The 11th Biennial Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition for Young Professionals will be held live on April 13, 2024, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ebenezer Theater in Easton, Maryland, and live-streamed all day. The awards will be given around 5 p.m. This exciting daylong celebration of chamber music will feature five of the most distinguished young ensembles competing for the Lerman Gold ($10,000) and Silver ($5,000) prizes, as well as the Audience Choice Award ($1000) and three Honorarium Awards ($1000 each).

This year’s finalists come from around the U.S. and have studied and prepared at distinguished schools and conservatories. The average age of an ensemble must be under 31, and some include members as young as 21.  The applicants represent a wide range of instrumental combinations: winds, strings, and mixed instruments, including piano. The preliminary judging panel reported this to be a particularly talented group of young musicians. The five finalists are The Amara Trio of New York, New York; The Hesper Quartet of New York, New York; the Kodak Quartet of New York, New York; the PULSE quartet of East Lansing, Michigan at Michigan State University; and Trio Menil of Houston, Texas.

The Amara Trio was formed at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival during the summer of 2023 and began its musical journey studying Schubert’s B-flat Trio. What ensued was some of the most meaningful artistic and personal experiences of their lives, stemming from their deep love of music and the unbridled joy of sharing this music with those around them. Since Kneisel Hall, The Amara Trio has performed in venues including Prior-Jollek Hall in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and Paul Hall at the Juilliard School. The trio is extremely passionate about community engagement and they often share their love of music in the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and multiple retirement homes around the New York and New Jersey areas. The Amara Trio is continuing their studies at the Juilliard School as an Honors Chamber Group under the guidance of Laurie Smukler and Joel Krosnick.

The Hesper Quartet is a Korean-American string quartet that was formed in 2022 at the Emerson String Quartet Institute of Stony Brook University. Its members hold degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Yale University, Stony Brook University, and Seoul National University. “Hesper” means evening star, and like how each star in the night sky has its own story, the Hesper Quartet strives to tell the fascinating story of each work of music that they play. The Hesper Quartet has performed at a variety of venues such as the Staller Center for the Arts, Capitol Theatre Windsor, and the JeJu Cultural Arts Center in South Korea. Last year, the Hespers enjoyed sharing music with the community at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit. Notable achievements include winning first prize at the Fanny Mendelssohn International Competition, the Servaas Competition, and the Ackerman Chamber Competition.

The award-winning string quartet, Kodak Quartet, is setting the world on fire with its passionate and energetic playing. They are highly regarded for their work with contemporary composers and for presenting traditional works with a contemporary flavor. Kodak Quartet formed in Rochester, NY while attending the Eastman School of Music and is currently based

in New York, NY. Kodak’s members hail from the US, Canada and France. The quartet won the first prize at the 2023 Frances Walton competition and was honored with first prize and grand prize at the 2023 Coltman Chamber Music Competition. They have performed concerts at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, the Banff Centre, and MISQA. They have also performed for thousands of children at non-traditional performance venues such as schools, movie theaters, and other outreach programs. Kodak Quartet has also performed with GRAMMY-winning artists Time for Three, Kronos Quartet, and JACK Quartet.

PULSE is an internationally award-winning saxophone quartet based in East Lansing at Michigan State University studying under Professor Joseph Lulloff. Its mission is to deliver a diverse range of repertoire that will engage and inspire any audience while breaking down the proverbial barrier between the audience and the performer. PULSE was artists in residence for the 2023 Manitou Music Festival in Glen Arbor, MI, and for the Interlochen Public Radio and the Sound Garden Project. Through the Sound Garden Project, PULSE worked to plant music in unexpected places and bring music outside of the concert hall to educate the community about diversity within classical music. PULSE has been recognized or achieved accolades in multiple competitions including the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, NOLA Chamber Festival Competition, Coltman Chamber Music Competition, Barbara Wagner Chamber Music Competition, and the International Music Competition.

