciting.

Embrace what makes you different:  We started Chamber Project with certain core values and goals.  One of those is to break down the wall between the audience and the performer.  I am pretty sure it doesn't get any closer than this picture below.  As we grow, holding on to those things that we hold as our mission will get more and more important.

This may sound corny...but: Embrace each other:  There is something to be said for how our friendship translates into music making.  I know that you do not HAVE to be friends with someone to make beautiful and memorable music with them, but I think it certainly helps.  Being patient and kind in rehearsals will translate to the stage and to the audience.  I think we generally do a pretty good job of remembering this tenet, but if we forget, please remind us. :)

I intended to write a retrospective detailing our season, but I think you get the idea.  Through 14 concerts - YES, I SAID FOURTEEN CONCERTS - we have had a complete blast in Season Four.  Our audience is not a two dimensional shadow in the distance that is difficult to make out in the darkness of a stuffy concert hall.  They are real people wanting an authentic experience, just like us.

Not to sound like a cheerleader, but a big "Thank you" to Season Four and BRING IT ON, SEASON FIVE!  We are ready!  More information will be coming your way very, very soon....

And the Winner is...

You will have to be at our Third Annual Audience Choice Concert on June 1 to find out!

What is an Audience Choice Concert you ask? It's a concert where the audience has chosen the music that we will be performing.

How did the Audience choose the music? At all of our concerts for this season (since September of 2011) the audience has been asked to vote for their favorite piece on the program. We have a blast reading the comments and finding out what our audience thinks about the music we choose to play! We always expect the big standards to win by a landslide (Mozart, Beethoven etc) but often they don't! Every piece on each program always receives a few votes, and we often have two that tie for first place.

Why did you start an Audience Choice Concert? From the very beginning, we've been focused on breaking down the "wall" between audience and performer. We had some pretty crazy ideas about how to go about this - and this was one of them! It's proven to be our most popular concert of the year two years in a row, and we're really excited about this year! We've got 10 of the best musicians in the area all in one concert!

Any hints about what we might hear on Friday? Well, we can't give it away, but we can tell you the concert starts with a beautiful tune, moves into some dramatic material, has an interlude of pure elegance, and ends with the most playful and joyful piece of music you can find! It's going to be really fun!

Who are these 10 musicians who will be playing? If we told you that, some of our pieces would be revealed, at least to the close observer of what we've been doing. But, we can tell you that we are thrilled that Laura Reycraft will be back with us after a break this spring (she had a baby!) All of our Core Members will be there, including the always fabulous Nina Ferrigno on piano, plus a great bass player we're excited to be working with for the first time! And you'll have to show up to find out more than that!

Where and When? 

The Chapel Venue - a sanctuary for the arts Friday, June 1, 2012  8:00pm 6238 Alexander Drive -63105 (Behind Memorial Presbyterian Church) $12 regular/$4 students - includes two beverages free street parking click here for a Google Map

To read more about what we do at The Chapel - click here

Meet Hannah

Hi everybody.  I'm Hannah and I play the violin.  The group asked me to write a blog entry about myself, and even though I write my own blog about myself all the time, I am having a hard time figuring out what to write about here—

Playing violin with Chamber Project St. Louis has been such a fun experience!  Let me tell you how my lifelong journey with the violin has led me here.

I started playing violin at the age of 5 using the Suzuki Method.  If you aren't familiar with the Suzuki Method, the concept is that one can learn to play a musical instrument the same way one learns a language—starting young, listening to the music, repeating familiar songs (words), and with active parental involvement and positive reinforcement.  I loved played the violin, but mostly I loved playing the violin with other people, an opportunity I had in Suzuki group lessons.

 

(And FOR other people too!)

As I grew up and continued to play, I became more serious about music, and found great joy (while having a lot of fun!) collaborating with other musicians.  My first love was orchestra.  I played in the Carolina Youth Symphony for many years, and looked forward to the weekly rehearsals.  I loved the camaraderie of playing in a large group, and was inspired by how the entirety of the orchestra—the collective sound, the togetherness of the experience—was (cliché ahead!) truly greater than the sum of the individual parts.

As far as chamber music went, my only real experience until I got to late high school was playing duets with my sister Leslie, who is also a violinist.  As I grew older and more experienced,  I learned that playing chamber music with people who are not related to you is different than playing with your sister.  You see, with those pesky non-relatives you have to be nicer and more diplomatic, and "because I'm older" is generally not an acceptable reason to do things your way.  However, it is less likely that your fellow musicians will burst into tears or threaten to "tell mom", so that's a definite bonus!

 

(Performing with Leslie on one of her graduate recitals)

Anyway, by the time I got to high school I knew I wanted to go into music for a living.  My goal was to become a violinist in a major symphony orchestra.  Since I had so far pretty much achieved every goal I set my mind to I didn't see any reason why I wouldn't achieve that goal as well.  I went to the Cleveland Institute of Music for college, and stayed there for graduate school as well.  During that time I practiced hard, had many amazing orchestral and chamber music experiences, and, well, met my husband, Chris.  I also began to realize how difficult it was to get a job in a symphony orchestra.

 

(Me, playing the violin a couple of years ago…at a wedding!)

Nonetheless I wasn't going to let that challenge stop me.  I won my first (and probably last) symphony job right out of school and moved to North Carolina to play with the Charlotte Symphony.  I had done it—I had realized my dream!  I was on the cusp of my new life and career as a professional orchestral musician and couldn't wait for the future.  But the future wouldn't turn out quite as I thought (does it ever?)  After playing a couple of seasons with the orchestra, I just wasn't…happy—I realized that professional achievement doesn't automatically bring about personal fulfillment, and, frankly, I was miserable without Chris nearby.  I left after a couple of years to return to Ohio to freelance and teach.  Chris did a variety of different things, and then ultimately we decided to move to St Louis so he could play with the Symphony here. 

