‘Chamber music showcased in Holy Cross concerts’

A recent article in the Telegram & Gazette highlights the Chamber Music Institute program at College of the Holy Cross which took place this past week . The program, in its second year, had 16 talented musicians attend ranging from 14-35 years of age from across the United States as well as Costa Rica, Columbia, and South Korea. Students take part in an intense curriculum that offers instruction, workshops and performances and is led by world-renowned musicians.

Students were observed practicing amongst the stained glass windows and soaring ceilings of Brooks Concert Hall. Grace Marin, violin; Matthew Pinder, viola; Jan Müller- Szeraws, artist-in residence and artistic director of the program, cello; and Michael Brown, Chamber Music Institute faculty, piano; were in ensemble playing a spirited piano quartet in E-Flat major by Antonin Dvorak. Müller-Szeraws, conducting his students, raised the bow from his cello and asked “ I wonder if we can lift it up – dup dup dup dup?”

Pinder, who is 16 years of age, came to the program from Atlanta and has been playing the viola since he was eight.  He says that he loves the give-and-take with fellow musicians: “It gives so much satisfaction to work on a piece, work on it by myself, then with the chamber ensemble, then put it together. It’s so rewarding."

Müller-Szeraws says the institute has been a “wonderful breeding ground of ideas.” The culmination of the week-long  program featured two student and faculty performances that were free and open to the public and showcased “the fruits of a wonderful week of hard work (spent) thinking, breathing, and eating music” says Müller-Szeraws.

Read full article here.

This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Kelly Ethier