2024-2025 Season
Concert One
A Celebration of Woodwind Quintet Masterpieces
Saturday, October 12 2024, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 13 2024, 3:00 pm
Jeff Gallagher, concert director & clarinet
Lars Johannesson, flute
Robert Scott, oboe
Ruth Jordan, horn
Gail Selburn, bassoon
Ben Dorfan, piano
You may be familiar with the woodwind quintet instrumentation: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn, and this grouping has been a favorite of audiences and composers for generations. When we add piano to the mix—in this case, the SCCP’s new concert Yamaha C7—the result is nothing less than musical magic!
The group performs masterpieces spanning our western musical heritage, representing the very breadth and heart of our beloved European and American musical traditions. You’ll be transported through time in a musical landscape that starts in California and ends in Vienna! Music by Darius Milhaud, Anton Reicha, Paul Taffanel, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
La cheminée du roi René, op. 205 (1939), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974)
Wind Quintet in Eb Major, op. 88 no 3 1818, Anton Reicha (1770-1836)
Quintet in g minor (1876), Paul Taffanel (1844-1908)
Quintet in Eb Major, K. 452 (1784), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Concert Two
Finding Voice: Insights into Belonging
Saturday, October 26 2024, 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 27 2024, 3:00 pm
Samantha Bounkeua, concert director & violin
Shannon D’Antonio, violin
Rebecca Dulatre-Corbin, viola
Kristin Garbeff, cello
Lori Schulman, soprano
“Finding Voice: Insights into Belonging” celebrates themes of vulnerability and identity through the works of female, queer, and trans composers including Caroline Shaw, Jessie Montgomery, and Alex Temple. The program features two tender song cycles for quartet and voice, contrasting Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet’s The Juliet Letters with Alex Temple’s Behind the Wallpaper. The former imagines Romeo’s letters to Juliet, while the latter embarks on a dreamlike journey of gender transformation. Flirting the line of contemporary classical and pop aesthetics, this concert invites the audience to explore the multifaceted layers of identity, community, and transformation.
Entr’acte, Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
Duo for Violin and Cello, Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981)
The Juliet Letters, Elvis Costello (b. 1954) and the Brodsky Quartet
Arnika, Sufjan Stevens (b. 1975), arranged by Avery Knific (b. 1992)
Silent Moon, Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964)
Behind the Wallpaper, Alex Temple (b. 1983)
Concert Three
Timeless Tales: Exploring Musical Landscapes from Mendelssohn to Modernity
Saturday, January 25 2025, 7:30 pm
Sunday, January 26 2025, 3:00 pm
Chia-Lin Yang, concert director & piano
Elbert Tsai, violin
Brady Anderson, cello
The award-winning Verve Trio performs one of their diverse programs full of variety and contrast. Featuring familiar masterpieces by Shostakovich and Mendelssohn mixed with lesser-known works by Ned Rorem and David Baker, the musical language darts between dark tragedy, scampering anxiety, and cheeky jazz motifs. The 20th-century works play with various forms of dissonance and percussive effects, while the Mendelssohn concludes the concert with a whirlwind of tuneful melodies and classic Romantic gestures. For more information, visit vervetrio.com.
Roots II for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1992), David Baker (1931-2016)
Piano Trio No. 2 in e minor, Op. 67 (1943), Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Spring Music, Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1990), Ned Rorem (1923-2022)
Piano Trio No. 2 in in c minor, Op. 66 (1845), Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Concert Four
The Three B’s and Phyllis Tate
Saturday, February 15 2025, 7:30 pm
Sunday, February 16 2025, 3:00 pm
Bruce Foster, concert director & clarinet
Stacy Yi, piano
Victoria Ehrlich, cello
Experience the majesty of classical music in one unforgettable evening! Join us for a celebration of the renowned ‘Three B’s’ – Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms – whose timeless compositions have shaped the world of classical music. As a special highlight, we’ll also feature a piece by the innovative 20th-century British composer Phyllis Tate, known for her unique blend of traditional and modern styles. Don’t miss this extraordinary journey through musical history, from Baroque brilliance to contemporary creativity.
Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano Opus 11 “Gassenhauer” (1797), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Sonata for Clarinet and Cello (1947), Phyllis Tate (1911-1987)
Partita No.1 in Bb Major, BWV 825 for Piano (1725), J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano Opus 114 (1891), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Concert Five
Among the Fuchsias: Nostalgic Musings for Tenor, Viola, and Piano
Saturday, March 15 2025, 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 16 2025, 3:00 pm
Chris Pratorius Gómez, concert director & piano
Andrew Carter, tenor
Polly Malan, viola
Francisco (Kiko) Torres Velasco, piano
Among the many emotions that music visits, nostalgia is its most poignant destination. In this concert we explore the many longings that composers have brought to life: from a Beethoven confessional, the iconic Piano Sonata in E major Op. 109, to Debussy’s otherworldly and alluring Six Èpigraphes Antiques, and to the romantic passion and heartbreak of Songs of Laurence Hope by African-American composer H. T. Burleigh. We will also present selections from Ten Blake Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams and a new premiere, also on texts of Laurence Hope, by local composer Chris Pratorius Gómez. Performers include tenor Andrew Scott Carter, violist Polly Malan, pianist Kiko Torres Velasco and the composer/concert director, also on piano.
Ten Blake Songs (selections), Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Six épigraphes antiques, Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Songs of Laurence Hope, Harry T. Burleigh (1866-1949)
Sonata in E major, Op. 109, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
The Window Overlooking the Harbour (World Premiere), Chris Pratorius Gómez
Prelude in B flat major, Op. 23 #2, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Concert Six
Bridging Time and Minds
Saturday, March 22 2025, 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 23 2025, 3:00 pm
Kristin Garbeff, concert director & cello
Cynthia Baehr-Williams, violin
Samantha Bounkeua, violin
Chad Kaltinger, viola
Kumiko Uyeda, piano
Music serves as a unifying force across cultures and eras, cultivates connections, promotes empathy, and provides relief from life’s stressors. Ben Dorfan extends a hand of friendship and support to the citizens of Ukraine under siege by Russia with his new piano trio. Tina Davidson started composing LEAP in January of 2020, but amid the COVID lockdown felt compelled to completely reimagine the music. Frank Bridge blends French impressionism and German romanticism in his Phantasy for Piano Quartet, creating his own style described as “Brahms happily tempered with Faure.” Dvorak’s Piano Quintet No. 2 concludes the program. It began as a revision of his first quintet, but evolved into a completely new creation, now considered one of the greatest pieces of chamber music ever written.
A Wish for Ukraine (2022), Ben Dorfan (b. 1987)
LEAP for Piano Quartet, Tina Davidson (b. 1952)
Phantasy for Piano Quartet H. 94, Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A minor, Opus 81, Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904)