Concert Program Notes
2023 Season
Sunday, June 18 - Irina Muresanu, violin; Sergey Antonov, cello
On June 18 the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival launched its 49th summer season with all the beauty and panache for which this top-notch festival is known. Performing with festival Artistic Director and pianist Donald Enos were two guest artists who are stand-outs on the international music scene.
The season premiere included one of Mendelssohn’s greatest chamber works, the Trio in D minor, Op. 49, and Ravel’s beautifully complex Duo for violin and cello. Both of these works are characterized by a vast range of musical color and technical challenge, and they could be in no better hands than those of violinist Irina Muresanu and cellist Sergey Antonov. Muresanu, termed “irresistible” by The Boston Globe, has brought Cape Cod audiences to their feet season after season, just as she has done for fans around the world. Cellist Sergey Antonov, Gold Medal Winner in the International XIII Tchaikovsky Competition, is one of Russia’s "most spectacular soloists,” according to music critic Stephen Brookes of The Washington Post.
On June 18 the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival launched its 49th summer season with all the beauty and panache for which this top-notch festival is known. Performing with festival Artistic Director and pianist Donald Enos were two guest artists who are stand-outs on the international music scene.
The season premiere included one of Mendelssohn’s greatest chamber works, the Trio in D minor, Op. 49, and Ravel’s beautifully complex Duo for violin and cello. Both of these works are characterized by a vast range of musical color and technical challenge, and they could be in no better hands than those of violinist Irina Muresanu and cellist Sergey Antonov. Muresanu, termed “irresistible” by The Boston Globe, has brought Cape Cod audiences to their feet season after season, just as she has done for fans around the world. Cellist Sergey Antonov, Gold Medal Winner in the International XIII Tchaikovsky Competition, is one of Russia’s "most spectacular soloists,” according to music critic Stephen Brookes of The Washington Post.
Monday, June 26 - Clark Matthews, horn
On June 26 the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival hosted A Musical Cornucopia with a bounty of delightful compositions harvested by artistic director Donald Enos. The program includes compositions by Beethoven, Schumann, Franz Strauss, Eric Ewazen, and other greats.
The concert spotlighted the French horn, regarded as the orchestra's most challenging instrument, in the hands of a master. Clark Matthews is principal horn with the Cape Symphony Orchestra and interim principal hornist with Symphony New Hampshire. He has also appeared with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and is a member of the critically-acclaimed Walden Chamber Players. At the piano will be Donald Enos, who founded this longest running Cape Cod music festival 50 years ago following his extensive musical training at the New England Conservatory. Mr. Enos is also the Wesley DeLacy Chair for keyboards with the Cape Symphony. The duo presented: Schumann, Adagio & Allegro, op.7; Beethoven, Rondo: Allegro (from Sonata, op.17); Eric Ewazen Sonata for horn & piano (1992); and works by Jan Koetsier, Franz Strauss, Eugene Bozza, and Alan Abbott.
On June 26 the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival hosted A Musical Cornucopia with a bounty of delightful compositions harvested by artistic director Donald Enos. The program includes compositions by Beethoven, Schumann, Franz Strauss, Eric Ewazen, and other greats.
The concert spotlighted the French horn, regarded as the orchestra's most challenging instrument, in the hands of a master. Clark Matthews is principal horn with the Cape Symphony Orchestra and interim principal hornist with Symphony New Hampshire. He has also appeared with the Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, and Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and is a member of the critically-acclaimed Walden Chamber Players. At the piano will be Donald Enos, who founded this longest running Cape Cod music festival 50 years ago following his extensive musical training at the New England Conservatory. Mr. Enos is also the Wesley DeLacy Chair for keyboards with the Cape Symphony. The duo presented: Schumann, Adagio & Allegro, op.7; Beethoven, Rondo: Allegro (from Sonata, op.17); Eric Ewazen Sonata for horn & piano (1992); and works by Jan Koetsier, Franz Strauss, Eugene Bozza, and Alan Abbott.
Monday, July 3 - Heather Goodchild Wade, violin; Laura Manko Sahin, viola; Bo Ericsson, cello
A hallmark of chamber music is its conversational quality, where a single instrument plays each part and no musical voice dominates to the detriment of the others. Each of the voices in this concert is superlative in its own right and well versed in chamber music’s deft expression of musical ideas. Performing in this concert was violinist Heather Goodchild Wade, violist Laura Manko-Sahin, cellist Bo Ericsson, and Mr. Enos—all current or former principals with the Cape Symphony, musicians of the finest caliber, and long-time festival favorites. Their program also included Miguel del Aguila, Tango,Trio; and Rebecca Clarke, Dumka, Duo Concertante for violin and viola.
A hallmark of chamber music is its conversational quality, where a single instrument plays each part and no musical voice dominates to the detriment of the others. Each of the voices in this concert is superlative in its own right and well versed in chamber music’s deft expression of musical ideas. Performing in this concert was violinist Heather Goodchild Wade, violist Laura Manko-Sahin, cellist Bo Ericsson, and Mr. Enos—all current or former principals with the Cape Symphony, musicians of the finest caliber, and long-time festival favorites. Their program also included Miguel del Aguila, Tango,Trio; and Rebecca Clarke, Dumka, Duo Concertante for violin and viola.
