Welcome to the 2019-20 Chamber Music season. Here you will find instrumental recitals by students, by resident faculty and guest artists, and by the SSU Brass Ensemble and Guitar Ensemble. The chamber music program is under the direction of Marilyn Thompson.
Written for any combination of two up to about 15 players, chamber music has no boss, no one person directing the sound and shaping the piece. It is a shared responsibility among all the players, alternating in roles of leadership and support as the music requires." —International Music Foundation
Friday, September 20, 2019
Instrumental Repertoire
Join us for the first of the series of Instrumental Repertoire performances. Each of our talented musicians is required to take the stage and share their skills. This matinee performance will feature some of our up-and-coming instrumentalists. Each of the monthly concerts features a selection of pieces and performers. This is a FREE CONCERT. No tickets required. Check our website: sonoma.music.edu for updates.View Event Details
Friday, September 27, 2019
Guitar Guest Artist: Evan Hirschelman
Join us for an exciting evening of classical guitar featuring the music of virtuoso guitarist/composer Evan Hirschelman.
Evan Hirschelman is an award-winning guitarist and composer, who has gained international acclaim for his unique compositions, virtuosic performances, and dynamic interpretational renditions. He has been heralded for “precise and prodigious technique” by Acoustic Guitar Magazine , “technical wizardry” by Los Angeles Times and “soulful musicality” by Malibu Times . Whether performing original compositions, traditional classical repertoire, or exploring diverse musical styles, Hirschelman seeks to find connections that stimulate the imagination.
The Grammy award-winning recording Guitar Heroes includes Hirschelman’s...View Event Details
Friday, October 18, 2019
Scholarship Showcase
In recognition of our supporters and scholarship donors, the Music, Theatre Arts & Dance departments present a free recital by scholarship recipients. Performances feature artists in dance and theatre, as well as voice, string, wind and keyboard.View Event Details
Friday, October 25, 2019
Instrumental Repertoire
Join us for the second in the series of Instrumental Repertoire performances. Each of our talented musicians is required to take the stage and share their skills. This matinee performance will feature some of our up-and-coming instrumentalists. Each of the monthly concerts features a selection of pieces and performers. This is a FREE CONCERT. No tickets required. Check our website: sonoma.music.edu for updates.View Event Details
Sunday, November 3, 2019
Brass Ensemble Fall Concert
The SSU Brass Ensemble celebrates its 13th season with music for brass and organ at 2 p.m. on November 3 in Schroeder Hall. Guest organist David Parsons will be featured in works by Schütz, Franck, Peeters and Pinkham, as well as solo pieces. Brian S. Wilson conducts. Brass Ensemble Capriccio sopra la Battaglia Giovanni Frescobaldi (1583-1643) Ciacona in Cm, BuxWV 159 Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707) Fugue in G Minor (Little Fugue) JS Bach (1685-1750) Scherzo, from Symphony No 4 Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) Brass and Organ Psalm 111 Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) Offertoire in G Minor César Franck (1822-1890) Aria Flor Peeters (1903-1986)...View Event Details
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Wind Power
The Wind Power concert is an annual event featuring a talented brass or woodwind player. This year, SSU professor Brian S. Wilson is featuring music from Poland with Ryszard Zoledziewski, alto sax and Piotr Rojek – piano and organ. Ryszard is a professor at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, Poland and a world-renown sax player and teacher. The program will feature a piece entitled Nocturne, Zoledziewski commissioned earlier from Wilson.View Event Details
Friday, November 22, 2019
Guitar Ensemble
Directed by Eric Cabalo, the Guitar Ensemble is designed for students to learn how to perform repertoire for duos, trios, quartets, and large ensembles. Guitarists attain a working knowledge of ensemble skills like following a conductor, giving and receiving cues, listening and responding musically to the ensemble, and rehearsal techniques. The Ensemble aims to increase sight-reading skills to accommodate beginning through intermediate ensemble literature, increase performance skills including refinement of technique and stage etiquette. Students obtain a general knowledge of classical guitar ensemble literature.View Event Details
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Navarro Trio
Co-founded in 1992 by pianist Marilyn Thompson and cellist Jill Rachuy Brindel, NAVARRO TRIO is currently in its 26th season as chamber music artists-in-residence at Sonoma State.
Comprised of violinist Victor Romasevich, cellist Jill Rachuy Brindel and pianist Marilyn Thompson, NAVARRO TRIO has performed virtually the entire “standard” piano trio repertoire.
They are advocates of out-of-print and rarely performed works by composers including Rebecca Clarke, Paul Juon, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Clara Schumann and Sergei Taneyev. In the contemporary vein, they have performed trios by Chick Corea, Richard Danielpour, Brian S. Wilson, Kirke Mechem and Paul Schoenfeld.
Their frequent...View Event Details
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Faculty and Friends
Last year, the SSU Faculty and Friends concert featured lyric soprano Carol Menke, a well known to Bay Area audiences as a vocal soloist and chamber music collaborator. She studied at the Franz Schubert Institute in Austria and has been coached by some of Europe’s finest recitalists, including Elly Ameling, Jörg Demus, and Norman Shetler. Upon hearing her perform one of his newly composed chamber works, the renowned composer Alan Hovhaness acknowledged and praised her “perfect musicianship.”
Ms. Menke holds an M.A. in Vocal Performance from California State University, Chico. The Santa Rosa Children’s Chorus, with whom she has...View Event Details
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Instrumental Repertoire
Join us for our series of Instrumental Repertoire performances. Each of our talented musicians is required to take the stage and share their skills. This matinee performance will feature some of our up-and-coming instrumentalists. Each of the monthly concerts features a selection of pieces and performers. This is a FREE CONCERT. No tickets required. Check our website: sonoma.music.edu for updates.View Event Details