Chamber Project St. Louis Announces 2017-18 Season

Through seven concert sets, FAITH, BLUEPRINT, VOYAGER, ORIGINS, OPPOSITION, ECO, and CHOICE, Chamber Project St. Louis (CPSTL) will celebrate St. Louis and its place in the world in their 2017-18 season beginning on September 8, 2017 with a partnership with the Missouri History Museum's upcoming exhibit "#1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis." Acclaimed baritone Robert McNichols, Jr. is featured on this FREE concert entitled FAITH, which includes a world premiere by Adam Maness inspired by the DrEd Scott case. Adam's moving work, also commissioned by CPSTL, The Delmar Wall rounds out the first half of the program. American composer, Samuel Barber's, Dover Beach, questions faith and a contemporary masterpiece, Compline, by Christopher Rouse explores practicing faith to complete the program.

CPSTL offers a unique concert experience where the audience is invited into an active listening experience and presents these concerts in both traditional and non-traditional concert venues including Schlafly Tap Room, the Chapel Venue, and the 560 Music Center. From the concert hall to the brewery, CPSTL provides all people a gateway to classical music. Our chamber music programming is a balance of the transformative music of past generations, with the realization that we are not just the inheritors and interpreters of music of the past. We have a responsibility to shape an art form that is more inclusive and socially-engaged than the traditional classical canon, to broaden the repertoire, and cultivate new, meaningful and thought-provoking voices not traditionally heard in the concert hall.

Filtering directly into our concert series, are our Very Open Rehearsals, which open the first rehearsal of a piece for an upcoming concert to a live audience with an interactive twist. This type of educational program engages the participants to impact the entire process of musical creation. The upcoming season will continue to push boundaries and will include new commissions from local composers, and a roster of 20+ elite musicians.

Ticket prices range from $5-$20. Tickets on sale August 1, 2017. For additional information about these programs or to purchase tickets, please visit the CPSTL website at www.chamberprojectstl.org.

Chamber Project St. Louis aspires to rejuvenate and refresh the experience of live chamber music. Seeking to explore the relationship between audience and performers, CPStL incorporates the tradition of performance in intimate spaces with the expectations of a twenty-first century audience. Blending the old and the new, we create unique, intimately social concert experiences that you don't want to miss. This is your community, come be a part of it!

PROGRAMS AND DATES

2017

FAITH: Moving Mountains

Sept 8, 7:30pm; Missouri History Museum

(Free Concert)

• Adam Maness: The Delmar Divide (CPSTL commission)
• Adam Maness: (TBA) (World Premiere, and CPSTL commission)
• Traditional/Kenji Bunch: "We Shall Overcome"
• Samuel Barber: Dover Beach
• Christopher Rouse: Compline

We are honored to be presented by the Missouri History Museum as part of the #1 in Civil Rights, the African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis exhibit. A new work by local composer Adam Maness remembers the landmark DrEd Scott case that rocked the country. Baritone Robert McNichols, Jr. is featured on this program that explores FAITH from many perspectives.

BLUEPRINT: Hearing the Architecture of Home

Oct 13 & 14, 8:00pm; The Chapel Venue

• W.A. Mozart: Flute Quartet in D Major
• Zachary Cairns: TBA (World Premiere and CPSTL Commission)
• Paul Hayden: Cherubs on the Ceiling
• Caroline Shaw: In Manus Tuas
• Andrew Norman: Light Screens

Continuing our focus on St. Louis we celebrate our most famous landmark, the Gateway Arch, in our BLUEPRINT program. 2017-2018 is the 70th anniversary of the nationwide design competition which ultimately resulting in Saarinen's iconic design. We have commissioned composer Zachary Cairns to write a piece to reflect Saarinen's design through music and to celebrate the reopening of the arch grounds. This is coupled with the ultimate musical designer, Mozart, in his flute quartet. Caroline Shaw is a young, Pulitzer-prize winning composer, and she captures the spirit of a 16th century motet by Thomas Tallis as she experienced it in a cathedral. Andrew Norman is a recipient of the prestigious Rome Prize and we will perform his work inspired by the staiNed Glass of Frank Lloyd Wright. Adrianne Honnold, an original founder of CPSTL will return from Europe for this concert set.

