Chamber Players of the Redwoods
The Chamber Players of the Redwoods opens an exciting new season of local music making on Sunday, November 1st at 4:00 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka. As always, the "music of the masters" will be performed by a selection of talented North Coast musicians. This is the first of three live music events to be offered by the Chamber Players this season. The next is in 2027, with a concert at The Lutheran Church of Arcata at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 31st. The final concert of the series returns to Christ Episcopal Church, Eureka on Sunday, May 16th at 4:00 p.m. Concert admission is free for everyone, and donations are also gratefully accepted at the door.
The Fall Concert includes just the kind of variety of music that might be expected from the greater pantheon of Humboldt County musicians. How likely is it to attend one concert and hear a trio of piano, violin and viola; music for voice and piano; a wind quintet; and a brass ensemble featuring trombones and tuba, all on one program?
The Marobi Trio was formed about ten years ago, featuring violinist Billie Bachman, violist Margaret Lewis, and pianist Rosie Bosco. Enrolled at age 18 in Eastern Michigan University's music program, Bachman took a break after two years of study and traveled around the country, eventually landing in Humboldt County and becoming a registered nurse. All the while, she has continued playing the violin with various local orchestras and chamber groups. Lewis has played viola in various ensembles in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties since the early eighties. She is also the host of Classical Spectrum, a local radio show broadcast on Monday mornings on KMUD, Redwood Community Radio. Bosco has played piano since age five and has loved chamber music, especially works for piano trio, since she was introduced to the repertoire of Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. She also teaches piano from her home studio in Garberville.
The Marobi Trio will perform the single-movement "Dumka Duo Concertante for Violin, Viola, and Piano," written around 1940 by the British-American violist and composer Rebecca Clarke. "Dumka" is a Ukrainian word for "thought" or "rumination" and is a type of instrumental music known for sudden changes in sensibility, from somber and meditative to lively and exuberant.
Posaunenstadt is a low brass ensemble, including five trombones and tuba. The trombonists are Phil Sams, Doug Hendricks, Greg Quast, Gil Zimmerman and Dick LaForge and the lone tuba player is Fred Tempas. They will perform "Etude for Low Brass in the Style of Bruckner" by Enrique Crespo. Crespo studied music and architecture in Montevideo, Uruguay and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was principal trombonist in the regional symphony orchestra as well as being a jazz soloist, bandleader, and arranger. "In the style of Bruckner" means the composition has a monumental, romantic sensibility with rich harmony that can be compared to stately works composed for the church organ.
Anyone who has had the opportunity to hear Paula Jones powerful voice will be keen to hear her perform sacred and secular songs in the resonant sanctuary of Christ Episcopal Church. Jones was one of six girls raised in a family with deep spiritual connections. Her father, Rev. Asbury Paul Jones, was a theologian, psychologist, and musician. Her mother was a proud maker of home and family. They were raised with strong Christian values and a home full of music. In partnership with pianist Bob Ebenstein, they will perform songs as diverse as "Jesus on the Main Line" and "My Funny Valentine."
The final ensemble appearing on the program is Cascadia Winds, a traditional wind quintet made up of Gary Lewis, flute; Virginia Ryder, oboe; Kenneth Ayoob, clarinet; Danny Gaon, bassoon; and Michael Robertson, horn. Lewis, Ryder, and Ayoob have many performing and teaching years between them as members of the music faculty at Cal Poly Humboldt, Gaon is a multi-instrumentalist Humboldt graduate, and Robertson has been the principal horn player for the Eureka Symphony for many years.
Cascadia will perform "Quintet, Opus 43" a 1922 composition by Carl Nielsen, who is widely recognized as Denmark's most prominent composer. Nielsen’s Wind Quintet is a masterpiece of the chamber music repertoire. The first movement, Allegro ben moderato, is pastoral and conversational in sonata form. It starts with solo bassoon before tossing musical themes back and forth among all five players. The second movement, Menuet, is an elegant, rustic movement, featuring charming duets, first between clarinet and bassoon, then flute and oboe. The final movement, Prelude–Theme and Variations, opens with a slow, somber introduction played on the English horn, the lower voiced cousin of the oboe. The theme is based on one of Nielsen’s own spiritual hymns. Eleven diverse variations follow, some quirky and merry, others serious and elegiac, before closing with a return to the original theme.
DATES/TIMES
- Sunday, Nov. 1 : 4 p.m.
WHERE
PRICE
- Phone: 707-822-7917
- Email: ftempas@suddenlink.net
- Web site
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