Monday, July 10 - Amit Peled, cello
Amit Peled has enchanted the festival’s many fans each summer for years, just as he has thrilled audiences worldwide. Reviewers in the U.S. and around the globe have praised his performances: “fiery and intelligent” (The Strad Magazine, London), “sweepingly temperamental” (The Jerusalem Post), “simply gorgeous sound” (The Baltimore Sun), “a glowing tone, a seductive timbre and an emotionally pointed approach to phrasing" (The New York Times), among countless examples.
Amit Peled is widely celebrated not only for his musicianship, but also for his larger-than-life persona and engaging stage presence. Enos choses to collaborate with Amit Peled not only because of the cellist’s virtuosity, but because he brings to his performances the authenticity, raw emotion, and diverse cultural inspirations that Enos himself values, and that have become the festival’s trademark. The details of the concert were a surprise right up to the introductions, but the caliber was not.
Amit Peled has enchanted the festival’s many fans each summer for years, just as he has thrilled audiences worldwide. Reviewers in the U.S. and around the globe have praised his performances: “fiery and intelligent” (The Strad Magazine, London), “sweepingly temperamental” (The Jerusalem Post), “simply gorgeous sound” (The Baltimore Sun), “a glowing tone, a seductive timbre and an emotionally pointed approach to phrasing" (The New York Times), among countless examples.
Amit Peled is widely celebrated not only for his musicianship, but also for his larger-than-life persona and engaging stage presence. Enos choses to collaborate with Amit Peled not only because of the cellist’s virtuosity, but because he brings to his performances the authenticity, raw emotion, and diverse cultural inspirations that Enos himself values, and that have become the festival’s trademark. The details of the concert were a surprise right up to the introductions, but the caliber was not.
Monday, July 17 - Joyce Hammann, violin; Matthias Naegele, cello
The first movement of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata is a blend of light and darkness, much like the composer’s own life. The astonishing range in mood runs from sensitivity and lyricism to gaiety to intense sadness. Gaspar Cassado’s Trio is agile and virtuosic. Like the Schubert piece, it creates a powerful dark-tinged mood that yields to a carefree dancing finale. Panufnik’s Piano Trio is full of panache and youthful romanticism and, like all the pieces in this program, it has an incredibly rich and varied emotional range. Mendelssohn’s Trio bursts with fiery emotion and also contains sublime, prayer-like moments.
Joining the festival's Artistic Director and pianist Donald Enos were violinist Joyce Hammann and cellist Matthias Naegele. Joyce Hammann is a virtuoso who is equally at home on the concert stage, in a jazz club, and in front of screaming fans at a rock concert. She has performed and recorded with Paul McCartney, Sting, Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen and served as concertmaster for The Phantom of the Opera. Matthias Naegele has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician in Europe, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Asia. Naegele's performances are regularly broadcast over National Public Radio and Public Television. He plays a Mateo Gofriller cello made in Venice in 1735.
The first movement of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata is a blend of light and darkness, much like the composer’s own life. The astonishing range in mood runs from sensitivity and lyricism to gaiety to intense sadness. Gaspar Cassado’s Trio is agile and virtuosic. Like the Schubert piece, it creates a powerful dark-tinged mood that yields to a carefree dancing finale. Panufnik’s Piano Trio is full of panache and youthful romanticism and, like all the pieces in this program, it has an incredibly rich and varied emotional range. Mendelssohn’s Trio bursts with fiery emotion and also contains sublime, prayer-like moments.
Joining the festival's Artistic Director and pianist Donald Enos were violinist Joyce Hammann and cellist Matthias Naegele. Joyce Hammann is a virtuoso who is equally at home on the concert stage, in a jazz club, and in front of screaming fans at a rock concert. She has performed and recorded with Paul McCartney, Sting, Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen and served as concertmaster for The Phantom of the Opera. Matthias Naegele has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician in Europe, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Asia. Naegele's performances are regularly broadcast over National Public Radio and Public Television. He plays a Mateo Gofriller cello made in Venice in 1735.
Monday, July 24 - Katie Lansdale, violin; Danielle Farina, viola
Joining the festival's Artistic Director and pianist Donald Enos were a perennial festival favorite, violinist Katie Lansdale, and violist Danielle Farina in her debut concert with the festival. They performed Five Pieces for violin & viola by Shostakovich; Frank Bridge's Pensiero & Allegro Appassionato for viola and piano; Benjamin Britten’s Suite, op.6 for violin and piano; Telemann's Sonata Fantasia; and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante K. 364.