Based in Houston, Texas, Trio Menil is a versatile ensemble at home in both the concert hall and classroom. The trio has performed in venues around North America and has received the Grand Prize and Odyssey Chamber Music Series Award at the 2023 Plowman Chamber Music Competition. The trio is named after the Menil Collection, a museum and neighborhood of art in the heart of Houston, and shares the same mission to attract, educate, and inspire diverse audiences through art. Trio Menil is part of DACAMERA’s Young Artist Program, where they present concerts in collaboration with art exhibitions, and teach music-integrative workshops in Houston public and private schools. Formed at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the trio has worked with James Dunham, Paul Kantor, Jon Kimura Parker, Virginia Weckstrom, and Kathleen Winkler.

It takes a dedicated and experienced group of musicians to make great decisions about young talent and the Competition’s two panels are no exception.  The preliminary judges, responsible for selecting the finalists, conduct blind evaluations based only on an audio performance included in the application. The finalist judges watch the live performance on April 13 and select the prize winners at the end of the day.  Over the past 20 years, they have proven their expertise as many of the winners and finalists have gone on to illustrious careers.

The two judging panels are chaired by Chesapeake Music’s artistic directors, Marcy Rosen, Head Judge, Co-Artistic Director, Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, and cellist, and Catherine Cho, Head Judge, Co-Artistic Director, Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, and violinist/ violist. Preliminary judges include  Catherine Cho, Laurie Bloom, clarinetist; Daniel Phillips, violinist/violist; Todd Phillips, violinist/violist; and Diane Walsh, pianist. Final judges include Marcie Rosen, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, and pianist Robert McDonald.

The Competition will begin at 11 a.m. on April 13 and last all day with prizes announced following the final performance around 5 p.m.  There will be Sunday afternoon concerts on April 14 by the ensembles at the following locations: St. Marks UM Church, Easton, Pulse, 3 p.m.; Christ Church, Cambridge,  Kodak Quartet, 4 p.m.; Holy Trinity Church, Oxford, Amara Trio, 2 p.m.; Temple B’nai Israel, Easton, Hesper Quartet, 2 p.m.; and Trio Menil, Private.

The Competition is a program of Chesapeake Music. Tickets for this all-day extravaganza are available online. The cost for the entire day of beautiful music is $25 per person and students are admitted free of charge.  For those who cannot make the trip to Easton, the event will be livecast for $10.  Contributions to help fund the Competition are also welcome. The recording will be available both on the day of the performance and for the week following. For further information about attending the Competition events, visit chesapeakemusic.org/competition or call 410-819-0380.

Chesapeake Music’s Sunday afternoon March 10th Interlude Concert features a piano quintet with artists from the collective ensemble/132.  This concert promises to be a one-of-a-kind chamber music experience characterized by the quintet’s artistry and unique programming.

The quintet includes pianist Sahun Sam Hong, violinists, Abi Fayette and Stephanie Zyzak, violist, Luther Warren, and cellist, Zachary Mowitz.

Robert Schumann’s “Carnaval” and Igor Stravinsky’s Petrouchka, both arranged by pianist Hong, are two of the selections on the program. The concert will also include a Joseph Haydn Piano Trio and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Calvary” String Quartet.

The program begins with a piano trio in A major by Joseph Haydn, Hob.XV:18, a good example of his late trios. After beginning with three firm introductory chords the composition is in turn flowing, lyrical, and lively, dancing happily to a good-natured close.

Next on the program is Robert Schumann’s “Carnaval” Op.9 subtitled “21 Little Scenes on Four Notes.” It consists of a collection of short pieces representing masked revelers at a grand ball where Schumann imagined the people, situations, moods, and dances that one might encounter at such a festival and, from those impressions, created the individual movements of the “Carnaval.” The pieces are connected by a recurring motif. Today, despite its technical and emotional difficulty, it is one of Schumann’s most often performed works.

Following the intermission, the group will feature Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s String Quartet No.1 “Calvary,” a classical quartet, influenced by spirituals and jazz. Violist Philip Payton describes Perkinson as a prodigious composer who spanned many genres including classical, jazz, pop, film, television, and dance.  Perkinson was briefly the pianist for jazz drummer Max Roach and also wrote arrangements for renowned artists including Harry Belafonte and Marvin Gaye.

