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[column col=”1/2″] Clarinetist, Todd Palmer[/column] [column col=”1/2″] Pianist, Gail Niwa[/column] When he was fourteen years old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart learned the Italian version of bowling or bocce, and it continued to be a favorite diversion for him until late in his life. He is said to have found musical inspiration in the clatter of the falling pins and wooden balls. It is believed by some that Mozart composed the Clarinet Trio in E-flat major “Kegelstatt” at an eighteen century version of the bowling alley or kegelstatt. Mozart used his favorite musical instruments, the clarinet, viola and piano for the composition, so he was certainly more serious about the piece than he was about his bowling score on that day in August, 1786 when he wrote it. On Sunday, March 26, Pianist, Gail Niwa, who has won high praise for her recent recitals in Orchestra Hall in Chicago, joins the Concordia Chamber Players for the first time this season. Todd Palmer, clarinetist, who thrilled the Concordia audience at the recent Mozart Birthday concert will perform the “Kegelstatt” with Niwa and popular violist, Dan Panner, Principal Violist for the New York City Opera. Appropriately, Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in D major

Concordia Chamber Players Artistic Director Michelle Djokic Dear Friends, Please join us for the 2005-2006 season as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s (1756-1791) birth. To open our season we are again able to offer you, through the graciousness of the Nakashima Peace Foundation, the magic of experiencing glorious chamber music in the serenity of the late George Nakashima’s Studio on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 3:00 PM. Featured on this program will be harpist, Barbara Allen, principal harpist of the American Ballet Company and flutist, Janet Arms, flutist of the New York City Opera. Our program will include the Mozart flute Quartet, the well loved Debussy Trio for harp, flute and viola along with the Roussel Serenade. This is a fund raising event for Concordia and seating is limited, so please get your tickets in advance. For the main body of the season I have featured three of my favorite chamber works of Mozart. On the first concert, Nov. 13th you will have the opportunity to hear Mozart’s profound masterpiece – the String Quintet in G Minor, K.516. Mozart, who was known to have a special fondness for the viola, was the first to use this unique orchestration of

By Roy Ziegler Concordia Chamber Players Artistic Director Michelle Djokic The newly established Princeton Festival has selected New Hope’s Concordia Chamber Players for participation in its first annual summer musical program. The acclaimed chamber group will perform on July 8 at 8 PM at the Kirby Arts Center at the Lawrenceville School. Michelle Djokic, Concordia’s artistic director, expressed her excitement at being selected for the first season of the Festival. “We have been hoping to present chamber music over the summer months for some time, and the Princeton Festival presents an exciting opportunity for our group,” said Djokic. The Princeton Festival will present a bit of the ridiculous as it opens on July 3 at 3 PM with the tonsorially incorrect Sweeney Todd, then switches to the sublime on July 8 as the Concordia Chamber Players perform Robert Schumann’s Four pieces for clarinet, viola and piano, Leos Janecek’s Sonata for violin and piano. The program closes with Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet in A major, Opus 26. Performing with cellist Michelle Djokic will be David Krakauer, clarinet; Sunghae Anna Lim, violinist, Calvin Wiersma, viola and William Wolfram, piano. Sweeney Todd will also be performed on July 9, 15 and 16 at

Marty Luther In a bittersweet reunion the Concordia Chamber Players’ principal musicians will return to New Hope on Sunday, April 10 to perform their season finale at the Stephen Buck Theater. The announced program featuring works by Dvorak, Martinu and Bartok will be enhanced with a work by local composer, Robert Maggio, dedicated to the fond memory of Concordia’s long-time board member, Marty Luther, the energetic and passionate lover of the arts, whose sudden passing has saddened all who knew him. “The variety of the works selected for the concert would certainly have pleased Marty,” noted Concordia’s vice president, Lisa Gladden-Keyes. Martinu’s duo for violin and viola will highlight the popular Carmit Zori, violinist whom the Dallas Morning News recently called “sensational,” and Robert Rinehart, principal violist for the New York Philharmonic who performed at Carnegie Hall with Joshua Bell in December. Then Bela Bartok’s Contrasts for Violin, Piano and Clarinet will quickly change the pace with what best can be described as a potpourri of Hungarian folk music, Romanian dance with Bulgarian and Greek melodies. Calvin Wiersma, violinist with the Manhattan String Quartet and founder of the Meilora Quartet, pianist Gail Niwa, winner of the International Chopin Competition, and

