Concert Archive:

Sunday, October 23, 2011
3:00 pm

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

Advance tickets: www.atlantachamberplayers.tix.com
$20 Adults, $15 Seniors, $10 Students
STUDENT RUSH tickets - $5 at the door!

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

"COMMISSIONS THEN & NOW"

• Geoffrey BUSH — Trio (oboe, bassoon, piano)
  
• John ELMQUIST — World Premiere of RAPIDO! National First Prize
  Winning 2011 Commission (flute, clarinet, cello, piano)
  
• Ludwig van BEETHOVEN — String Quartet in Eb Major, Opus 127

Paula Peace, piano • Christina Smith, flute, alto flute, piccolo
Alcides Rodriguez, clarinet, bass clarinet • Elizabeth Koch, oboe • Carl Nitchie, bassoon
Justin Bruns, violin • John Meisner, violin • Catherine Lynn, viola • Brad Ritchie, cello

Our season opening concert features two commissioned works, one from 1825 and the other a 2011 world premiere. The program begins with an impressive - though largely unknown - 1953 trio for oboe, bassoon and piano by British composer Geoffrey Bush. As the climax to the 2010-2011 Rapido! Composition Contest, we are proud to present the world premiere of Chicagoan John Elmquist’s “Junk Shot,” which won the First Prize Commission in January 2011 from a field of almost 300 entries from 29 states. Work on the composition was begun in June 2010, during the catastrophic Gulf oil spill, and a “junk shot” was the first major effort to stop the spill. Elmquist’s recently expanded commission will feature flute (doubling alto and piccolo), clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), cello and piano. Beethoven’s magnificent Opus 127 string quartet anchors the concert, one of three late quartets commissioned by Prince Galitzin and one of the greatest commission gifts to the world in music history.

Sunday, January 29, 2012
3:00 pm

Ahavath Achim Synagogue
600 Peachtree Battle Avenue, Atlanta
www.aasynagogue.org

Advance tickets: www.atlantachamberplayers.tix.com
$20 Adults, $15 Seniors, $10 Students

Convenient, free public parking

"CLASSICAL CROSSOVER"

• Ludwig van BEETHOVEN — Serenade in D Major, Opus 25 (flute, violin, viola)
  
• Wolfgang A. MOZART — Piano Trio in Bb Major, K. 502
  
• Claude BOLLING — Selections from Suites for Flute and Cello plus jazz piano, bass and drums

Paula Peace, piano • Christina Smith, flute • Justin Bruns, violin • John Meisner, violin • Brad Ritchie, cello
Guest Combo: Brent Runnels, jazz piano • guest bass • guest drums

This varied program will celebrate two of classical music’s greatest composers – Beethoven and Mozart – and then make a big switch to the lively music of French jazz pianist and composer Claude Bolling. Beethoven’s sparkling Serenade in D is a delightful showcase for the unusual combination of flute, violin and viola. Next we turn to Mozart’s Bb piano trio, a work brimming with exquisite grace as well as drama, and traditionally regarded as his finest work for the important classical combination of piano, violin, and cello. The jazzy stylings of Claude Bolling, noted for his “classical crossover” suites for flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, will be an adventure for ACP musicians and audience alike to enjoy. We’re selecting our favorite movements from Bolling’s top selling Baroque/swing works and are pleased to feature crossover pianist Brent Runnels’ jazz trio with our own Christina Smith and Brad Ritchie.

