Sundays @ Four Chamber Music Series
Crowden presents chamber music to the public with Sundays @ Four, our series of low-cost, informal concerts featuring distinguished chamber musicians. Artists speak about each work and share their personal observations and inspirations in these intimate concerts, then mingle with the audience in receptions after the performance.
Tickets are $18 general admission at the door, $15 students/seniors, and FREE to children ages 18 and under. Please join us for a free "Meet the Artists" reception following each concert. For more information, contact concerts@crowden.org, or join our mailing list!
All concerts take place at the wheelchair-accessible Crowden Music Center, just two blocks from the North Berkeley BART station!
2011-2012 Season
Hot Club of San Francisco
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
Tessa Seymour and Miles Graber
Roger Chase and Michiko Otaki
October 30, 2011, 4:00pm
Hot Club of San Francisco
Paul Pazzo Mehling, solo guitar, leader
Evan Zeppo Price, violin
Clint Wiki Baker, string bass
Isabelle Fontaine, rhythm guitar
The Hot Club of San Francisco is an ensemble of accomplished and versatile musicians celebrating the music of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli's pioneering Hot Club de France. The ensemble borrows the all-string instrumentation of violin, bass, and guitars from the original Hot Club, but breathes new life into the music with innovative arrangements of classic tunes and original compositions from the group's superb lead guitarist Paul Mehling. Hearing the ensemble live, or on any of their 10 albums, carries the listener back to the 1930s and to the small, smoky jazz clubs of Paris or the refined lounges of the famous Hotel Ritz. Often called gypsy jazz, the music of The Hot Club of San Francisco has entranced audiences around the globe for over 15 years and keeps this historic music fresh and alive.
Program
TBA at concert
December 4, 2011
Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
Anna Presler, violin
Phyllis Kamrin, viola
Leighton Fong, cello
Eric Zivian, piano
By pairing new works with traditional masterpieces, The Left Coast Chamber Ensemble reveals the expressive intent of composers from every age in engaging, daring, and enlightened concerts. The group has commissioned over 50 new works, sponsors an annual Composition Contest that draws over 150 applicants each year, and carries on a tradition of performing the very best that the composers of today (whether established or emerging) have to offer.
In this concert, Left Coast Ensemble presents a program of piano quartets, new and old. Goethe’s pensive hero, Werther, was the inspiration for Brahms’ dramatic C Minor Piano Quartet; Ross Bauer’s Piano Quartet, written in 2004, is a modern complement to the romantic older work.
Program
Brahms C minor Piano Quartet
Ross Bauer Piano Quartet (2004)
March 25, 2012
Tessa Seymour, cello
Miles Graber, piano
Cellist Tessa Seymour is one of the most exciting young musicians to emerge from the Bay Area in recent years. The many accomplishments already under her belt at age 18 include a televised Carnegie Hall debut, first place in the 2007 San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition, selection for the 2009 Rostropovitch International Competition in Paris, and recently performing for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Tessa returns home from the Curtis Institute to perform with her longtime collaborator, much-beloved pianist and Crowden faculty member Miles Graber.
Program
TBA
April 29, 2012
Roger Chase, viola
Michiko Otaki, piano
Born in London, Roger Chase has appeared as soloist at the Proms in Royal Albert Hall and in major cities throughout the UK and Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Middle East, and India. He was a member of the Nash Ensemble for more 20 years, as well as the London Sinfonietta, Esterhazy Baryton Trio, Quartet of London, Hausmusik of London, and the London Chamber Orchestra. His critically acclaimed recordings for Dutton with pianist Michiko Otaki include music by Arnold Bax, Arthur Bliss and Vaughan Williams, as well as rare works of Benjamin Dale, Stanley Bate, W.H. Bell, and Edmund Rubbra, plus sonatas of Delius and Ireland transcribed by Tertis. His most recent release on Centaur is a recording of three Brahms sonatas. His recording “The Virtuoso Viola” on Naxos features music by Arthur Benjamin, George Enescu, Joseph Jongen, Henry Vieuxtemps, Nicolò Paganini, Bach/Kodály, Fritz Kreisler, and Bernard Shore. Chase performs on the Montagnana viola previously owned by the legendary Lionel Tertis.
Program
John Ireland Violin Sonata No 2 (arr. Tertis)
Frederic Delius Sonata No. 3 (arr. Tertis)
Arnold Bax Concert Piece
Johannes Brahms Sonata in A, Op. 100 (arr. Chase)