That didn't leave much for me to do, unfortunately, so when the ladies of Chamber Project asked me to play a concert with them the other year, I jumped on it!  After enduring a couple of years devoid of chamber music, it was a lifesaver.  Not only are they all delightful people and friends, they are wonderful to work with and fun to make music with.  I've learned so much from everyone and from playing with Chamber Project, not just musically, but in terms of engaging the audience, public speaking, and all kinds of administrative-type stuff that goes into running a chamber music group.  It's been great, and I'm honored to be a part of it.

(after our March concert at the Wine Press)

It's funny how life surprises you.  If you'd asked 16 year old Hannah if she thought she'd follow a man to a city where she didn't have any work she would have smacked you.  If you'd asked that same Hannah if she thought she'd love playing chamber music with a bunch of women who had a chamber music project and a dream, she would have laughed in your face.  But here I am, and all I know is that each year just keeps getting better. 

(Warming up for a performance in April)

I hope you can join us for our Audience Choice Concert on June 1 at 8 pm at the Chapel.  I'll be playing!

Nina's Musical Cocktail Party

Our pianist, Nina Ferrigno, shares what it is she loves about chamber music, and the many paths it has lead her down! You can hear Nina with Chamber Project on June 1 at our Third Annual Audience Choice Concert!

Amongst your classical musicians, pianists definitely have a superiority complex.  Being a pianist myself, I’ll not bore you here with all the many reasons why this is totally justified, but just think of a pianist’s brain!  Reading two clefs at the same time, two hands working independently, ten fingers playing twelve-note chords (thanks, Messaien)!  Add this to the multitudinous hours spent alone in a practice room perfecting the ability to handle it all, the muscle, the power, the inexplicable delicacy, dexterity and grace, it’s amazing we keep it in check at all!  I missed a lot of social gatherings growing up.  I was practicing.  It’s OK, I think that helped me avoid being a victim of “mean girl” syndrome in high school (New Hampshire can be brutal.  It’s not all fall foliage and snow...).  But I consider myself a social creature so imagine my joy at discovering CHAMBER MUSIC at age 13.

To me, chamber music is like playing a mini-concerto and having a non-stop musical cocktail party all at the same time.  I get to “talk” a lot (I’m good at that) through my instrument and I get to listen to others “talk” through theirs.  During rehearsals I love this non-verbal communication followed by the “what just happened there” questions and ensuing discussions as to whether we really meant it!  Leading up to the performance these are such important discussions as we build trust as an ensemble and lay the groundwork that allows us to throw most of that plan out the window while on stage.  I don’t improvise notes like a jazz musician but chamber music performances are a kind of improvisation.  Everyone’s unique musical personality shines through the give and take of musical expression in each piece played.  Every performance is different, every rehearsal different.  This kind of playing really keeps my ears open and I love adapting to the moment!

As a pianist, I seek out new experiences in chamber music all the time.  Along with Jennifer Lucht, cello, and Catherine French, violin,  I formed the Boston-based Calyx Piano Trio in 2001.  Simply stated, we have a great time playing together!  The trio repertoire is second to none and really exemplifies the spirit of partnership while maintaining the solo identities of each member.  Since moving to St. Louis in 2007 I have appeared regularly with Chamber Project St. Louis and love the interesting pieces the flexible instrumentation of our ensemble provides us!  Sometimes we are really challenged by poor pianos in our venues, but as we move forward we are committed to finding instruments worthy of our artistic output!  In many ways some of the extra demands placed on us while dealing with less-than-ideal pianos have yielded some of our most interesting and connected performances!  Yeah, CHAMBER MUSIC!

My love of chamber music has also lead me to starting the Missouri Chamber Music Festival, (www.mochambermusic.org) with Scott Andrews, clarinet (husband and partner in every way).  Concerts June 21-23, 2012 in Webster Groves mark our second season and we are thrilled with how the creation of this Festival has lead to some of the most inspired classical music performances of the St. Louis concert season!  We bring musicians in from all around the country to take up residence in Webster rehearse with fabulous musicians from St. Louis and create some incredible performances as a result.   We also run the MOCM  ProAm Chamber Music Intensive which is for adult amateur chamber musicians.  Over a workshop weekend we put groups together, take over the Community Music School building of Webster University and throw ourselves into chamber music.  We have doubled our enrollment this second year!  It has totally added to the “non-stop musical cocktail party” feeling chamber music instills in me!

Gods on the Ceiling

What do our musicians think about the music for our concert on Friday April 13? Read on to get the inside scoop on this program with the mystery name, "Gods on the Ceiling." If there is a music word you don't understand, we have a short dictionary at the end of the post. PROGRAM Cherubs on the Ceiling by Paul Hayden Duo No. 2 by Bohuslav Martinu Adria by Christain Lauba Clarinet Quintet by Johannes Brahms

MUSICIANS Hannah Frey, violin Elizabeth Ramos, violin Chris Tantillo, viola Valentina Takova, cello Dana Hotle, clarinet Michael Holmes, saxophone Adrianne Honnold, saxophone

First, we hear from our guest saxophonist, Michael Holmes. He joins us from Champaign Urbana, Illinois. 

Michael: Adria, written in 1985, is a very intricate piece that features many idiomatic compositional techniques specific to the saxophone. The composer, Christian Lauba, is well known for his avant-garde saxophone compositions. Lauba tends to explore many extended techniques, wide ranges of dynamics, and extended ranges of the saxophone in his compositions... this is certainly showcased in Adria. This composition, for two saxophones, is said to evoke the sounds of the Adriatic River which is sometimes tranquil and at other times agitated.

