Now entering their 11th year, Chamber Music Charleston has big plans for the 2017-18 season. From the homes of downtown Charleston to the hills of Spain, CMC spreads their love of and passion for locally grown music with a season chock-full of exciting performances.
Ovation Concert Series
There will be three performances in the Ovation Concert Series, all held at the historic Dock Street Theatre. The opening concert takes place Sun. Nov. 12, featuring guest violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti and pianist Andrew Armstrong. The program includes Saint-Saens’ “Havanaise” and Dvorak’s Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major.
The second performance take place Sun. Jan. 7, 2018, with the program showcasing Grammy Award-winning violinist Karen Kim who joins the musicians of CMC to play the music of Beethoven and Mendelssohn.
The third and final Ovation concert takes place March 20, and will highlight the collaboration between CMC and the Musica en Segura Festival in Spain. Three of the festival’s guests — Daniel Bronco, Ana Valderrama, and Dorine Schoon — join CMC for a program celebrating the music of Beethoven, Brahms, and Stravinsky. The program is sponsored in part by the Spain Arts and Culture department.
House Concert Series
CMC’s much-loved House Concert Series continues through the 2017-18 season with performances held downtown, on Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island, and at the Bishop Gadsen House.
All downtown concerts are currently sold out except for Sun. Sept. 24, Mon. Jan 29, and Sun. March 4. Email sandra@chambermusiccharleston.org to be placed on the waiting list for the sold-out dates. There will also be five Sunday Downtown concerts, taking place Sept. 24, Nov. 12, Jan. 7, Mar. 4, and Apr. 22.
Kiawah concerts will take place Tues. Sept 19, Tues. Oct. 24, Tues. Jan 30, Tues. Mar. 6, Tues. Apr. 10, and Tues. May 1.
Seabrook Island concerts will take place Wed. Sept. 20, Tues. Oct. 17, Wed. Jan 31, and Wed. April 11.
The Bishop Gadsen concert series is sold out except for two concerts, happening Sun. Oct. 15 and Sun. Apr. 29.
Charleston Library Society
CMC once again joins forces with the Charleston Library Society for two programs, one on Oct. 12 and the other Apr. 12. Both are approximately an hour long and are followed by a reception with the chance to meet the musicians.
The first, “Rock and Rondo Redux IV” is a laid-back crossover program (no suits and ties here) that blends the sounds of Led Zeppelin and The Beatles with Mozart String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465. Rock on.
The second concert features music for flute, violin, cello, and piano, highlighting the talents of CMC artists Regina Helcher Yost, Frances Hseih, Timothy O’Malley, and Ghadi Shayban.
Classical Kids Concerts
Start them early — the Classical Kids Concert, The Night Before Christmas, takes place Sun. Dec. 23. CMC plays a variety of holiday music while actors from the Actors’ Theatre of South Carolina retell classic Christmas tales and the audience joins in for sing-alongs to favorites like “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.”
Collaborations
In addition to their regular programming, Chamber Music Charleston mixes mediums with Ballet Evolution for several productions. Starting in Oct. 28 & 29 with Ballet Evolution’s original repertory program, Notes Between the Shadows, CMC accompanies the dancers onstage with music from the likes of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, J.S. Bach, Dvorak, Mozart, and more.
Taking their talents abroad, CMC will travel to Spain in May 2018 to participate in the Musica en Segura Festival (three of the festival musicians will play with the CMC in March during the final Ovation concert).
“We have been working closely with the Spanish Arts and Culture office of the Spanish Embassy,” says CMC president and artistic director Sandra Nikolajevs. “This follows the goal we have been striving for of presenting to the nation (through our Carnegie Hall performance in May) and now internationally (through this festival) the exceptional music that is initiated, created, and supported right here in Charleston.”
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