Chamber music concert planned – Times-Standard

A free chamber music concert will be presented by the Chamber Players of the Redwoods on Sunday at 5 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 625 15th St., Eureka. A meet and greet will follow the concert.

Attendees will hear a string octet, woodwind quintet, sax quartet and a four hands piano duo playing music by Mozart, Pierne, Piazzolla and others. Donations will be accepted and face masks are advised.

First on the program will be the Gospel Outreach Youth Ensemble performing a well-known string quartet as a string octet. The youth group began just six months ago, according to organizer Stefan Vaughan, violinist and long-time member of the Chamber Players. The youth performers be doubling up on Mozart’s String Quartet No. 4 in C, K157 with eight string players, not four strings as originally called for. The double string quartet consists of Joelle Jordan, Gabriel LaVerne, Ariel Salinger and Hannah Arbec, violins; Ruth Jordan, Bryanna Salinger, violas; and Kaitlyn Salinger, Amanda Barney on celli.

In Vaughan’s arrangement with extra strings, the louder sections seem more orchestral while the softer sections using fewer strings appear more chamber like.

Next, the Cal Poly Humboldt Saxophone Quartet will perform Gabriel Pierne’s Introduction et Variations sur une Ronde Populaire. Members include Rebekka Lopez, soprano saxophone; Raili Makela, alto saxophone; Luke Faulder, tenor saxophone, and Danyelle Allen on baritone saxophone. A standard of sax repertoire, the work was composed in 1934 for legendary saxist Marcel Mule.

“The work is bright and cheerful as a round dance and yet delicate and light. With many ornaments and variations, it begins slowly but is interrupted twice by the rondo,” explained Kenneth Ayoob. Annette Gurnée Hull and Nancy Correll of PianoVoce take the stage next, presenting a lively piano work by Argentinian composer and bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla. The multi-movement work, originally for flute and guitar was rewritten for four-hands piano duo. Gurnée Hull takes the Primo part with Nancy Correll taking the Secondo part as they share the bench.

Next on the program is a woodwind quintet from the pen of Hungarian composer, Endre Szervánsky. Composed in 1953, the piece has become a staple of quintet repertoire. According to oboist Michael Kibbe, the group chose this particular work of Szervánsky because it displays “where the heavy influences of his compatriots, Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly can be heard” although they’ll be performing only two movements of the work. In addition to Kibbe, players are Jill Petricca, flute; Paul Cummings, clarinet; Aaron Lopez, bassoon; and Anwyn Halliday, horn.

Last but not least, the quintet will end with a movement from Kibbe’s A Lyric Quintet, opus 218. The Lyric Quintet is number 13 of 21 wind quintets by Kibbe, this one composed in 2013. The work was written for, and dedicated to, a bassoonist friend in Los Angeles.

The Chamber Players of the Redwoods is a nonprofit that represents the best of classical chamber music in all genres for local musicians and their audiences.