The final selection will be a ballet score performed by five musicians.  Imagine that!  No one did until Hong came out with his arrangement of Igor Stravinsky’s Petrouchka! Originally a full-scale ballet about a hand puppet’s fatal infatuation with his ballerina counterpart, Petrouchka was a pivotal piece that brought Stravinsky immense acclaim in the highly critical arts scene of 1911 Paris.

For more information and to purchase tickets for what promises to be an enjoyable concert, please visit the Chesapeake Music website at https://chesapeakemusic.org.  There you will find information for upcoming events including the 11th International Chamber Music Competition on April 13, community concerts featuring Competition finalists on April 14, the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival running June 7 through June 15, the Steven Philip Harvey Octet on July 20, and the Isidore String Quartet on October 5.

Based in Easton, Maryland, Chesapeake Music is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring renowned jazz and classical musicians to delight, engage and surprise today’s audiences, and educate, inspire, and develop tomorrow’s. They have been doing it for more than 35 years! To learn more about Chesapeake Music, visit their website at https://chesapeakemusic.org/.

Chesapeake Music is pleased to announce it has been recommended by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a $10,000 Challenge America grant award in support of its 2024 children’s outreach programming.

“We are thrilled and grateful to have received this funding from NEA for our youth programming this year,” says Barry Koh, Chesapeake Music’s board president. “Programs like ours that reach out to children in engaging ways are essential for creating tomorrow’s musicians and arts audiences.”

With this support, Chesapeake Music’s Don and Meridith Buxton YouthReach Program will continue its history of building community connections and increasing appreciation of classical music. The 2024 programming includes two Talbot County Public School (TCPS) residencies of the Kaleidoscope Quartet – a New York-based foursome of young, professional performers and music educators.  Later this month and again in the fall, and working with TCPS music teachers, the quartet members will curate and present dynamic, interactive programs that spark students’ imaginations. These in-school performances and elementary school classroom experiences for students will also culminate in a community concert later in the year.

“We could not be more excited to be working with Chesapeake Music to bring these unique opportunities to our students this year,” says Alison Strickland, Curriculum Supervisor with Talbot County Public Schools. “Last year’s school visits by Kaleidoscope were terrific and one of the highlights of our music classes.”

“The NEA is delighted to announce this grant to Chesapeake Music, which is helping contribute to the strength and well-being of the arts sector and local community,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “We are pleased to be able to support this community and help create an environment where all people have the opportunity to live artful lives.”  In total, the NEA will award 257 Challenge America awards totaling $2,570,000 that were announced as part of its first round of fiscal year 2024 grants.

For more information about Chesapeake Music’s youth outreach, visit ChesapeakeMusic.org. To learn more about other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

Chesapeake Music presents an exciting program for its Interlude concert on March 10 at 2:00 p.m. at Easton’s Ebenezer Theater.  A piano quintet of artists from ensemble/132 will delight the audience with a one-of-a-kind chamber music experience.  The quintet includes pianist Sahun Sam Hong, violinists, Abi Fayette and Stephanie Zyzak, violist, Luther Warren, and cellist, Zachary Mowitz. Chesapeake Chamber Music patrons will remember Sahun Sam Hong and Zachary Mowitz as members of the Trio St. Bernard, the 2018 Lerman Gold Prize winner of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition.

Cellist Zachary Mowitz writes “I’m particularly excited for ensemble/132 to bring this delightfully eclectic program to Chesapeake Music. It shows so much of what chamber music can be. Every piece has something entirely unique to offer, whether it’s Haydn’s exquisitely and cleverly crafted trio, a dramatic cast of characters such as those in Schumann’s Carnaval, Perkinson’s thrilling blend of a jazz idiom with a classical approach to counterpoint and form, or Petrouchka with its timeless story, its folk dances, and its symphonic scope. It doesn’t hurt that Sam’s arrangements – Carnaval and Petrouchka – capture the essence of these wonderful pieces while bringing a new palette of colors that we all get to explore together!”