I think that a good composition has two primary objectives: tension and release. Adria certainly incorporates both of these objectives, and there are few moments that are extremely successful during the composition. My favorite moments of the piece are  when the composer asks both of the saxophonists to play at extraordinarily soft dynamics and then creates very tight melodic lines with a hemiola (3:2) between the two parts. These moments create such a beautiful shimmer and texture... I hope that the audience enjoys them as much as I do!

Adrianne and I have had the great fortune to play to together in various ensembles throughout the years, but it has been many years since we have had the chance to play a duet together. I am delighted to be performing with Chamber Project St. Louis and with my dear friend Adrianne!

Next we hear from our clarinetist, Dana. 

Dana: I've really been looking  forward to this particular program all year. First of all, I love the name, and I love the crazy variety of music being showcased, and more than anything, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Brahms Clarinet Quintet. I've been listening to the Brahms since high school. Over the years I've amassed more recordings than I care to admit, some of which I never even listened to until I started prepping for this concert. (A 1962 recording on vinyl by Members of the Vienna Octet, Alfred Boskovsky on clarinet, has become a favorite.)  What is it about this piece that draws people in, and not just clarinet players? Well, from a musicians standpoint, it's quite a masterpiece - but even to the neophyte, this music can strike a deep chord. It begins with one of the most beautiful and plaintive melodies ever heard, and meanders from there into intense rhythmic exclamations, and then back and forth through a variety of emotions and intensities. There's a rhythmic drive in this movement that I love.

The second movement, which is incredibly difficult, is absolutely worth the effort. To me, Brahms better than anyone, can capture the feeling of nostalgia, the essence of memory, of being half asleep and half awake. This is what I love about Classical music, it can express these more subtle and complex emotions and experiences - far beyond just happiness and sadness. In this particular movement, the sense of nostalgia is so intense, it at times overwhelms me. As do the thousands of notes I have to play to pull it off. When I listen to it, I sometimes get intense color sensations (you know, that golden color that happens in the fall when the sun is setting, that color happens a lot.) When I'm playing it, I can't really think about that at all because the music is so difficult to play with either very slow, long phrases, or the embellished, dramatic ones with too many notes!

The third movement is a simple tune that wanders on and on like a  beautiful spring afternoon, with a brief rainstorm in the middle -  and the last section is a theme and variations which features each instrument. The entire work is cyclical - the beautiful and plaintive melody from the beginning comes back at the very end.

Brahms wrote this near the end of his career, when he was fully a master of his craft. You can hear it in the music, that this is written by a mature man, fully confident in his art. It's amazing really, when you look at a score and you realize that he thought about and wrote, by hand, every single note. 

We finished our first rehearsal just a few hours ago, and I was so stunned at the beginning of rehearsal that I was actually playing the music and not just listening to it I kept messing up!  I was also floored by how amazing our string quartet sounds!!!  You don't want to miss this concert!

Finally, our violinist Hannah answers a few questions about the program. 

What is your favorite piece on the program and why or what do you love about the piece you are playing? I am torn between the Brahms Clarinet Quintet and the Martinu Duo.  Brahms is one of my absolute favorite composers, but (sorry Dana!) the [Brahms] Violin Sonatas are my first love.  Quintets are tough for a self centered violinist like me, because I have to share the spotlight more than I'd like.  Seriously though, the piece is absolutely genius, but I almost more prefer listening than playing (and yes, it's been on in my car for the past several weeks!).  The Martinu on the other hand is so much fun to play.  I've already performed it in March with Laura, and I'm really looking forward to playing it again.

What is the most challenging aspect of this program?  Well, playing Brahms well is a weakness of mine.  Perhaps it's a weakness for everyone...when he writes sotto voce I always freak out because I feel like a gorgeous soft sound is just hard to do.  I'm much better at loud and bombastic!  The other really challenging thing is this one run of octaves in the last movement of the Martinu.  It's one of the most difficult technical passages I've had to play in a long time, and it happens twice.  I've been practicing it every day, but it just never sounds the way it should.  (Octaves, meaning two of the same notes, but one higher and one lower, and I have to use my first finger and my pinky finger while playing on two different strings and I have to move or shift my hand for EACH note.  Fast.)

 Is there a ‘magical moment’ for you in this music? You'll just have to watch my face to see.  There's a place in the Hayden when the saxophone enters and it just cracks me up, the effect is so cool. Brahms is full of magical moments, though I have a couple favorites, like I said, watch my face and you'll know...and I love the second movement of the Martinu--it's so dark and icy, and reminds me a lot of some of my favorite Shostakovich Symphonies.

Any fun/interesting stories from rehearsals?  ALWAYS.   But I think it's hard to tell a story from rehearsal in a way that is interesting to anyone else.  It's usually one of those "you had to be there" stories... I'll just say that it's always a challenging experience to work with my husband Chris [Tantillo, on viola].  We are both very passionate people and don't always work well together. We don't play together very often, and I think sometimes it can be tough for other people to work with us.  I'm almost more excited about our Martinu [Duo for violin and viola] because we can rehearse without worrying about if our interaction makes other people uncomfortable! {Dana here: rehearsals have been great! It's so fantastic to work with such passionate, engaged players who are pushing each other to be their best!}

Have you learned something new or interesting from studying for this concert? It's the first time I've performed a piece with one player (the Martinu with Laura in March) and then had to perform it just two weeks later with a different person [Chris].  I already know how I want the piece [to sound], but the new collaboration makes me see it in a whole new light.  It's really very fun, and one of my favorite things about music, which is also one of the things that most overwhelms me, is that there are a million right ways to turn a phrase.  I always tell my students,  "I don't care if you get louder or softer, or how you phrase this - really the only thing you can do wrong is to do nothing."

