Past Concerts
Altadena Community Church
Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 3:00 pm
TRIOS FOR CLARINET, CELLO, and PIANO
Trios of Beethoven Op 11, Brahms Op 114, with Michele Zukovsky (clarinet), Tina Soule (cello) and Antoinette Perry (piano).
Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 3:00 pm
CLARA WIECK SCHUMANN VIRTUOSO PIANIST AND COMPOSER
Clara Schumann was one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the Romantic era who had a huge impact on the musical life of the 19th century at a time when women were expected to be content as wives and mothers. She learned to compose as a child, and from then to her mid-thirties produced a substantial body of work. In 1853, the year she met Brahms, she engaged in a flurry of composing. Most of Clara Schumann's music was never played by anyone else and largely forgotten until a resurgence of interest in the 1970s. This program will include works by Robert Schumann (premiered by Clara), Clara Schumann’s Romance for Violin and Piano and Piano Trio in g minor, as well as Johannes Brahms Piano Quartet in g minor (premiered by Clara). Musicians: Kevin Fitz-Gerald (piano), Agnes Gottschewski (violin), Dmitri Bovaird (viola), Maggie Edmondson (cello).
Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 3:00 pm
BACH BRANDENBURG CONCERTO #5
Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #5 is our first offering of Baroque music and our largest ensemble to date. Although the work is uniquely scored for solo flute, solo violin, and solo harpsichord, it is really the first harpsichord concerto ever written. Bach eventually reworked this concerto for the new two manual harpsichord. Harpsichordist Ian Pritchard (member of Tesserae Baroque—whose home base is in Altadena) will join Larry Kaplan (solo flute) and Agnes Gottschewski (solo violin) and a small ensemble of strings and continuo.
Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3:00 pm
MUSIC WITH "NICKNAMES"
We’re familiar with nicknames assigned — usually by listeners and not the composer — to symphonies such as Beethoven's “Pastoral” and “Eroica” or Dvorak's “from the New World.” Chamber works have also been nicknamed. Violinists Joel Pargman and Carrie Kennedy, violist Agnes Gottschewski, and cellists Tina Soule and Delores Bing will play some of these nicknamed compositions and ask the audience to guess the nicknames. Although we won’t tell you the titles of the compositions now, the composers are Haydn, Mozart and Boccherini.
Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 3:00 pm
BRAZILIAN MUSIC
Brazilian clarinetist Vanderlei Alves playing Brazilian works for clarinet and piano, Duos for clarinet and bassoon as well as Brazilian choro with 7-string guitar, bandolim, and pandeiro. Vanderlai Alves (clarinet), Phoebe Ray (bassoon), Antoinette Perry (piano), Wesley Amorim (7-string guitar), Ted Falcon (bandolim), Ben Rempel (pandeiro)
Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 3:00 pm
STRINGS AND PIANO
What was New in the 1890s. A Look at the Mt Lowe Railway and Music of its Day
Debussy “String Quartet,” Brahms Op. 118 solo piano works, Amy Beach “Romance,” Burdette Wood “Echo Mountain.” Agnes Gottschewski and Irina Voloshina (violins), Dmitri Bovaird (viola), Maggie Edmondson (cello), Kevin Fitz-Gerald (piano).
Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 3:00 pm
VIOLIN, CLARINET, PIANO TRIO
Irina Voloshina (violin), Michele Zukovsky (clarinet), Antoinette Perry (piano) playing sonatas of CPE Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Mieczyslaw Weinberg, “Four Pieces” for Solo Piano by Frederic Rzewski, “Suite” by Darius Milhaud, and “Contrasts” by Bela Bartok.
Sunday, May 15, 2022 at 3:00 pm
STRING QUARTET & OBOE
Agnes Gottschewski and Irina Voloshina (violins), Dmitri Bovaird (viola), Maggie Edmondson (cello), and Sarah Beck (oboe) playing Beethoven "String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op 18," Arnold Bax "Quintet for Oboe and String Quartet" and traditional Irish tunes.
Altadena Main Library
Sunday, February 25, 2024 at 3:00 pm
INTERACTIVE FAMILY CONCERT
A concert geared towards people of all ages but especially accessible for young children. This concert will feature string quartet combing musical imagery and dances from around the world. The program will include an introduction to the string instrument family and some audience participation. Music will include “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Blue Danube Waltzes,” Vivaldi’s “Seasons,” Saint Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals,” Offenbach “Can Can.” Curated by Agnes Gottschewski. Agnes Gottschewski and Ina Veli (violins), Dmitri Bovaird (viola), and Maggie Edmondson (cello).
Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 3:00 pm
18TH CENTURY WIND OCTETS
Wind Octets from the late 18th century were popular as entertainment music and as arrangements of popular operas in the days before recording. In additional to Mozart’s two octets, there are arrangements of Mozart’s operas “Don Giovanni,” “Abduction from the Seraglio” and “the Marriage of Figaro” and one octet of Beethoven. We will select a program from this repertoire.
Curated by Jim Foschia and Phoebe Ray
Musicians: Jonathan Davis and Cathy Del Russo (oboes), Jim Foschia and Helen Goode (clarinets), Duncan Massey and Phoebe Ray (bassoons), John Mason and Suzette Moriarty (horns).
Sunday, January 29, 2023 at 3:00 pm
MUSIC FOR FLUTE, VIOLIN, VIOLA and HARP
Works with interesting connections—the Max Reger “Serenade” (flute, violin, viola) and Claude Debussy “Sonata” (flute, viola, harp) were both written in 1915. Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Serenade” (flute, violin, viola) shares its instrumentation with the Reger.
Larry Kaplan (flute), Agnes Gottschewski (violin), Erik Rynearson (viola), Alison Bjorkedal (harp)
Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 3:00 pm
FIATO STRING QUARTET
Chamber music by composers also known for film music including John Adams, Nino Rota, Aaron Copland, John Corigliano .and Erich Korngold.
Joel Pargman and Carrie Kennedy (violins), Aaron Oltman (viola), Ryan Sweeney (cello)
Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 3:00 pm
REED QUINTETS
Very hip, rhythmic and energetic quintets for reed instruments. Helen Goode (clarinet), Jim Foschia (bass clarinet), Patrick Olmos (alto sax), Victoria Lee (oboe), Phoebe Ray (bassoon). Gershwin "American in Paris," Marc Melitis "Splinter," Ton der Doest "Circusmuziek" and John Steinmetz "Sorrow and Celebration"
Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 3:00 pm
MUSIC FOR BRASS QUINTET
This is the second concert in a series presented by the newly formed Mt. Lowe Chamber Players and following the pandemic hiatus. The first concert, a program for strings, was a huge success. Over a hundred and fifty people were in attendance. Selections for the brass concert include movie music of Randy Newman and Leonard Bernstein, some more traditional brass repertoire from Bach, Gabrielli, Cheetam and Penella, as well as a tune from Hoagy Carmichael Featured performers include Erick Jovel and Catherine Ryan (trumpets), Karen Klages (horn), Daniel Lawlor (trombone), P. Blake Cooper (tuba).
Sunday, May 1, 2022 at 3 pm
CLASSIC WOODWIND QUINTETS
"Wind Quintet" by Carl Nielson, "3 Pièces brèves" by Jacques Ibert, "Piccola offerta musicale" by Nino Rota, and "Alligator Crawl" by Thomas "Fats" Waller. Larry Kaplan (flute), Michele Forrest (oboe), Jim Foschia (clarinet), Phoebe Ray (bassoon) and John Mason (horn)
Sunday, January 26, 2020 at 3 pm
AUSPICIOUS BEGINNINGS: MUSIC FOR STRINGS
As they begin their hometown concert series, the Mt. Lowe Chamber Players will celebrate another type of beginning: the earliest works of a young composer. What will you hear in the remarkable music of a teen-aged composer that forecasts even greater things to come? The ensemble will present “String Sonata No. 3 in C Major” by Gioachino Rossini, “String Quartet in C Major, K.157” by W. A. Mozart, “String Quartet No. 1” by Charles Ives, “String Quartet No. 2 in A Major” by Juan Crisostomo Arriaga.
Joel Pargman and Carrie Kennedy (violins), Dmitri Bovaird (viola), Delores Bing and Christina Soule (celli), Steve Edelman (bass)
Benefit Concerts
Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 3 pm
A private benefit concert to help sustain future seasons.
Irina Voloshina (violin), Michele Zukovsky (clarinet), Antoinette Perry (piano) playing “Suite” by Darius Milhaud, and “Contrasts” by Bela Bartok.
Sunday, November 17, 2019 at 3 pm
A private benefit concert to help launch a new Altadena chamber music ensemble
"Beethoven Septet in E-flat major, Opus 20" with Irina Voloshina (violin), Dmitri Bovaird (viola), Maggie Edmondson (cello), Drew Dembowski (bass), Michele Zukovsky (clarinet), John Mason (horn), Phoebe Ray (bassoon) and featuring piano soloist Antoinette Perry performing Debussy Preludes "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair" and "General Lavine - Eccentric" with John Steinmetz (host).