Ensemble/132 describes itself as an American collective of eleven chamber musicians of the highest caliber with a shared mission to reimagine the chamber music landscape. Their concerts frequently feature solo and duo performances spotlighting the extraordinary artistic voices of its individual members. Their arrangements have been praised by critics and renowned musicians as “audacious… liberating… illuminating” (Jon Sobel), “absolutely terrific … a delight … [they] succeed in opening up the sound of the piece in meaningful ways” (Robert McDonald), and “a fresh approach to music that is second to none” (Herbert Greenberg). Marcy Rosen, Artistic Director of Chesapeake Music, is the artistic advisor to ensemble/132.

This unique program promises to excite the imagination of concert attendees. For more information and to purchase tickets for what promises to be an enjoyable concert, please visit the Chesapeake Music website at https://chesapeakemusic.org. There you will find information for upcoming events including the 11th International Chamber Music Competition on April 13, community concerts featuring Competition finalists on April 14, the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival running June 7 through June 15, the Steven Philip Harvey Octet on July 20, and the Isidore String Quartet on October 5.

Based in Easton, Maryland, Chesapeake Music is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring renowned jazz and classical musicians to delight, engage and surprise today’s audiences, and educate, inspire, and develop tomorrow’s. They have been doing it for more than 35 years! To learn more about Chesapeake Music, visit their website at https://chesapeakemusic.org/.

Chesapeake Music’s YouthReach Program recently sponsored the return of the Kaleidoscope String Quartet of New York City to provide classroom visits at Chapel District Elementary School in Cordova and White Marsh Elementary School in Trappe. Students in the second, third, fourth, and fifth grades were able to hear the group perform in assemblies and provide small classroom instruction on its orchestral string instruments.

The YouthReach Program aligns with Chesapeake Music’s mission statement to “bring renowned musicians to delight, engage and surprise today’s audiences and educate, inspire and develop tomorrow’s.”

Kaleidoscope String Quartet has been coming to Talbot County twice a year. Last December, when the group visited it also offered a free community concert for the public at the Ebenezer Theatre and there are hopes it will do the same when it returns to Talbot County in February.

“At this time, the arts are having a difficult time continuing to attract young people at the level they have in the past. The pandemic contributed to that. In addition, audiences who appreciate chamber music are aging, so Chesapeake Music needs to invest in bringing younger people to experience and appreciate this type of music. This program is a way to build these audiences,” states Ed Smith, Chesapeake Music Board Member and YouthReach Committee Chair.

The performing members of the Kaleidoscope String Quartet were Caeli Smith on viola; Suliman Tekalli on violin; Erica Tursi on violin; and Laura Andrade on cello.

“The Quartet members shared with students how they can communicate with each other without words, and how they pick tempos and convey that tempo when they start a piece. They also talked about the role of a conductor in a larger organization and had a couple of the students volunteer to come up and conduct the Quartet and change the tempos. That was a lot of fun,” Smith adds.

Another thing the Quartet did was to talk with the students about how composers include elements of their personal history and culture in their music. Students talked about what’s special about Talbot County and their culture, including the environment, the cornfields, and the crabs. Quartet members created a musical theme for the elements the students suggested creating an improvised piece of music that sounded very contemporary.

“The students were very interested in the music even though it may not be as melodious or familiar as a Mozart or Beethoven piece. Part of what Chesapeake Music is trying to do is bring the classics and keep up with what’s going on in contemporary music as well,” Smith explains.

Chesapeake Music Board member Nancy Larson adds, “I will say that those of us who were observing were just so impressed with how the Quartet so easily engaged the students, drawing them in and encouraging their participation which they did very enthusiastically! It was such a joy to watch.”

“The remarkable people behind Chesapeake Music helped to bring the incredibly talented Caeli Smith and the Kaleidoscope String Quartet to two of our elementary schools. The classroom visits, along with the grade level concerts, have been invaluable in helping to shape our students’ love of music, and in particular, the string family. Most other musical experiences that our students participate in often do not feature the strings in any prominent way. Chesapeake Music has been instrumental in working to elevate chamber music in our schools. I hope to continue this partnership for many years to come,” adds James Redman, Title I Coordinator, Curriculum Supervisor, Talbot County Public Schools.

Friends of Chesapeake Music who lived in Oxford housed the quartet which gave them a local Eastern Shore experience.