MUSICAL TERMS

avant-garde: A term generally used to describe art that is outside of the real of what is considered 'popular'. Art that pushes the boundaries of what art is. 

dynamics: The volume - how loud or soft the music is.

extended range: Refers to notes that are not considered within the everyday usage of the instrument. Usually very very high notes, but can refer to the very lowest notes on certain instruments, like saxophone and bassoon. These notes usually require unusual fingerings and are difficult to play.

hemiola: A way to use rhythm. When an even and an odd (or, two odd) amounts of notes are played within the same amount of time, within one beat. In this case, one person is playing 2 notes while the other is playing 3.

idiomatic: When the music is written in a way that fits very well with the natural abilities and strengths of the instrument it is written for.

movement: Large pieces of music are usually divided into sections, like chapters in a book. Each with its own character(s). Typically, movements are organized in groups of three or four, with the first movement being fast, the second slow, the third dance-like and the fourth also fast. In a three movement work, the dance-like section will be omitted.

phrase: Like a musical sentence - it's a smaller section of music with a recognizable beginning, middle and end. To "turn a phrase", how you shape the phrase, placing emphasis on some notes more than others.

score: The score contains all of the individual parts. The performers have only their own music, they don't see what the other musicians are playing. A conductor uses a score.

sotto voce: Literally, "under voice". To intentionally lower the volume of one's voice to create emphasis. In music, it means to play softer in a particular way, usually with a degree of intensity. Sometimes when there are two melodies at the same time, the composer will indicate the slightly less important melody with "sotto voce" to make it clear to the musician.

theme and variation: A way to structure music, a "form".  A melody is stated at the beginning, and the followed with variations on that theme. It's usually easy to pick out when the different sections begin and end because they will each have a unique character.

Wine Press Concert

Di you know our violinist Hannah is a blogger? She wrote a nice little post about our concert this past Friday night, with lots of pictures!

Meet Valentina

Our cellist, Valentina Takova shares her story.

I am from Sofia, Bulgaria. My childhood experience was very different than that of the kids here in the U.S., but I like where I come from and I think I turned out OK. I started playing the cello when I was six years old, but actually my big dream was to play the violin, because my older brother, my first cousin and my aunt played the violin. So naturally, I expected to play the violin. I could not wait to start.

Well, during communism you couldn't really choose what you want to do, and the Dean of the Sofia Music School had other plans for me. Getting in to the  school was very competitive at the time and of course, he had to make sure that all the kids of famous people got in. So even though the audition process was "official", there was quite a bit going on behind the scenes (many of the violin positions were already filled!). He counted the open violin spots, and then he counted the kids that he "had" to accept and realizing all the violin spots were taken, assigned me the cello. Major drama ensued in our house:  my dad showed up at home with a cello in a plastic bag, I ran away from him and cried…and cried….I was supposed to play the violin…my life was over…my world was falling apart! This lasted a few days. Once the initial shock was over I got used to playing the cello, and I am so glad it turned out this way. Violin players have very hard parts with so many notes! We cello players have to keep it together in the foundation of the group, but we get to play the most beautiful and heartbreaking melodies. With so much amazingly beautiful music written for the cello, I cannot complain!

My musical training was very strict and growing up in a music school we had lots of extra subjects like music theory, music history, solfege, harmony, acoustics (and more that I can't even remember) and of course I had cello lessons twice a week, chamber music and orchestra. I did not do much sports and most of the time while my friends were playing on the street, always whistling under my window to come out and play, I had to stay home and practice.

But now I am thankful. Because of my cello I was able to leave Bulgaria at the most difficult period, the late 1990s, get full scholarships in every school I attended, travel the world and live a life with beautiful music every day. I was able to escape the impossible task of finding a job in a post-Communist country where nothing was working right. Here in the United States I can (as Dana says) "Do what I love", and have a life that would be impossible in my country. I love Bulgaria and I miss it every day, but I know that my cello saved me and I am grateful every day.

Inspiration

"Art forms begin to die when they become bound by tradition rather than inspired by it; when they become deaf to the shout on the street; when they grow static as contemporary life gains speed and draws away; when they  become too refined, abstract and refuse to touch the ground." - Eddie Silva*

We couldn't agree more. This is why we started Chamber Project. As young passionate practitioners of an old and storied art form we feel its life, vitality, and tremendous energy. We want to share this with our community - for the people and for the art form itself. We want to let people in on the depth and breadth of the emotional, intellectual and even spiritual enjoyment that Classical Music has to offer.

In a time when we are bombarded with music everywhere - at the gas station, at the grocery store, from ring tones of the person behind us in line, it seems that our ears have become less attuned and less sensitive to music. How can we, as musicians, offer music to our audience in a fresh way?  In a way that doesn't just keep up with contemporary life, but becomes a part of it?

Inspired by the tradition of chamber music being performed in intimate social settings, we are experimenting with concert formats, and even more boldly with rehearsal formats. Opening the door for people to experience music in a personally relevant way is something we're passionate about. So next week we offer our second Very Open Rehearsal.

The V.O.R. is your chance to work with us as we explore music we are learning for an upcoming performance. Our first V.O.R in January was fantastic. The audience feedback during and after the event was incredible. There aren't really any rules - we play, we rehearse, and you ask any question that comes to mind (about the music that is), and we answer it. We get feedback about what we're doing in a truly useful way. In January, the audience helped us decide how slowly we should play the slow movement! You can watch a short video from the event at the end of this post. If you want to read a little more about what a V.O.R. is exactly you can read our post  A What? A VOR? from January.

On Wednesday March 14 Jen, Laura and Valentina will be having a Very Open Rehearsal of  Albert Roussel's Trio in preparation for our performance at The Wine Press on March 23.

Very Open Rehearsal Wednesday March 14, 7:00pm The Tavern of Fine Arts 313 Belt Avenue 63112 free/free parking all welcome

The Tavern of Fine Arts has new art on the walls this week- we can't wait to see it, we hear it's really amazing!

