A Musical Visit To Easton Is More Than Meets The Eye

Randall Goosby and Zhu Wang performing at The Ebenezer Theater. Photo credit Cal Jackson.

On Saturday, September 27th, Chesapeake Music presents its Concert Season Opener, boasting a star-studded NYC-based cast that includes the young phenom violinist Randall Goosby with the acclaimed Renaissance String Quartet, the multi-award-winning & Rising-Star pianist Zhu Wang, and veteran All-Star Catherine Cho. This concert has been in the works for nearly two years and strives to achieve more than deliver a sensational evening of chamber music performance.

The foundation of the evening is the Renaissance Quartet, comprising violinists Randall Goosby and Jeremiah Blacklow, violist Jameel Martin, and cellist Daniel Hass. Taken from the group’s own website, the quartet “feels a responsibility to command a diverse repertoire of classic, underrepresented, and new works, so they can contribute to the reclamation, redefinition, and continuation of a musical tradition that belongs to all of us. They represent and articulate an inclusive vision of the future of classical music, which sees a culture of music wherein all lives and histories are welcomed and celebrated.”

True to form, the Renaissance Quartet kicks off their visit to Easton with a pair of outreach engagements in the community through Chesapeake Music’s YouthReach Program, supported through an “NEA Replacement Grant” awarded by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation. On Thursday, September 25th, the group will deliver a dynamic session at an after school program at Building African American Minds, led by Goosby and Martin. The duo have collaborated beyond the scope of chamber music in the past, most famously for a cross-disciplinary recital program of poetry and music, entitled “Intersections: Black Music and Words.” On Friday, September 26th, the quartet will visit Mace’s Lane Middle School in Cambridge.

“It is so inspiring to see a young group of musicians wholly dedicated to serving the greater community through music, especially in such a meaningful, mission-driven fashion as the Renaissance Quartet,” says David Faleris, Chesapeake Music’s Executive Director.

The Renaissance Quartet aims to create experiences that are meaningful and welcoming to all audiences, and achieves this in large part through its diverse programming. The September 27th concert program offers a fascinating journey through three distinct eras and emotional landscapes of chamber music. It begins with pioneer Florence Price’s String Quartet in G Major, a work that blends the late-Romantic tradition with the rich tapestry of African American folk melodies. The program shifts to the profound and deeply introspective world of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet in G Minor, a masterpiece of sustained melancholy and emotional tension that is famously resolved through a sudden shift to joy. The evening culminates in the immense power and dramatic scope of Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quintet in F Minor, a work of heroic struggle and unyielding intensity that pushes the boundaries of chamber music to a symphonic scale.

The 7:30 p.m. concert at The Ebenezer Theater promises to be a thoughtful and engaging offering, sure to please an audience that will range from students to seniors and first-time concert goers to long–time supporters.

Chesapeake Music offers a limited number of free tickets for students, educators, and Talbot County First Responders, as well as a “buy-one-get-one” option for first-time patrons of Chesapeake Music. General admission tickets are $50. Visit ChesapeakeMusic.org for tickets and more information.

Based in Easton, Maryland, and celebrating its 40th Anniversary Year, Chesapeake Music is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that brings renowned musicians to delight, engage, and surprise today’s audiences, and educate, inspire, and develop tomorrow’s. Learn more at ChesapeakeMusic.org.