BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Union High School music department will present an evening of chamber music on Friday, Jan. 7, at the New England Youth Theatre on Flat Street.
The first half of the concert will begin at 6 p.m., and the second half at 7:30 p.m.
An admission fee of $2 will be charged and will apply to both halves of the concert. A food sale at intermission will benefit the NEYT scholarship fund.
Featured on the concert will be 17 chamber ensembles, including groups such as saxophone quartets, clarinet and flute trios, percussion quintets, brass quartets and a mixed woodwind quartet. Music will span from the Baroque era through contemporary classical music.
Each year, the BUHS band curriculum includes a unit on chamber music. According to BUHS band director Stephen Rice, “My students spend most of the year playing in a very large ensemble. It is easy for them to feel lost in the crowd in a band of 70. In chamber ensembles, my students are given the opportunity to carry a part all by themselves and to play in a more transparent setting. Each student really has a chance to shine.”
Just as important is the responsibility that comes from being in a small group.
“There is no place to hide when you play chamber music,” said Rice. “Students really have to take ownership of the level of their individual performance and are accountable in a different way than they are in band.”
A final selling point from Rice's perspective is the way that the students have to cooperate to make their pieces work, from solving ensemble problems to crafting an expressive performance.
“Much of the work they do is independent,” he said. “They can't always rely on the teacher to fix problems and tell them how to make music. As a result, they become far more self-reliant musicians.”
While much of their work is independent, Rice enlists the help of many local musicians to coach the ensembles. In addition to BUHS and Brattleboro Area Middle School music teachers, Patty Meyer and Tom Nasiatka, ensemble coaches from the Brattleboro Music Center have been working with the students to prepare them for this concert. They have included Moby Pearson, Kathy Andrew, Alex Ogle, Michelle Liechti, Jean Jeffries, and Robin Matathias.
This marks the first time a BUHS concert has been presented at New England Youth Theater. The size and location of the performance space appealed to Rice.
“NEYT provides us with a more intimate space for this concert. Chamber music is not intended for large concert halls. We are fortunate and very grateful that Rebecca Waxman and the NEYT staff have agreed to host us. The event coincides with the January Gallery Walk with the hope that folks who might not normally attend B.U.H.S. concerts might come by to hear us.”
For more information, call 802-451-3511.