*Thanks to Eddie Silva, blogger for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for the inspiration for this post! The quote above was from "Celebrating The Ballets Russes" which I found in my SLSO program this weekend. You can read more of his writing on the SLSO blog. http://www.stlsymphony.org/blog/

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lqAJ6_-8k84]

Related articles

• A What? A VOR? (chamberprojectstl.wordpress.com)

Intimate Songs

As you might know, we don't print detailed program notes for our concerts, preferring to converse with our audience during the concert. We know our audience to be a curious bunch, so once again we want to bring you a little more perspective about the music here in our blog. On Thursday February 23rd, we will present the program we call "Intimate Songs". This concert features an unusual assortment of instruments; voice, viola, saxophone and piano. This program was such a huge hit with our audience last year, we wanted to do it again. The musical selections span over 120 years, from the height of the Romantic Era in 1884, to modern living composers in the last decade. The program contains a rich, deep spectrum of styles and emotions; from a lullaby written for dear friends expecting their first child, to a powerful work that reflects on the events of 9/11.  If you want your music experience to be more than toe tapping computer generated beats (which are great from time to time - no offense to the dub-step lovers!) this is the program for you!

I asked the performers to answer a few questions about the music in this program and compiled it.  First, the necessary info: Who's performing and what will they play? Then the musicians' thoughts and feelings about the music.   At the end is a glossary of musical terms that come up in the musicians' answers the average music lover might not be familiar with.

THE MUSICIANS

Debra Hillabrand, mezzo-soprano Adrianne Honnold, saxophones Larua Reycraft, viola Peter Henderson, piano

THE MUSIC

JOHANNES BRAHMS l Two Songs op.91 (1884) mezzo-soprano, viola, & piano I. Gestillte Sehnsucht        II. Geistliches Wiegenlied

LORI LAITMAN l Living in the Body (2001) based on poetry by Joyce Sutphen - female voice & alto saxophone I.    Burning the Woods of My Childhood     II. Living in the Body      III.  Not For Burning IV.  Lost at Table     V.   Bring on the Rain      VI. Crossroads

LIBBY LARSEN l Sifting Through the Ruins (2005) mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano I.   A Listing II.  To the Towers Themselves III. Don’t look for me anymore (from the wailing wall at Grand Central Station) IV. Untitled V.  Someone Passes

PAUL HINDEMITH b Trio op.47 (1928) viola, tenor saxophone, piano I. Erster Teil           II. Zweiter Teil: Potpourri

Tell us a little about this program. 

Peter (piano): It's a great pleasure to collaborate again with friends from the Chamber Project and with the talented singer Debra Hillabrand. I'm grateful to be revisiting three beautiful pieces with them this month on the "Intimate Songs" program.

Libby Larsen's powerful song cycle Sifting Through the Ruins skillfully balances musical contrast and repetition in setting texts drawn from personal responses to 9/11. Reflective and visceral by turns, Larsen's music makes a tremendous emotional impact.

I'm also fascinated by Hindemith's Trio op. 47. Hindemith's trademark counterpoint is on display throughout the work, but what amazes me the most is the tremendous rhythmic energy sustained. Aside from the Arioso, a duet for saxophone and piano near its beginning, the entire piece is electric. The second part ("Potpourri") begins in a high energy state, ratchets up the tension in a whirling fugato, and ends with a truly manic, Prestissimo coda. Apart the extreme concentration in its style, Hindemith's Trio features an attractive touch of whimsy. We hope that you enjoy this unusual and vibrant program!

Do you have a favorite piece or musical moment on this program? 

Laura (viola): I really love the lyricism and expressiveness of the Brahms songs.  The second Brahms song is a cradle song and I can imagine rocking a child to sleep, especially at the close of the song.

Sifting Through the Ruins [Larsen] is very effective in the way it draws the audience in emotionally. Susanne Mentzer, the mezzo-soprano who premiered the Larsen, privately collected the texts used in Sifting Through the Ruins from memorials around New York City as part of her quest to understand the events of 9/11. The third movement of the Larsen is the pinnacle of the work.  It really gets to the heart of what the piece is all about - searching for a lost loved one and the process of grieving and moving on.  The voice of the missing gives permission for the living to do so.

Debra (voice): Really, Sophie's Choice?  You're going to make me choose between my children?  Well, if I must, would have to say the Larsen.  Simply because during the performance, the audience becomes so involved and inspiring.  Their reactions and silence add to the intensity.

In the "Sifting Through the Ruins", the transition from the second to the third movement is bone chilling.  The end of "To the Towers Themselves" has grown into the loudest wail

we've heard yet, and then "Don't look for me anymore" begins with a solemn, lone sounding of the viola.  It almost takes my breath away before singing the weary text [that follows].

I'm always inspired by extremes and intense growth in a musical phrase. In "Geisliches Wiegenlied," [Brahms] the lullaby grows in intensity as the mother becomes worried about the wind.  She asks the roaring wind how it can so angrily bluster today, then exclaims "O rauscht nicht also" (oh roar not so).  At this moment, voice, viola, and piano all reach the climax of dynamic and intensity.  I get chills every time.

Adrianne (saxophones): I came across Laitman's "Living in the Body" because I knew of one of her more well-known works for alto saxophone and soprano voice entitled "I Never Saw Another Butterfly" which was performed at a saxophone conference at Northwestern University back in 1998.  The piece turned into somewhat of a "hit" amongst saxophonists, but we weren't able to program it for Chamber Project with Debra because the range was too high for a mezzo soprano.  I'm so glad we came across this work of Laitman's instead.

