Dear Friends,

It is my great pleasure  to announce the 2011-2012 season of Concordia Chamber Players. The first of our three subscription concerts entitled "Sacred and Profane".will mark the return  to New Hope of one of the world's most celebrated harpists, Nancy Allen in a performance of two of Debussy's masterworks for harp:  Danses Sacree et Profane as well as his trio for flute harp and viola.  Joining Nancy and making her Concordia debut will be Mindy Kauffman, assistant principal flute of the New York Philharmonic. There are  many rarely heard works that I so enjoy bringing to New Hope for you to discover. Two of them are on this concert with Arthur Foote's hauntingly beautiful "Night Music" for flute and string quartet as well as the String Quartet in A minor by E.J. Moeran which sounds a bit like Ravel had Ravel been born in Ireland. This concert will be held on October 23rd at 3:00 PM. 

The second of our series "Baroque Bash" is a first for Concordia in that it will be entirely composed of works of the Baroque period. It is also a first because we will finally be making use of the glorious organ housed in the Trinity Church in Solebury and of their wonderful organist Tim Harell. Tim will be joined by Carl Albach on natural trumpet for a selection of works by Torelli, Handel among others. Also joining the family of Concordia artists will be Krista Bennion Feeney, concertmistress of St. Luke's Chamber Orchestra and Mostly Mozart as well as Daniel Swenberg, lutrenist to the finest. Both of these artists are experts in the music of this period and I promise you will be amazed by the subtleties of their interpretation and their mastery of Baroque techniques. This concert will be held on January 15th at 3:00PM and it will not snow that day.

Our third and final concert "Contemporaries" will arrive in the spring with serenades and bagatelles. Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera will be joining John Novacek on the piano for a performance of the delightful "Bagatelles" of Gerald Finzi. There are many artists on this concert that will be in New Hope for the first time. John Novacek - piano, Daniel Phillips - violin and Toby Appel - viola. These three musicians have thrilled audiences in many of the world's most revered halls. Returning after some time will be the memorable Julie Landsman on French Horn. Much as the composers were all contemporaries these are my contemporaries and what an honor it is to call them each my colleague and my friend. To have them all under the same roof to share in chamber music is as good as it gets. I imagine that this may be the first time you will hear a public performance of the charmingly beautiful Qunitet in D major by Vaughan Williams for piano, violin, cello, clarinet and french horn.  This concert takes place on April 22, 2012 at 3PM
. 
As we have done in year's past we will be holding a winter gala event. This year I have chosen to stage the witty, jazz influenced Revue de Cuisine by composer Bohuslav Martinu. Written as a ballet with the original title of "Temptation of the Saintly Pot" this work tells a tale of intrigue and romance of a pot, a lid, a dishcloth, twirling stick and a broom. I should hope that much bizarre information has already sparked your interest. The musicians will include Rieko Aizawa on piano, Jess Mills on violin, Marc Goldberg on bassoon, Carl Albach on trumpet and myself on cello. There will be a wonderful narrator to tell the tale and following the performance we will feast on the delights of the saintly pot. The details of the exact location of this event will follow soon but please save the date of January 13, 2012 for another unforgettable evening of music, food and friendship.

I look forward to seeing you this season and am so grateful for the trust and support the Concordia Chamber Players family has given to our program and artists. 

Yours sincerely, 
Michelle Djokic