UNCC Percussion Ensemble enjoying a meal after a great performance!!

Other guests enjoying the meal with the musicians at Fuse Box.

9 percussionists from UNCC are getting ready for today’s concert.

In the world of symphonic classical music, percussion often takes a back seat, literally, to the other instruments in the orchestra. Not tomorrow.

Soundscapes uses the medium of chamber music to bring the diverse colours and timbres of this large and interesting family of instruments to the fore, with the help of Rick Dior and the UNCC Percussion Ensemble. From a new take on a Bach favourite to Afro-Irish blues, prepare for a fresh and fascinating journey through the world of chamber music.

Program

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Music for Pieces of Wood – Steve Reich (b. 1936)
Feast – Bill Douglas (b. 1944)
Septet – Daniel Levitan (b. 1953)
Afta-Stuba! – Mark Ford
A Bird Sings – Peter Erskine (b. 1954)

The UNCC Percussion Ensemble
Richard Dior, director
Chris Bryan
Meredith Butterworth
Trevor Cook
Drew Cortney
Nick Nichols
Tom Reeves
Katelyn Reinhart
Kyle Steinmetz

The audience literally whooped and hollered after the end of the concert and jumped to their feet.

Kari Giles and Adda Kridler on violins, Jennifer Humphreys on cello and Ning Zhao on viola performed stunningly. You do not want to miss this performance of never heard on American soil Wranitzky’s String quartet #2 in G and Dvorak’s stunning String Quartet in A ‘American’

Audience comments–
“Stunning”
“Phenomenal”
“You are off to a great start!”

Join us tonight…you will be glad you did.

Adda Kridler, Jennifer Humphreys, Kari Giles, Ning Zhao, Henry Lebedinsky and Elaine Spallone

If you are attending today’s concert, you will find parking at The Marriott, Carillon, and Discovery Place. These decks are all across the street from First Presbyterian Church.

If you are attending at 5:30 pm, there is a flat surface lot across the church off Poplar.

See you at the concert!

This year’s First Tuesday Concert season begins in October, one month later than usual, and runs through May. In light of funding declines and an uncertain year ahead, the September performance has been eliminated. We are making strategic, fiscally responsible decisions today to strengthen our future and to ensure that we are responsible stewards of the community’s resources.

Also new this season is the afternoon First Tuesday Concert time—now from 1:00 -2:00 p.m. The new time supports our Charlotte Symphony Orchestra musicians who often have Tuesday rehearsals until 12:30 p.m. This change is just another way we ensure the creation of outstanding music for our deserving community.

See you in October!

Browse through the Charlotte Observer’s online black tie events photo spread by clicking here.

The Salon Party raised over $30,000 for Charlotte Chamber Music. The proceeds from this event help fund free chamber music concerts available to all members of our community and Charlotte Chamber Music’s operating budget – including fees for the many talented musicians who perform in nearly 30 concerts annually.

Thank you to the many hosts, sponsors and ticketbuyers!

Dear friends,

In a move to reduce expenses and ensure a more favorable end to the fiscal year, the Charlotte Chamber Music board of directors has agreed to cancel its May 5 free First Tuesday Concerts.  The resulting savings will enhance the organization’s financial position and create a stronger, more secure foundation when the First Tuesday Concert series resumes in the fall 2009. 

The Sunday, May 3 Living Room Concert, (a ticketed series), and the annual benefit event on Saturday, May 16 will take place as scheduled.

Charlotte Chamber Music has had a strong season with audiences enjoying the popular First Tuesday Concert season as well as a new interim venue, strong attendance for the Living Room Concerts, and a new brand and name that better reflects the organization’s role and contribution to the community. The board remains committed to providing professional chamber music performances that are available to all members of the community, notably the free First Tuesday Concert series.

Nonetheless, the uncertain economy has resulted in a decline in individual and corporate funding, resulting in the board’s recent action, which also includes a two week staff furlough, and other operating expense reductions to ensure the organization’s long-term sustainability and viability. 

Charlotte Chamber Music is making strategic, fiscally responsible decisions today to strengthen tomorrow and create the best possible financial position to weather an uncertain year ahead due to the economy.

While we regret the cancellation of this year’s final First Tuesday Concert, the board’s decision was driven by responsible stewardship of community resources in light of funding declines and projections that the greatest impact to non-profits is yet to come with the July 1 start of FY10.

Difficult decisions now will help ensure that long-term resources remain available and fully intact, notably the organization’s endowment and cash reserves.

We will continue to be good stewards of your resources, but we also need your help. If you have already supported Charlotte Chamber Music, thank you!  You have made a difference in ensuring our future as a major art organization in Charlotte. 

If you haven’t already joined Charlotte Chamber Music as a donor, I urge you to consider one of many ways to support us either through a direct gift today as part of the Spring Matching Gift Campaign, by attending the May 16 The Salon Party benefit event, or by making a planned gift.

Your generous financial support allows us to
• produce 18 free chamber music concerts that are available to all members of our community,
• build a supportive and creative community for Charlotte’s leading musicians, and
• introduce chamber music to new and growing audiences.

We wish to thank many individuals and businesses, and members of the board that have stepped forward to generously support the organization this season. The community has shown significant support of Charlotte Chamber Music, including musicians from the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and from the region that allowed us to present 16 free concerts this season, plus a full season of 4 Living Room Concerts.

A recent review by music and arts writer, Steven Brown from The Charlotte Observer is below, or visit charlotteobserver.com

Charlotte Chamber Music had no choice. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church uptown, the site of the group’s concerts for more than a decade, closed its sanctuary for a remodeling. So the series switched to a temporary location nearby: First Presbyterian Church on West Trade Street.

Surprise! Chamber music comes off better at First Presbyterian.

The first program there, in February, wasn’t much of a test. An organ, trumpet and soprano can make themselves heard most anywhere. But when a string quintet played there in March, that settled it. The group sounded fuller and warmer than strings ever do at St. Peter’s.

If you weren’t on hand then, you can decide for yourself Tuesday, when the Triad-based Degas Quartet visits for the series’ April installment.

The acoustics at St. Peter’s have always struck me as dry. And for a while now, something else has nagged at me in listening to Calin Lupanu, the Charlotte Symphony’s first-chair violinist, or Alan Black, the principal cellist, when they’ve played at St. Peter’s. At the church, their instruments have seemed tinny. The same instruments have bloomed, though, during orchestral concerts at the Belk Theater.

I’ll leave it to an expert to explain, assuming he or she would agree. My hunch is that the church’s low ceiling – low by church or concert-hall standards – contributes to the dryness.

For music lovers, the reasons that First Presbyterian works better don’t really matter, do they? Just enjoy it while it lasts.

Antonin Dvorak: String Quintet in G major with Double Bass op. 77, Piano Quintet no. 2 in A major op. 81.(Sound recording review) Click here for more.

Publication: Czech Music
Publication Date: 01-APR-08
Author: Vitek, Bohuslav