I think it's cool that both the poet and composer of the work are women who are living and working in the arts today.  As a saxophonist, I've only had a handful of opportunities to

perform with vocalists over the years so this is a fun and unique experience for me.  Also, Debra and I have enjoyed bringing to life the subtle nuances, the humor, and sometimes even the sadness that is expressed through the text and so adeptly through the music that Lori Laitman has composed.  Kathryn Mary Drake, DMA voice student at LSU had this to say about the piece in her doctoral dissertation:  "The saxophone adds to the rather bleak texture, creating a distinct atmosphere of nostalgia and often creating musical imagery to further describe the meaning of the text."

This is not the kind of piece you hear everyday...glad to be presenting it here in St. Louis again!

Is there anything you disliked or were challenged by on this program?

Debra: Anything that I didn't like initially, I tried to figure out how the composer was using the music to convey the goals and/or emotions of the character.  Once I figured how the composer was using the seemingly disagreeable music and I had character-driven motivation, I didn't find any parts that I really disliked.

Because the Laitman is for voice and saxophone only, the harmonies are not as obvious as a piece with piano or multiple instruments would be.  As a singer learning a piece, I listen for the harmonic progression to help me find my pitches and lead me where I'm going.  I had to dig a little deeper when learning "Living in the Body."

Adrianne: The Hindemith definitely ranks up there as one of the hardest pieces I've ever performed because of the rhythmic complexities inherent in his writing.  Totally worth it though!

Laura: The last page of the Hindemith is the most technically difficult for me, but the whole piece challenges the trio to play faster, louder and more brilliantly.

The opportunity to play the program again is fantastic.  I think that letting the Hindemith sit and age for almost a year is exactly what we needed to play it even better this time, even though it is still difficult after all of this time!

Does any of this music create a story line for you?

Debra: Since I almost always have text to work with, the story's framework is usually apparent.  The biggest joy I have in preparing songs is discovering the characters' journeys and emotions within the framework.  I love discovering how I think the composer feels about the character by analyzing the text treatment and text painting. The discoveries are endless!  These discoveries reveal a very specific story for each piece which I love conveying to the audience.

-cpstl

MORE

To learn more about the Two Songs by Brahms, and their touching and tragic origins, click here

IN CONCERT:  Thursday February 21st, 7:30 pm Washington University Danforth University Center Goldberg Formal Loung free

DEFINITIONS: 

coda: the ending section of a large piece of music. Is usually set apart from the rest of the work somehow. In this case, the Hindemith, it's by the tempo - the music speeds up in the coda (this is a common coda thing to do).

counterpoint: A type of musical texture. A musical texture is the way the various 'lines' of music are layered. Counterpoint is one of the more complicated textures in which two more more melodies compete for the attention of the listener. The music tends to sound very 'busy' and intellectually stimulating.

fugato: a more specific type of counterpoint loosely modeled on the formal structure of a Fugue. This will contain "imitative counterpoint". A simple example of imitative counterpoint is the Round. (Think:  "Row Row Row Your Boat".) Basically, one instrument 'states' the melody, and others jump in with the same melody while the first is still making it's statement.

harmony: two or more notes sounding at the same time. Some combinations are common, others are not.

harmonic progressions: Also known as chord progressions. The order in which harmonies are played. There are very standard progressions that you have heard thousands of times. In classical music, creating unusual and effective chord progressions is a huge part of the music.

musical phrase: a section of music that has a distinct beginning, middle and end. Much like sentence structure.

pitches: notes

Prestissimo: very, very, very fast

text painting: Loosely refers to the way that the meaning of the words being sung is reflected in the way they are put to the music. If the word is "high" - the note sung might be a very high pitch. (also called 'word painting')

Starting to plan next season

This is by Hannah, violinist and one of the newest members of Chamber Project:

First of all, congrats to everybody on a wonderful concert Saturday afternoon at Forest Park Community College.  I was happy not to be playing for once, so I could sit and enjoy the awesome music!  It was a great program and a great crowd, and Adrianne, Melissa, Jen, Dana, and Nina outdid themselves.

Can you believe it's already 2012?  We have several more concerts scheduled, all the way into June, BUT what you may not know is that we are already starting to plan the 2012-2013 season.  This is my first year being involved in the planning and I wanted to share with you a bit of how this gets started.  After all, with (now) eight musicians and virtually endless repertoire possibilities, how on earth can we narrow it down to approximately six different programs?

Well, honestly, I can't answer that question.  It seems like a truly daunting task!

What I can do is tell you a little about our meeting last Monday.  We got together for lunch and brainstorming about next season's repertoire.  Everybody was instructed to make a list of pieces they wanted to play, along with the timing and instrumentation (meaning, is it for violin, saxophone, piano?  Or what?) of each piece.

You can see somebody's notes in the background, if you squint, but most importantly you can see brownies!  I personally had a hard time focusing on the meeting due to the presence of the brownies, but that's just me.

After we ate lunch, we went around the table and talked about various pieces we each wanted to perform. 

This is all a new process for me, but I was told it works best to come up with the longest work or most involved work and then plan the program around that.  Having a theme (for instance this year we had concerts called  "Combinatorics" and "Folk Freedom") helps too, as then we can choose repertoire based on that them for the concert.

We brainstormed a few concert themes, and talked about some larger pieces that would be the bread and butter of those concerts.  Another thing we have to keep in mind is that not all of our venues have a piano, so we need a few programs without piano. 

Everybody had a chance to put in their input and we took many notes.  I personally was shocked by how knowledgeable everybody is about various composers—many that I had never heard of! 

You can see Dana getting very animated about something!  You can also see that the other end of the table hadn't finished all of their brownies, and again, this was distracting to me.  How can they be talking when there are BROWNIES in front of them?

After about two or three hours we had to wrap up the meeting.  We probably ended up with five or six concert themes and numerous pieces suggested for each one. It was a very successful meeting!

