Concerts and Tickets

The Atlanta Chamber Players 34th season:

10/04/09
Chamber Music in Art Spaces — “Rapido!”

Sunday, October 4, 2009
3:00 pm

Walter Hill Auditorium
High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree Street, Atlanta
www.high.org

Advance Seats: atlantachamberplayers.tix.com
$20 Adults, $10 Students with ID

For parking information, visit www.woodruffcenter.org/parking.aspx

“Rapido!”

  • BEETHOVEN — Fourteen Variations, Opus 44 (piano trio)
  • HIGDON — Southern Harmony (2003) (string quartet)
  • GANDOLFI — History of the World in Seven Acts (2009)
    (flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion) Southeastern Premiere
  • RAPIDO! A 14-Day Composition Contest – Finals Round featuring works by finalist composers: Alan Elkins, Jon Jeffrey Grier, Paul Richards, Seyed Safavynia

Paula Peace, piano • Christina Smith, flute • Alcides Rodriguez, bass clarinet • Justin Bruns, violin • John Meisner, violin • Catherine Lynn, viola • Brad Ritchie, cello • Tom Sherwood, percussion

We proudly open our season by presenting the Finals Round of “Rapido! A 14-Day Composition Contest.” Following extensive competition and judging this past summer, short entries by the four finalist composers will be performed and judged by a distinguished panel of guest judges – and the audience in attendance! The First Prize winning composer will be awarded a commission to expand and “finish” the work for premiere performance at our April 28 final concert of the season. The program opens with Beethoven’s masterful Fourteen Variations for piano trio, followed by works from Atlanta School of Composers Jennifer Higdon and Michael Gandolfi, familiar to Atlanta audiences through recent ASO performances. Higdon’s Southern Harmony string quartet features Southern flavors – from pensive, longing intensity to fiddling and toe-tapping rhythms. Our audience also will be treated to the Southeastern premiere of Gandolfi’s new sextet for winds, strings, piano and percussion, which combines chamber music with a fascinating 14-minute computer animation.

11/15/09
Chamber Music in Sacred Spaces — “Spotlight on Winds”

Sunday, November 15, 2009
3:00 pm

Srochi Chapel
Ahavath Achim Synagogue
600 Peachtree Battle Avenue, Atlanta

Advance Seats: atlantachamberplayers.tix.com
$20 Adults, $10 Students with ID

Convenient, free public parking

“Spotlight on Winds”

  • MOZART — Quartet in C Major for Flute & Strings, K. 258b
  • LOEFFLER — La Cornemuse (The Bagpipe) from Deux Rhapsodies (oboe, viola, piano)
  • TELEMANN — Quartet Sonata No. 1 in G Major from Tafelmusik (flute, oboe, violin, continuo)
  • SHOSTAKOVICH — Piano Trio in E Minor, Opus 67

Paula Peace, piano • Christina Smith, flute • Elizabeth Koch, oboe • Justin Bruns, violin • Catherine Lynn, viola • Brad Ritchie, cello

We are delighted to return to the Ahavath Achim Synagogue for our “Sacred Spaces” concert this season. The program spotlights flutist Christina Smith in Mozart’s graceful Quartet in C Major with string trio, followed by a spotlight on oboist Elizabeth Koch in Alsatian composer Charles Martin Loeffler’s gorgeous, Impressionistic The Bagpipe for oboe, viola and piano. Baroque master Georg Philipp Telemann’s G Major Quartet is a lyrical and lively treat for flute, oboe and violin, plus continuo of cello and keyboard. Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1944 Piano Trio in E Minor is considered one of the greatest musical works from the World War II era. This profoundly moving work combines mystery and pathos with war machine rhythms and Jewish melodies – at the time when news of the Holocaust was just beginning to surface.

1/26/10
Chamber Music at the Tavern — “A Soldier’s Tale”

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tavern opens for British Pub menu at 6:15 pm
Concert at 7:30 pm

New American Shakespeare Tavern
499 Peachtree Street, Atlanta

Box Office: www.shakespearetavern.com and 404-874-5299
$20 Adults, $10 Students with ID

Convenient parking located across the street at Crawford Long Hospital
Bring your parking ticket to theatre for discount coupon

“A Soldier’s Tale”

  • BACH — Flute Sonata in C Major (flute, cello, harpsichord)
  • CARTER — Enchanted Preludes (1988) (flute, cello)
  • STRAVINSKY — L’Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier’s Tale) (violin, bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet, trombone, percussion, conductor)

Paula Peace, harpsichord • Christina Smith, flute • Brad Ritchie, cello • Justin Bruns, violin • Douglas Sommer, bass • Laura Ardan, clarinet • Carl Nitchie, bassoon • Thomas Hooten, cornet • Colin Williams, trombone • Tom Sherwood, percussion • Michael Moore, conductor

With Actors & Dancers from the Atlanta Shakespeare Company roster

We are thrilled to return to the New American Shakespeare Tavern downtown twice this season. This winter concert features an exciting, staged performance of Igor Stravinsky’s 1918 theatrical masterpiece – L’Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier’s Tale), complete with seven ACP musicians plus narrator, actors and dancers from the theater roster. Stravinsky’s virtuosic music is set to a Russian folk tale about a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for a book with great powers. Joining ACP regulars Justin Bruns (violin), Laura Ardan (clarinet), Carl Nitchie (bassoon) and Douglas Sommer (bass) will be ASO Principals Thomas Hooten (trumpet), Colin Williams (trombone), Tom Sherwood (percussion), and Michael Moore (conductor.) A short first half features the Baroque soul and bravura of Johann Sebastian Bach, followed by American Elliott Carter’s brilliant 1988 duo for flute and cello, Enchanted Preludes, inspired by poetry of Wallace Stevens. Our audience is invited to enjoy – beginning at 6:15 pm - the British pub menu and libation at the Shakespeare Tavern. Or just come for the 7:30 pm concert downbeat.