Based in Easton, Maryland, Chesapeake Music is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring renowned jazz and classical musicians to delight, engage and surprise today’s audiences, and educate, inspire, and develop tomorrow’s. They have been doing it for more than 35 years! To learn more about Chesapeake Music, visit its website at https://chesapeakemusic.org/.

In early September, career nonprofit professional and consultant Margaret Enloe-North assumed the leadership at one of Talbot County’s premiere organizations for bringing amazing artists and performances to the Mid-Shore.

“We are very pleased to welcome Margaret as part of the Chesapeake Music team!” says Board President Barry Koh. “I know that her nonprofit experience will prove to be invaluable as we move forward and ultimately search for a new, permanent Executive Director in the spring.”

Enloe-North has spent her 30-year career entirely in the nonprofit sector.  Having launched her new business, the Firebird Coaching & Consulting in 2021, she now serves as a coach for individual clients and small businesses and provides nonprofit clients with expert support in the areas of leadership, master planning, strategic communications, programming and fundraising.

“I really love serving as an Interim ED for organizations that are doing great work! My role allows a Board of Directors the opportunity to deeply reflect on the organization’s future while also knowing that daily operations will continue to work smoothly,” explains Enloe-North. “And I am really looking forward to working alongside the Board as we envision and lead Chesapeake Music into a new era. I have always appreciated both jazz and classical music and am delighted to help them bring renowned and up-and-coming musicians to the Mid-Shore that delight and surprise our audiences.”

Based in Easton, Maryland, Chesapeake Music is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring renowned jazz and classical musicians to delight, engage and surprise today’s audiences, and educate, inspire, and develop tomorrow’s. They have been doing it for more than 35 years! To learn more about Chesapeake Music or to purchase tickets to this concert, visit their website at https://chesapeakemusic.org/.

 

Chesapeake Music presents the award-winning Abeo Quartet in concert on Saturday evening, October 7th at 7:30 p.m., at the Ebenezer Theater in Easton, Maryland. This is the final 2023 concert of Chesapeake Music’s Interlude Concert series, which focuses on presenting chamber artists and composers who are on the cusp of breaking through to national and international careers.

The Abeo will delight the audience with performances of Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 12, Op. 127 in E-flat Major and Brahms’ String Quartet Op. 51, No. 1 in C minor. Also featured will be a new work by 24-year-old Iranian-American composer Kian Ravaei. His seven-movement 20-minute composition for string quartet, The Little Things, premiered at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in June. Inspired by the writings of Emily Dickinson on aspects of nature, this work is scheduled for 2023 performances across the country, now including Easton. The three pieces selected by the quartet reflect a wide range of emotion and expression which the Abeo hopes will “take the audience on a journey that shows the breadth of the human experience.”

Formed at the Juilliard School in 2018, the quartet went on to quickly win the 2019 Silver Medal at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Local concertgoers will likely remember Abeo’s outstanding performance in the 2022 Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition where it also garnered the Silver Prize. Since then, the quartet has participated and been a prize winner in other national and international competitions and is currently the inaugural Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the University of Delaware under the mentorship of the Calidore String Quartet.

The Abeo Quartet, comprised of violinists Njioma Grevious and Rebecca Benjamin, violist James Kang and cellist Brian Gadbow, has appeared on concert stages nationally and internationally, including Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center’s Reach Festival, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s masterclass series and on WQXR’s Midday Masterpieces. In 2022, the quartet performed in the Music@Menlo Chamber Institute and Workshop and the Juilliard String Quartet Workshop. During their time at Juilliard, Abeo studied regularly in the Honors Chamber Music Program under the tutelage of the Juilliard String Quartet.

Living up to its name Abeo / ah-bey-oh/ – an expression of joy in Nigerian dialect, the quartet’s performance in Easton is sure to reflect their love for playing chamber music and sharing it with others.

Based in Easton, Maryland, Chesapeake Music is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring renowned jazz and classical musicians to delight, engage and surprise today’s audiences, and educate, inspire, and develop tomorrow’s. They have been doing it for more than 35 years! To learn more about Chesapeake Music or to purchase tickets to this concert, visit their website at https://chesapeakemusic.org