The next step is narrowing it down to a series of programs that is a good length, interesting for the audience, and not too challenging for any one musician, and Laura and Adrianne will be doing most of the work on that, I think.  It helps to have eight people, but sometimes it's better just to have a couple people working together.

Did you think I would tell you anything we have decided?  I can't do that!  I am sworn to secrecy not to give anything away (okay, and we really haven't finalized anything yet!).  I do know that next season is going to be even better than this season, and that's a tough act to follow, in my opinion.

So, what do you want to hear?  If you have attended concerts this year, what has been your favorite piece so far?  We'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Meet Melissa!

Melissa is performing with Chamber Project for the first time this Saturday! She is a Core Member of Chamber Project, and brings a lot to the table! She writes about her instrument, her story,  and gives a preview of the music we're performing on Saturday Greetings from the Bassoon section!

Being a woodwind player, and especially a bassoonist, I approach chamber music with two minds. On the one hand, I have some great repertoire, by great composers, that I love to play. But I also am extremely envious of string players and pianists and their seemingly endless supply of Beethoven Quartets, Mozart Sonatas, Bartok Quartets, and Shostakovich Quintets. The woodwind repertoire has so few works that I feel like are on that level, that some days I wish I had picked up the viola or the cello instead of the bassoon. That being said, I love my instrument, how it sounds (on good days at least), and I love playing chamber music, whether it’s by Walter Piston or by Mozart.

I switched to bassoon (from flute) as a freshman in high school, so almost as soon as I could figure out how to hold the thing I had teachers recruiting me for orchestras and chamber groups. Chamber music has been a part of my musical life from the very beginning. Chamber music is intimate, communicative, fun, conversational, challenging, and always different with different people. To be good at it, you have to be good at your instrument, good at accompanying, good at leading, and good with all kinds of personalities. I think most musicians think of it as the most fun you can have while playing your instrument.

I have played all the pieces on Saturday’s program at other points in my life (except the one work that has no bassoon part…) So in some ways this program has been a walk down memory lane, reminding me of places and people from my musical past. But I’ve never played these works with the ladies of Chamber Project, or in St. Louis before. The Piston trio (Three Pieces) is the work I have the most experience with. It was really fun to play it at the Very Open Rehearsal with Jen, Dana, and an audience. It’s a great work. Piston is a really smart composer. Each movement has a small kernel of an idea with 3 layers (one layer in each instrument). He develops the movement by playing with the layers, rearranging them, shifting them, and repeating them. Listen carefully to the first few measures of each movement, and you can unfold the rest of the piece from that first idea.

Charles Koechlin (1867-1950) is not a particularly well-known composer, although many of his works have finally been published in the last 20 years or so. He was a student of Faure. He was a big fan of Bach’s music, and you absolutely hear that influence in his Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon. Like the Piston, each movement is based on a small idea, but gets developed in a Baroque style rather than a more 20^th Century style. (Interestingly, the works were written a year apart- Koechlin’s in 1924, and the Piston in 1925.) While the way he develops his ideas are old-fashioned, his harmony and use of instrumental color are all 20^th Century, and reminiscent of Faure. The first and second movements of the Trio have a theme that gets passed around and is ever-present, while the other two voices add counterpoint- similar to a chaccone or use of a cantus firmus. The last movement is a fugue. (You can’t get much more Bach-like than that.) I am a giant fan of Koechlin’s, because his Bassoon Sonata is gorgeous, and probably my favorite solo work.

The first time I played the Poulenc Trio was in the spring of 1992, almost exactly 20 years ago. I’ve been practicing from the part that I used for that performance. (You should be impressed that I still have it, after all this time, and through the 7 moves to different cities I’ve made since then.) It’s comforting and horrifying to me that the passages I marked back then as needing “some extra attention” are exactly the same passages that need attention now. I’m telling myself that they don’t need as much attention now as they did then, but I’m not sure if that’s true. Some things are just difficult, no matter how experienced you are. I love this piece as much today as ever. It’s exuberant, highly influenced by the French cabaret music that Poulenc’s life was filled with, and so much fun to play. When Adrienne suggested substituting soprano sax for oboe, I was a little skeptical, but curious to hear how it would sound. At the risk of offending some oboists, I have to say that I think it’s a great substitution, and Adrienne is doing a great job. I think Poulenc would approve.

Another First!

When you start something from nothing, as we have with Chamber Project, you have a lot of "firsts" along the way. Our first concert, our first write up in the paper, our first dollar, our first fundraiser. The mix of scary and exciting and rewarding is difficult to explain, but it's quite an experience! Last Thursday, on a bitterly cold and windy night, we had our first ever Very Open Rehearsal. We were more than a little worried that the weather would scare people off, but it didn't! We had a great crowd!  We set up the room to get as many people as we could as close as possible to us.  Another first this night was that we had never, ever, played the music together that we were about to play in front of a crowd of people. This felt a little like showing up to play a formal concert in a swim suit. Just wrong. We got our first question before we even started to play, which loosened us up a bit.  We played through the first movement, had to stop once and restart. It was a little ragged. We had tons of great questions from the audience, and the improvement made in the music was  fantastic.

We put together a little montage of the event and put it up on youtube (another first!). Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqAJ6_-8k84]

Rehearsing with an audience was an amazing experience. It forced us to focus more, we took bigger risks musically during the rehearsal than we usually do. It was really fun to laugh and play with the audience. The positive response from the audience was overwhelming. We will be doing this again! Thanks to The Tavern of Fine Arts for having us!

This Saturday we perform the music we rehearsed at our VOR in our concert called "Combinatorics".  The program is full of energetic, spirited music, including one of the great chamber works of all time by Poulenc for oboe (we're using soprano sax), bassoon and piano.  All of the music has a connection to France.  It will be about an hour long.