For more information read our Program Notes.

(Dinner and drinks are not included in the concert ticket price.)

2/28/10
Spivey Hall — “Twilight & Bright”

Sunday, February 28, 2010
3:00 pm

Spivey Hall
Clayton State University, Morrow

Box Office: www.spiveyhall.org and 678-466-4200
$25 Adults, Students half-price with ID

“Twilight & Bright”

  • HARBISON — Twilight Music (1985) (violin, horn, piano)
  • ROREM — Bright Music (1987) (flute, two violins, cello, piano)
  • SCHUMANN — Piano Quartet, Opus 47

Paula Peace, piano • Christina Smith, flute • Richard Deane, horn • Justin Bruns, violin • John Meisner, violin • Catherine Lynn, viola • Brad Ritchie, cello

We begin our annual concert at the renowned Spivey Hall with engaging works by two of our greatest American composers – John Harbison and Ned Rorem. Pulitzer Prize winning composer Harbison, one of America’s most respected artistic figures, turns to the unusual trio of horn, violin and piano in his evocative and haunting Twilight Music. Rorem’s “bright” quintet, by contrast, is buoyant and optimistic and takes inspiration from the Fandango, Picasso’s blue period, and music of Chopin. Anchoring this program is the long-time ACP audience and musician favorite, Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet. The bicentennial of Schumann’s birth is a perfect occasion to return to one of our finest works for piano and strings, by one of music history’s most beloved, quintessentially romantic composers.

4/28/10
Chamber Music at the Tavern — “Premieres & Prodigies”

Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tavern opens for British Pub menu at 6:15 pm
Concert at 7:30 pm

New American Shakespeare Tavern
499 Peachtree Street, Atlanta

Box Office: www.shakespearetavern.com and 404-874-5299
$20 Adults, $10 Students with ID

Convenient parking located across the street at Crawford Long Hospital
Bring your parking ticket to theatre for discount coupon

“Premieres & Prodigies”

  • MOZART — Quintet for Piano & Winds, K. 452 (piano, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon)
  • RAPIDO! — World Premiere (oboe, violin, viola, cello, piano)
    Commissioned by the ACP
  • MENDELSSOHN — String Quartet in E minor, Opus 44, no. 2

Paula Peace, piano • Elizabeth Koch, oboe • Laura Ardan, clarinet • Carl Nitchie, bassoon • Richard Deane, horn • Justin Bruns, violin • John Meisner, violin • Catherine Lynn, viola • Brad Ritchie, cello

We close our season by presenting the world premiere of the completed First Prize winning work from October’s “Rapido! A 14-Day Composition Contest.” This much-anticipated premiere will be the culmination of the past summer’s quickly composed entries, the fall’s public concert competition and the winter’s completion of the expanded composition. Also featured are chamber works by two of music’s most gifted prodigies – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Felix Mendelssohn. Mozart’s Quintet for Piano & Winds is a cherished masterpiece of elegance and refined emotion and beautifully showcases the distinctive tone qualities of each of the four wind instruments. Even Mozart himself wrote that it was “the best” piece he had yet written. Expressive melodies and fervent rhythms make the String Quartet in E Minor by Mendelssohn a high-energy and memorable end to our season. As always at the Tavern, our audience is invited to enjoy – beginning at 6:15 pm – the British pub menu and libation. Or just come for the 7:30 pm concert downbeat.

For more information read our PROGRAM NOTES.

(Dinner and drinks are not included in the concert ticket price. Seats are general admission.)

Subscription Packages and Single Seats

Subscription Packages of 3, 4 or 5 Concerts:

NEW! BIG SAVINGS!

Subscription Packages Now Available!

Choose a substantially discounted subscription package of 3 (Trio), 4 (Quartet) or 5 (Quintet) concerts this season!

  • “Quintet” Package: All 5 concerts - $75 (full price $105, saves $30!)
  • “Quartet” Package: Any 4 concerts - $65 (saves up to $20!)
  • “Trio” Package: Any 3 concerts - $50 (saves up to $15!)

Purchase a subscription package of your desired dates.

Discount will be given at time of purchase of subscription package. (Tickets to Spivey Hall and Shakespeare Tavern concerts available only in subscription package on this purchase page.)

Subscription packages include adult tickets only. No exchanges or refunds, please.

Advance Single Seats Online:

For Oct. 4 and Nov. 15 concerts — atlantachamberplayers.tix.com

For Feb. 28 concert — www.spiveyhall.org

For Jan. 26 and Apr. 28 concerts — www.shakespearetavern.com

Fully Subscribed
The Soirée Series

SoireeThe Atlanta Chamber Players perform six subscription soirée concerts per year in homes and intimate settings in the Atlanta metro area. This informal series complements the group’s formal public artistic concerts. The soirées are fully subscribed with a waiting list and are limited to approximately 70 attendees at each, depending on the size and available performance space of the home.

A growing list of loyal and passionate supporters eagerly await the chance to hear beautiful music performed expertly by leading musicians of the Atlanta Symphony, see incredible local homes, learn about chamber music, instruments, and composers and meet other chamber music enthusiasts. Our soirée audience and ACP musicians alike count these experiences among their favorite musical outlets.