Thursday, September 21, 2006

Bach to basics

Inaugural concert Sept. 30 for Worcester Chamber Music Society

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
rduckett@telegram.com

Worcester Chamber Music Society — inaugural concert
When: 7 p.m. Sept. 30
Where: St. Paul’s Cathedral, 38 High St., Worcester
How much: $20; $10 students and seniors. To purchase tickets in advance or for information visit the group’s Web site at http://www.worcesterchambermusic.org/.


The name they have chosen strikes an immediate note:

The Worcester Chamber Music Society.

“It puts Worcester at the forefront,” said Peter Sulski, the newly formed chamber music group’s co-founder and artistic director.



It is not The New England Chamber Music Society, or The MetroWest Chamber Players, or The Somewhere West of Boston Area Chamber Ensemble — all, no doubt, worthy names had they been chosen, but lacking, somehow, that hometown twang.

The eight-member ensemble — which may contract or expand for a given concert — consists of musicians mostly from Worcester or the Worcester area. And the musicians are extremely good, said Worcester-born and -bred Sulski, a viola and violin player who was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra for seven years before returning Stateside.

“These are world-class musicians,” Sulski said of his group. Furthermore, Worcester has many excellent venues for concerts, he said.

So it is, then, that the Worcester Chamber Music Society will debut at 7 p.m. Sept 30 in St. Paul’s Cathedral, 38 High St., Worcester, with a program that includes J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 and Mozart’s Flute Quartet in A Major. Four concerts will be staged during the group’s first season.

The performances will be “informal but not condescending,” Sulski vowed. “And how often do people get to hear Bach’s Brandenburg No. 5 in Worcester?”

Currently, the group consists of Mark Berger (viola and “composer in residence”); Maria Ferrante, soprano (Ferrante will sing a selection of songs at the Sept. 30 concert); Tracy Klaus, flute (Klaus is also executive director of the society); William Ness (piano); Sulski (viola/violin); Ian Watson (harpsichord); Jonathan Yasuda (piano); and Max Zeuguer (double bass).

“We’re a group of like-minded individuals who want to present varied and quality concerts,” said Watson, who is director of music at St. Paul’s.

Chamber music is usually defined as classical music written for a small group of instruments that historically could be accommodated in the intimacy of a palace chamber (a likely locale since European royalty were the early sponsors of performances). Over the years, Worcester has had a fine history of chamber music recitals — many part of the Worcester Music Festival. But outside of the area’s colleges, there has been a bit of a void of professional musicians forming chamber groups.

Actually, there is a Boston Chamber Music Society, which puts on fine concerts. In the Boston area, however, there can be askance looks to anything musically west — with, of course, the exception of the beloved Tanglewood.

“I’m well aware of the snobberies that have existed,” said Sulski. “ ‘Oh, Worcester, what goes on there?’ But the facilities (in Worcester) are far superior to what you often find in Boston. We’re local and can get together and play.”

Sulski started talking to people about forming a chamber ensemble in the spring. “We formalized it in June and decided to go for it,” he said.

“I think it has been a really nice confluence of factors. Getting to know some very quality musicians and realizing, on the other hand, we’ve got these fantastic venues.”

Members of the ensemble bring their own talents and followings, Sulski added.

William Ness is minister of music at First Baptist Church. Ferrante is one of the most sought-after sopranos in New England.

“You have Maria, who has her own crew of people who will follow her to wherever she sings,” Sulski said.

Watson, who is originally from England, has performed and conducted around the world. He came to St. Paul’s, where he is also the organist, in 2002 after settling in the United States with his American-born wife. He has organized a very successful music festival at the cathedral for the past four years.

“I don’t think there’s really been a confluence of musicians that can perform to this standard,” Sulski said. “It’s a good combination of people.”

“The quality of it is self-evident,” said Watson.

It’s a group of equals, although Sulski and Klaus have their respective titles of artistic and executive directors. “In a sense we’re a collective, but you need someone making decisions and taking the fall, and that’s me,” Sulski said, perhaps only half-joking.

The diversity of the group means there are all sorts of possibilities for programming concerts.

“There are many alternatives rather than a string quartet or whatever,” Watson said. “One can have a real mixed bag in any one concert. You normally find that (chamber) groups specialize in one type of music. This group is different. There’s more flexibility.”

The other concerts for the 2006-2007 season are scheduled for Nov. 18 in Razzo Hall at Clark University (including a performance of Dvorak’s Piano Quintet); Jan. 20 in the First Baptist Church of Worcester (the program features Ferrante singing a Schubert program); and March 24, also in Razzo Hall (with the program including a work by Berger).

“I think four programs is all the market will bear,” Sulski said.

Which raises the question of just what sort of market there is for chamber music — tradition aside — in Worcester in 2006.

It’s not as if the area has been totally starved of it. On the contrary, Music Worcester Inc. consistently brings some of the finest chamber groups in the world to Worcester during the course of its seasons, as it oversees the Worcester Music Festival and the International Artists Series (as well as the Massachusetts Jazz Festival). Among the groups coming during the 2006-07 season are the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, Chambre Français and the Claremont Trio. In recent years, however, Music Worcester has presented many chamber groups at the intimate Tuckerman Hall (550 seats) rather than the larger Mechanics Hall (1,200 seats).While Tuckerman Hall is a beautiful setting, the move is also a reflection, in part, of the demand for these concerts. Meanwhile, colleges such as Assumption College, Clark University and the College of the Holy Cross bring in chamber groups for public performances during the academic year and/or have a lively faculty program of concerts with guest artists. Then there are groups such as The Musicians of the Old Post Road (primarily composed of Boston-area musicians), that have been dutifully traveling out to Worcester twice or three times a season for nearly 20 years to put on very well-received and warmly appreciated performances.

“I’m well aware that chamber music is a small market, a specialized market,” Sulski said. But he noted that “we’ve started a slow but sure list of donors. We’re looking at other potential venues and sponsors.” A tour of Europe next year is a possibility, he said.

“I think there’s always going to be a place for quality music making,” said Watson. “There’s an idea in people’s minds perhaps that chamber music is a rarefied thing, but I think the concert (Sept. 30) is very accessible. I’m looking forward to it.”