Violinist Katie Lansdale is a highly acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and teacher who performs to enthusiastic audiences in the U.S. and internationally. She has given outstanding performances with many prestigious orchestras, including the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Austin Mozart Orchestra, and the New York Repertory Orchestra, as well as such concert series as the Phillips Collection, the Caramoor Series, and Lincoln Center’s Rose Room. In New York, where she founded the acclaimed Locrian new music group, Lansdale’s extensive chamber music concerts have included Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center with Yo Yo Ma and Merkin Hall with the Twentieth Centuryists. She performs regularly in Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall with the Festival Chamber Society. Lansdale is particularly known for her solo Bach performances, and her Bach CD was cited by American Record Guide as “one of the best recordings of this music.”
Danielle Farina is the new Principal Violist of the Cape Symphony and is a former member of the Manhattan String Quartet, the Lark Quartet and Elements Quartet. She performs regularly with a number of ensembles in the NY area and around the country, among them the Bedford Chamber Ensemble, Music from Copland House and the Palladium Chamber Players. A proponent of new music, Ms. Farina premiered Peter Schickele's Viola Concerto with the Pasadena Symphony and recorded Viola concertos by Jon Bauman and Andy Teirstein in addition to Anthony Newman's Sonata on the Planets for Viola and Piano and Joel Suben’s “Ciacconetta”for Viola and Orchestra with the composer conducting. Music of Robert Paterson, John Musto, Eric Ewazen, Morton Feldman and Pierre Jalbert are also part of the discography. Recent digital audio and video releases include all of J.S. Bach’s Sonatas for Gamba and Harpsichord with Anthony Newman and Richard Wilson’s Music for Solo Viola. An active teacher, Ms. Farina is on the faculty of Vassar College. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Farina studied with Karen Tuttle, Joseph dePasquale, Stephen Wyrczynski, and Byrnina Socolofsky.
Donald Enos, a native Cape Codder, holds the position of Wesley DeLacy Chair, Keyboards, with the Cape Symphony and is the resident pianist for the Chatham Chorale. He is also director of music at the South Dennis Congregational Church, where he often presents concerts on the church’s Snetzler Chamber Organ (1762), believed to be the oldest organ in continuous use in the United States. It is his exceptional musicianship and creativity that have made the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival the longest running music festival on Cape Cod. The festival will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in the summer 2024. Prepare to be spellbound!
Joining the festival's Artistic Director and pianist Donald Enos were a perennial festival favorite, violinist Katie Lansdale, and violist Danielle Farina in her debut concert with the festival. They performed Five Pieces for violin & viola by Shostakovich; Frank Bridge's Pensiero & Allegro Appassionato for viola and piano; Benjamin Britten’s Suite, op.6 for violin and piano; Telemann's Sonata Fantasia; and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante K. 364.
Violinist Katie Lansdale is a highly acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and teacher who performs to enthusiastic audiences in the U.S. and internationally. She has given outstanding performances with many prestigious orchestras, including the National Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Austin Mozart Orchestra, and the New York Repertory Orchestra, as well as such concert series as the Phillips Collection, the Caramoor Series, and Lincoln Center’s Rose Room. In New York, where she founded the acclaimed Locrian new music group, Lansdale’s extensive chamber music concerts have included Mostly Mozart at Lincoln Center with Yo Yo Ma and Merkin Hall with the Twentieth Centuryists. She performs regularly in Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall with the Festival Chamber Society. Lansdale is particularly known for her solo Bach performances, and her Bach CD was cited by American Record Guide as “one of the best recordings of this music.”
Danielle Farina is the new Principal Violist of the Cape Symphony and is a former member of the Manhattan String Quartet, the Lark Quartet and Elements Quartet. She performs regularly with a number of ensembles in the NY area and around the country, among them the Bedford Chamber Ensemble, Music from Copland House and the Palladium Chamber Players. A proponent of new music, Ms. Farina premiered Peter Schickele's Viola Concerto with the Pasadena Symphony and recorded Viola concertos by Jon Bauman and Andy Teirstein in addition to Anthony Newman's Sonata on the Planets for Viola and Piano and Joel Suben’s “Ciacconetta”for Viola and Orchestra with the composer conducting. Music of Robert Paterson, John Musto, Eric Ewazen, Morton Feldman and Pierre Jalbert are also part of the discography. Recent digital audio and video releases include all of J.S. Bach’s Sonatas for Gamba and Harpsichord with Anthony Newman and Richard Wilson’s Music for Solo Viola. An active teacher, Ms. Farina is on the faculty of Vassar College. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Farina studied with Karen Tuttle, Joseph dePasquale, Stephen Wyrczynski, and Byrnina Socolofsky.
Donald Enos, a native Cape Codder, holds the position of Wesley DeLacy Chair, Keyboards, with the Cape Symphony and is the resident pianist for the Chatham Chorale. He is also director of music at the South Dennis Congregational Church, where he often presents concerts on the church’s Snetzler Chamber Organ (1762), believed to be the oldest organ in continuous use in the United States. It is his exceptional musicianship and creativity that have made the Meeting House Chamber Music Festival the longest running music festival on Cape Cod. The festival will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in the summer 2024. Prepare to be spellbound!
