Chesapeake Chamber Music’s 27th annual Festival continues through June 17, 2012, featuring 19 artists, including internationally acclaimed chamber musicians and talented newcomers to the Eastern Shore Festival scene. On Saturday, June 9 at 4:30 p.m., St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Centreville will welcome newcomers violist Hsin-Yun Huang and flutist Mindy Heinsohn, who will join Festival veterans in a program entitled “Quint-Essential,” featuring chamber works from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The concert will include a Boccherini string quintet, the Brahms Clarinet Quintet and Argento’s Six Elizabethan Songs. Huang recently founded the Variation String Trio and has performed with such distinguished artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Joseph Suk and Menahem Pressler. Heinsohn grew up in Talbot County and had her Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of Kryzstof Penderecki. She has worked with other notable conductors such as Marin Alsop, Reinbert de Leeuw, and Peter Oundjian.
Other musicians new to the Festival this year include Lydia Brown on piano, David Jolley on French horn, Julia Lichten on cello, and Thomas Fleming on bassoon, all of whom will perform during the Festival’s second week. Brown, who is an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera, and also a member of the vocal program of the Marlboro Music Festival, will perform in Beethoven’s Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op. 11 on Sunday, June 10 at 4 p.m. at Heathland Manor House at Hunters Oak in Queenstown.
Jolley is a member emeritus of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and he currently performs with the virtuoso wind quintet Windscape and the Fleisher-Jolley-Tree-O with Leon Fleisher and Michael Tree. He will appear in a recital on Tuesday, June 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Christ Church in Easton with pianist Diane Walsh and violinist Daniel Phillips. Jolley will also perform in the St. Michaels concert on Saturday, June 16 at 4 p.m., where works of Scottish-American composer Thea Musgrave will be featured, as well as at the Angels Concert in Trappe on June 17. Jolley recently served as one of three final judges for the just-completed Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition.
Julia Lichten, who has toured with musicians from Marlboro, the American Chamber Players, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, will perform in the Dvořák String Sextet at the Avalon Theatre concert on June 15 at 8 p.m. She will also appear at the St. Michaels concert on June 16, along with Thomas Fleming on bassoon, and at the Angels Concert in Trappe on June 17. Fleming holds the principal bassoon seat with the Annapolis Symphony and has performed throughout North America and Europe, including at Lincoln Center.
Festival Artistic Director Marcy Rosen, a founding member of the world-renowned Mendelssohn String Quartet, remarks, “Because the music world is so close-knit, I don’t have to look very hard to find wonderful musicians – they are often my colleagues and friends. This year I am thrilled to include among our ’new‘ musicians the pianist Lydia Brown, who has been my colleague at the Marlboro Festival for many years, and the marvelous violist Hsin-Yun Huang, who was for many years in the Borromeo Quartet.”
Each year the Festival’s Artistic Directors work diligently to develop varied and interesting programs, to solicit new and returning performers, and to provide engaging, memorable performances. This year, the Festival has invited composer Thea Musgrave, one of the world’s most respected and exciting contemporary composers, to participate as the Festival showcases her Pierrot for Clarinet, Violin and Piano, as well as her Towards the Blue.
Festival Artistic Director J. Lawrie Bloom, Bass Clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, comments, “When I played her bass clarinet concerto, Autumn Sonata, this fall in Chicago, I got to know Thea Musgrave. I thought our audience would really enjoy getting to know this wonderful lady, and her fantastic music. When Ms. Musgrave offered us the U.S. premiere of her mini clarinet concerto, Towards the Blue, the stars had aligned, and we had the right time, and the right way to present these lovely pieces.”
The generous financial support from the business community and public enables Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival to offer affordable tickets for the Festival concerts and recitals, as well as access to open rehearsals that are free to the general public. Institutional support has been provided by Wells Fargo and Vantage Wealth Management, Inc., the Talbot County Arts Council, the Maryland State Arts Council, Chesapeake Publishing, Benson & Mangold, and the Midshore Community Foundation. For further information or to purchase tickets, visit www.chesapeakechambermusic.org or call 410-819-0380.
In Photo: Pictured is flutist Mindy Heinsohn, a new participant in this year’s Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival. Heinsohn grew up in Talbot County and had her Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of Kryzstof Penderecki and has worked with other notable conductors such as Marin Alsop, Reinbert de Leeuw, and Peter Oundjian.
In Photo: Pictured is bassoonist Thomas Fleming, who holds the principal bassoon seat with the Annapolis Symphony, has performed throughout North America and Europe, including at the Lincoln Center.
In Photo, above: Pictured is violist Hsin-Yun Huang, a newcomer at this year’s Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival. Huang recently founded the Variation String Trio and has performed with such distinguished artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Joseph Suk and Menahem Pressler.
In Photo: Pictured left to right are Scottish-American contemporary composer Thea Musgrave and Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival Artistic Director J. Lawrie Bloom, Bass Clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Musgrave will showcase her Pierrot for Clarinet, Violin and Piano at this year’s Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival on Sunday, June 16 at 4 p.m. at St. Michaels High School Middle School Auditorium in St. Michaels, MD.