Lisa Edwards-Burrs joins members of the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia – pianist Mimi Solomon, violinist Nicholas diEugenio and cellist James Wilson – for a program combining poetry and readings about the seasons of the year with the musical suite “The Seasons” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Click here for more info about this concert from Longwood U’s Music Department.

Through the month of January, CMSCVA celebrates our contribution to the chamber music repertoire with a digital festival of pieces we have commissioned and premiered. Enjoy works written for CMSCVA in the past four years that have transformed the chamber music repertoire and delighted audiences throughout Richmond.  Shuying Li, Eight Immortals and the Sea (STREAMING NOW HERE) Zachary Wadsworth Palaces of Memory, and C/1995 O1 (STREAMING NOW HERE) Angélica Negrón, A través del manto luminoso Brian Raphael Nabors, Soul Bop And the Our Pictures project with works by Chloe Biggs, Benjamin Broening, Krystal Folkestad, Antonio Garcia, and Donovan Williams.  

Through the month of January, CMSCVA continues our 20th anniversary season by celebrating our contribution to the chamber music repertoire – with a digital festival of pieces we have commissioned and premiered. Enjoy works written for CMSCVA in the past four years that have transformed the chamber music repertoire and delighted audiences throughout Richmond.  First up is C/1995 O1, a sextet for flute and clarinet and strings by Zachary Wadsworth, commissioned by CMSCVA and premiered on March 3, 2024. The composer was inspired by the Hale-Bopp comet, which appeared in the skies over Richmond in 1997. When CMSCVA approached Zachary Wadsworth to commission a piece for our 2023-24 season, we told him that the theme of the concert on which we wanted a new piece was “Illumination” and left the inspiration up to him. The result is a delightful surprise – an evocative Southern musical nocturne in which the spectacular Hale-Bopp comet makes an appearance. Wadsworth provides the notes on his piece, C/1995 O1: “The most memorable “illumination” of my childhood was when Comet Hale-Bopp appeared in the night sky. When it was at its brightest, in the early spring of 1997, I was 13 years old, and I remember walking out to my front porch and peering up at it in awe. Though it hung silent and completely still, it shone brightly and loomed large in the sky, like a strange visitor. Once it departed, I felt strangely sad, and more than a little lucky, knowing it wouldn’t return during my lifetime. The formal scientific designation for the comet was “C/1995 O1.” In my piece of the same title, written for string quartet, flute, and clarinet, I try to sonically paint my experience of that comet. In the opening of the piece, the music paints calm, aimless teenaged evenings…

Through the month of January, CMSCVA celebrates our contribution to the chamber music repertoire with an online digital festival of pieces we have commissioned and premiered. Enjoy works written for CMSCVA in the past four years that have transformed the chamber music repertoire and delighted audiences throughout Richmond. Up next is Eight Immortals and the Sea, an octet for clarinet, bassoon, horn and strings by American composer Shuying Li, commissioned by CMSCVA and premiered on May 15, 2022. For CMSCVA’s first season coming out of the COVID pandemic period, CMSCVA approached Li to write a piece with the same orchestration as the famous Schubert Octet. She paired the idea of a piece for eight players with the Eight Immortals, mythological figures from Chinese culture. Although individually powerful, the Immortals cooperate and complement each other’s skills to accomplish great feats. It’s a perfect metaphor for the art and skill of chamber music! Li provides the notes on her piece, Eight Immortals and the Sea: Eight Immortals and the Sea draws inspiration from the Chinese Taoism mythology. The Eight Immortals are considered to be signs of prosperity and longevity, so they are popular themes in ancient and medieval art. Among the literature on the subject, one of the work made during the Ming Dynasty (c. 14th–15th centuries) is called The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea. It is about the Immortals on their way to attend the Conference of the Magical Peach when they encounter an ocean. Instead of relying on their clouds to get them across, Lü Dongbin suggested that they each should exercise their unique powers to get across. Derived from this, the Chinese proverb “The Eight Immortals cross the sea, each reveals its divine powers” indicates the situation that everybody shows off their skills and expertise to achieve a common goal….

CMSCVA continues its theme of “20” in celebration of our 20th anniversary with Romantic music from the late 19th century. Edward Elgar’s Serenade opus 20 makes its CMSCVA debut in a special arrangement for strings and flute, and is joined by Borodin’s famous String Quartet in D major, written as a 20th anniversary wedding gift for his wife. This concert is presented in partnership with the Richmond Public Library’s Gellman Room Concerts. Register for this free event here.

What could celebrate our 20th anniversary more perfectly than a performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s exhilarating Octet, opus 20? We pair this famous piece of chamber music with a joyful fanfare commissioned for this year from Richmond’s own Donovan Williams, and celebrate the 100th anniversary years of composers Maurice Ravel and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with original works and spectacular arrangements by pianist and composer Sahun Sam Hong. Program: Donovan Williams, New work Maurice Ravel, Allegro moderato – très doux from String Quartet in F major Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Prelude from Fantasiestücke, Op. 5 Claude Debussy (arr. Sahun Sam Hong), Des pas sur la neige from Préludes Ravel (arr. Hong), Alborada del Gracioso from “Miroirs” Ravel (arr. Hong), Blues from Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major Miles Davis (arr. Hong), “Blue in Green” Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Rondo: Allegro vivace from String Quartet No. 1 “Calvary” Felix Mendelssohn, Octet E major, opus 20

Built in 1753, members of the Randolph family called Wilton home for over 100 years and entertained some of the most notable political figures including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Having survived the Revolutionary and Civil War, the Wilton House has a rich and complex history. CMSCVA returns to this historic setting for a program of Baroque music performed on period instruments. Because of the intimate size of the Wilton House venue, this concert is offered on two dates.

Built in 1753, members of the Randolph family called Wilton home for over 100 years and entertained some of the most notable political figures including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Having survived the Revolutionary and Civil War, the Wilton House has a rich and complex history. CMSCVA returns to this historic setting for a program of Baroque music performed on period instruments. Because of the intimate size of the Wilton House venue, this concert is offered on two dates. Please note that this event is sold out. Tickets may become available at a later date. Please contact us at 804-304-6312 or at cmscva@yahoo.com for more information.

Beethoven’s famous Septet, opus 20, is one of the true party pieces in history. Its tunes have been whistled in the streets of Europe and America for over 200 years. Join CMSCVA for an hour of sparkling music by Beethoven, and the premiere of a piece by Antonio García that brings this 19th century masterpiece to its place in 21st century Richmond. Register for this free event here.  

One of the highlights of our past 20 years was a back-to-back performance of two of the best loved pieces in the chamber music repertoire, both by Franz Schubert: his spectacular “Trout” Quintet and the epic Cello Quintet in C major. CMSCVA revives this concert for our anniversary year, but with a historical touch. Played on gut strings and a reproduction 1830’s Graf fortepiano, this performance of two stunning works is a not-to-be-missed event in Richmond’s concert season. With: Caleb Georges, viola Min-Yun Kim, violin Anthony Manzo, bass Kako Miura, violin Carsten Schmidt, piano Anna Steinhoff, cello James Wilson, cello