Sunday, March 18, 2012
3:00 pm

Spivey Hall
Clayton State University, Morrow

Box Office: www.spiveyhall.org and 678-466-4200
$30 Adults, $15 Students

Convenient, free public parking

“LUDWIG & FELIX”

• Ludwig van BEETHOVEN — Quintet for Piano & Winds in Eb Major, Opus 16 (oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, piano)
• Felix MENDELSSOHN — Piano Trio in C Minor, Opus 66

Paula Peace, piano • Ann Lillya, oboe • Laura Ardan, clarinet • Susan Welty, horn
Carl Nitchie, bassoon • Justin Bruns, violin • Brad Ritchie, cello • Elena Cholakova, guest piano

For our annual concert at the renowned Spivey Hall, we will spotlight outstanding works by two of our greatest German composers – Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn. Beethoven’s early Opus 16 Quintet for Piano and Winds is a joyous celebration of the individual colors and timbres of piano plus four wind instruments, performed by ASO superstars oboist Ann Lillya, clarinetist Laura Ardan, hornist Susan Welty, and bassoonist Carl Nitchie – with ACP pianist Paula Peace. Serene and heroic both, the C minor piano trio of Mendelssohn is a Romantic tour de force of truly symphonic proportions. Guest pianist Elena Cholakova, a native of Bulgaria, will make her ACP debut with this powerful work.

Sunday, April 22, 2012
4:00 pm

Roswell United Methodist Church
814 Mimosa Boulevard, Roswell, GA 30075
www.rumc.com

Tickets are not necessary for this event.

Convenient, free public parking

“LUDWIG & FELIX”

• Ludwig van BEETHOVEN — Quintet for Piano & Winds in Eb Major, Opus 16 (oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, piano)
• Felix MENDELSSOHN — Piano Trio in C Minor, Opus 66

Paula Peace, piano • Elizabeth Koch, oboe • Laura Ardan, clarinet • Richard Deane, horn
Carl Nitchie, bassoon • Justin Bruns, violin • Brad Ritchie, cello • Elena Cholakova, guest piano

For our annual concert at the renowned Spivey Hall, we will spotlight outstanding works by two of our greatest German composers – Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn. Beethoven’s early Opus 16 Quintet for Piano and Winds is a joyous celebration of the individual colors and timbres of piano plus four wind instruments, performed by ASO superstars oboist Elizabeth Koch, clarinetist Laura Ardan, hornist Richard Deane, and bassoonist Carl Nitchie – with ACP pianist Paula Peace. Serene and heroic both, the C minor piano trio of Mendelssohn is a Romantic tour de force of truly symphonic proportions. Guest pianist Elena Cholakova, a native of Bulgaria, will perform this powerful work.

 

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
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
Tickets $24-$15

Convenient paid parking located across the street at Crawford Long Hospital

“ETHEREAL & EVOCATIVE”

• Claude DEBUSSY — Sonata for Flute, Viola & Harp
  
• Alan ELKINS — ...in dust and ashes (2012) World Premiere ACP Commission (oboe, clarinet, cello, piano)
  
• George CRUMB — Vox Balaenae “Voice of the Whale” (1971) For amplified flute, amplified cello & amplified piano

Paula Peace, piano • Christina Smith, flute • Elizabeth Koch, oboe • Alcides Rodriguez, clarinet/bass clarinet
Elisabeth Remy Johnson, harp • Catherine Lynn, viola • Brad Ritchie, cello • Elena Cholakova, piano

We conclude our season at the popular theatrical setting of the New American Shakespeare Tavern with works of delicacy and mystery. Frenchman Claude Debussy’s Sonata is an impressionistic tour de force of evocative colors and enticing rhythms and will feature the ASO’s harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson with flutist Christina Smith and violist Catherine Lynn. The latest ACP commission will offer a spotlight on the talents of Alan Elkins, familiar to Atlanta audiences as a two-time finalist in the 2009 and 2010 Rapido! Composition Contests. This world premiere work will give Elkins an extended opportunity to showcase the unusual quartet of oboe, clarinet, cello and piano. Concluding this concert and our 36th season will be one of ACP’s most frequently requested works – American George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae, inspired by the singing of the humpback whale. Scored for amplified trio of flute, cello and piano, this evocative and compelling work for masked performers on a stage bathed in blue light will have a fitting venue in the intimate Tavern setting.

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.

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

The 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.