DETAILS

Saturday January 21, 3:00 Mildred E. Bastian Center for the Performing Arts St. Louis Community College @ Forest Park 5600 Oakland Ave. http://www.stlcc.edu/Maps/Forest_Park.html free, free parking, kids 8 and up welcome

MUSICIANS: 

Jennifer Gartley, flute Dana Hotle, clarinet Adrianne Honnold, saxophone Melissa Mackey, bassoon Nina Ferrigno, piano

COMBINATORICS PROGRAM

5 pieces for trio (1935) Jacques Ibert

Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon (1924)
Charles Koechlin

Sonate for Flute, Clarinet and Piano (1907)
Maurice Emmanuel

Three Pieces for Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon (1925) Walter Piston

Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano (1926)
Francis Poulenc

A What? A VOR?

post by Dana

A WHAT? A VOR!

What is a VOR? It is a Very Open Rehearsal. Well, what is that? It's an interactive music experience, where the audience works with the musicians during a real rehearsal.

Musicians practice for hours and hours individually, locked in a room, alone with our instruments and the music in front of us. Coming up for air to look up a term or check in with a recording, then back to work. Then we rehearse with other musicians, behind locked doors, and then finally, we go public in performance. But what exactly are we doing behind those locked doors? Why does it need to be such a secret? I think most musicians would agree that one of the most interesting aspects of being a musician is the transformation that takes place between the rehearsals and the performance. For me, this is the single most interesting thing about music, the transformation from start to finish. And now you get the chance to be a part of the transformation.

Next week, Chamber Project will be having our first ever VOR. To our knowledge, this is the first VOR that is open to the public in St. Louis. Pioneered in New York by Thomas Cabaniss and the New York Philharmonic's education initiatives,  the VOR invites the audience to engage with music in a new and active way. The musicians rehearse but the audience can interrupt at any point and ask any questions that they have about what is going on in the rehearsal. Yes, that's right. The audience interrupts and asks questions.

Our musicians; Jen, Dana and Melissa, will be rehearsing music that we are performing on our January 21st concert. This will be the first time we rehearse this particular music. We will play through the selected music (about 5 minutes long), and then begin rehearsing, at which point the audience is invited to question anything we say or play. We might just ask a few questions back. After we've rehearsed, with your help, we will  finish by performing the musical selection.  You don't just hear the transformation, you get to be a part of it!

One of the things we have learned from getting to know our audience, and from being educators, is that musicians hear differently than everyone else. But we also know that it's because we are trained to hear. All those lessons our parents paid for? All those years and years of college?  It's not to learn to play, it's to learn to listen. If you cant' hear it, you can't do it on your instrument.  The act of listening is something that is learned. The more you know, the deeper your potential for enjoyment is. Having personally meaningful and fully engaging listening experiences is a joyful and even empowering event. We want to open the door to everyone to a deeper listening experience. We think that the VOR is the perfect way to do this.

VOR will be held on Thursday January 12, 7:00 at The Tavern of Fine Arts. It will last about an hour. Come anytime during that hour, and enjoy the great wine list and food at The Tavern!

313 Belt Avenue, St. Louis MO 63112         http://tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com/

What does it all mean?

posted by Dana We are in the midst of our first ever fundraising campaign - our "Countdown to 2012".  It's an incredible time for us.  This time of year, we are all asked to give so much, yet people have given more. We are humbled, overwhelmed, encouraged, inspired, thankful, very very thankful. And, we're sorting through what this all means. Beyond having the funds to pay our musicians, and the funds to have a professionally built website and much more - what does this mean?

We had no idea what this would be like. Would people give? How much,  how often? We put this campaign together literally in hours. We meet with a professional development person who said "What are you waiting for - START NOW". So we did, in a burst of activity; calling a few supporters to get the initial challenge donations, making the database, the thank you follow ups, and everything else as we went. It's been a rush! And, to top it all off, we're doing this during the holidays. This made us wonder, "Would people give? Is it a bad time of year, or good time of year to start this?" This is always an intense time of year for me personally, and then we added this. And boy have my wheels been turning!

What does it all mean? Hanukkah? Christmas? The New Year? People giving money to this Project I helped start?  I always wonder, as a spiritualy unconventional person, how do I fit into all of this holiday craziness?  As one who is always seeking the deeper meaning and substance in life, who is appreciative of, but not belonging to any organized religion, what does all this holiday stuff mean?

Somehow, this fundraiser has finally given me an answer. In the midst of populating a database and sending emails, I paused and cleaned up my desk. I stumbled on a letter from a friend who is raising money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society (She's doing the St. Anthony's Triathlon in April!). I immediately put a check in the mail. It felt great. And then I began to figure it out.

It all started to make sense to me. All because of the Countdown to 2012 Fundraising Challenge. Somehow, the generosity that has been bestowed upon us, has shown me what all these religions are celebrating. It's the gift of gratitude, this is what this season is about. It's about gratitude. We give to people (or fledgling non-profit arts groups) that we are grateful for. Christians are grateful for the gift of Christ. Jews are grateful for the miracle of light in the Temple. We are grateful for the gifts we receive, and perhaps even more grateful, if we sit and think about it, for the gifts we are able to give.

We have a few more days left in our Challenge to 2012 Fundraising Countdown. If you'd like to make a contribution, of any amount (somehow the smallest donations pull at the heart strings the most), we will be grateful and put your hard earned money to work in our community with enthusiasm and generosity.

by check:   Chamber Project St. Louis, 4195 Wyoming Street, St. Louis MO 63116

online:  click here for PayPal link

Thank you and Happy New Year from all of us at Chamber Project!

Dana playing with a Rock Band. Scroll down to listen to the whole thing for free. It's great. This has generated over $4000 for a local food pantry so far!

The full poem "Sixth Night"

The Rabbi James Stone Goodmans Blog