VOYAGER: Exploring our Global Village

Nov 17, 8:00pm; 560 Music Center (onstage concert)

• Valerie Coleman: Umoja
• Errollyn Wallen: 5 Postcards
• Toru Takemitsu: and then I knew t'was wind
• Jean Émile Cras: Trio for violin, viola & cello

Bringing St. Louis to the world and the world to St. Louis, our VOYAGER program will explore the idea of a globally connected village. The program begins with "Umoja," meaning unity, by the African-American composer Valerie Coleman, followed by "Five Postcards by Belizean/British composer, Errollyn Wallen and Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu's "and I knew 'twas wind." The program ends with Jean Cras' North African influenced string trio. Our community partner will be the American Field Service.

2018

ORIGINS: 10th Anniversary Celebration

Feb 11, 7:00pm; The Schlafly Tap Room

• Rebecca Clarke: Duo for Clarinet & Viola
• Mark O'Connor: Old Country Fairy Tale
• Arnold Bax: Elegiac Trio
• Serge Prokofiev: Quintet

Celebrating 10 years of music making in St. Louis featuring audience favorites from the past decade! Four women started with a seed of inspiration, and Chamber Project St. Louis has grown into an influential force within the St. Louis regional arts scene.

OPPOSITION: Fighting for Peace

March 16, 8:00pm; The Chapel Venue

March 28, 7:00pm; World Chess Hall of Fame

• David Wilde: The Cellist of Sarajevo
• Hendrik Andriessen: Pastorale
• John Williams: Air and Simple Gifts
• Dimitri Shostakovich: Piano Quintet in g minor Op. 57

Artists working under oppressive situations eloquently implore the world for peace and compassion, while expressing the brutality of their situations. Andriessen writes from imprisonment, and Shostakovich was a free man in name only. The Cellist of Sarajevo tells the story of one man's nightly vigil in his war-torn city.

ECO: Sustaining Mother Earth

April 20, 8:00pm; The 560 Music Center

April 21, Augusta Harmonie-Verein

• Maurice Ravel: Jeax d'eau
• Bodor: TBA (world premiere)
• Gustav Mahler/arr Zimra: Symphony No. 4, lV
• Franz Schubert: Quintet "The Trout"

On Earth Day weekend we rejoice in the beauty of the natural world. Music by Ravel,
Mahler and Schubert are inspired by Mother Nature and we commission a new work from Katherine Bodor for soprano and small ensemble.

CHOICE

June 2, 2018; The Chapel Venue

A concert of favorites fully curated by the audience throughout the season by secret ballot.

Very Open Rehearsals:

There will be more Very Open Rehearsals throughout the season, check www.chamberprojectstl.org for more information as it becomes available.

Season 2017/18 Featured Composers

Adam Maness, W.A. Mozart, Sergei Prokofiev, Errollyn Wallen, Valerie Coleman, Katherine Bodor, Gustav Mahler, Franz Schubert, Maurice Ravel, Rebecca Clarke, John Williams, Dimitri Shostakovich, Toru Takemitsu, Caroline Shaw, Andrew Norman, Christopher Rouse

Season 2017/18 Featured Performers

Kyle Lombard, violin, Jane Price, violin, Amy Greenhalgh, viola, Laura Reycraft, viola, Valentina Takova, cello, Anthony Innaimo, cello, Adam Anello, bass, Nina Ferrigno, piano, Jennifer Gartley, flute, Cally Banham, oboe, Dana Hotle, clarinet, Adrianne Honnold, saxophone, Megan Stout, harp, Katherine Jolly, soprano, Robert McNichols, Jr., bartione

Support for Chamber Project St. Louis comes from the Regional Arts Commission, the Missouri Arts Council, the Trio Foundation of St. Louis, and the Arts & Education Council.

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