Dearest Friends, It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to our 2004-2005 concert season of Concordia Chamber Players. Our annual benefit concert will once again be held at the magical studio of the late woodworking master George Nakashima, thanks to the graciousness of the Nakashima Peace Foundation on Oct. 3rd. As always this promises to be a memorable event. This year joining me will be Allen Krantz, guitarist and composer at Temple University and Jeffery Khaner, principal flutist of the Philadelphia Orchestra who needs no introduction. In addition to works by Schubert, Handel and Carulli we will premier a composition for flute, guitar and cello by the talented composer, David Lagonella, professor at Temple University. This work has been dedicated to the memory of Miriam Nakashima. This year you will have the opportunity to meet and hear spectacular artists new to Concordia. Among the new guests will be violinist, Cho-Liang Lin. Mr. Lin, on the faculty at the Juilliard School of Music enjoys an international career as a soloist and chamber musician and is director of the Taipei Chamber Music Festival and Summerfest. This will be a long awaited reunion as he and I were in a string quartet

[column col=”1/3″] Julie Landsman[/column] [column col=”1/3″] Marji Danilow[/column] [column col=”1/3″] Todd Palmer[/column]   Julie Landsman, principal horn for the Metropolitan Opera Company will join Marji Danilow, principal bass for the New York City Opera and Todd Palmer, clarinetist whose recent recording of Mozart and Tchaikovsky landed him on the cover of BBC Magazine in works by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Radzynski to be performed by the Concordia Chamber Players on April 4 at 3 p.m. in the Stephen Buck Theater. “We are delighted to have these wonderfully talented artists join our Concordia Chamber Players for our final concert of the season,” noted Michelle Djokic, cellist and artistic director of Concordia. “Julie Landsman has been an outstanding performer with the Metropolitan Opera Company for nearly twenty years. Marji Danilow is an active chamber artist who has been widely acclaimed for her musical versatility and is a fixture with the renowned Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Todd Palmer, clarinetist has thrilled our audiences in past seasons and we are so happy that he will be joining us again this year,” added Djokic. Rounding out the Concordia Players’ lineup will be inveterate favorites, Carmit Zori, violinist, Robert Rinehart, violist, Marc Goldberg, bassoon and cellist,

Cellist Michelle Djokic   The Concordia Chamber Players continues its season on Sunday, February 15, 2004 at the Stephen Buck Theater in New Hope. Concordia’s artistic director, Michelle Djokic, will join pianist, Gail Niwa in a sparkling version of the rarely presented Sonata for Cello and Piano by Francis Poulenc. The sonata presents elements of French music and at times salon music, but sparkles with an abundance of joy and zest. A selection of Gustav Mahler’s songs will be performed by baritone, Richard Lalli and the program will conclude with the Clarinet Trio by Johannes Brahms featuring famed clarinetist, David Krakauer. The concert will begin at 3 PM in the Stephen Buck Theater at the New Hope-Solebury High School on 180 West Bridge Street in New Hope. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the door or by calling 215-297-5972. Children accompanied by an adult are always admitted free. Free parking is available directly outside the concert hall.  

Baritone Richard Lalli The Concordia Chamber Players continues its season on Sunday, February 15, 2004 at the Stephen Buck Theater in New Hope featuring popular baritone, Richard Lalli. Lalli, has recorded four compact discs featuring a wide variety of songs and he is thrilling audiences in chamber music festivals from Paris to Budapest and Washington, D.C.. His warm and intimate baritone style is as charming at the intimate Carlyle Hotel in New York as it is on massive concert stages such as Avery Fisher Hall. Lalli will join the Concordia Chamber Players to present a selection of Mahler songs. “Richard has a style that makes everything he performs seem to belong to him,” said cellist, Michelle Djokic, Concordia’s music director. “He presents songs so intimately and we are delighted that he will be returning to Concordia this year”‘ she added. Djokic will perform Poulenc’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, a composition that is rarely heard because of its level of difficulty and technicality. It presents elements of French music and at times salon music, but sparkles with an abundance of joy and zest. Pianist, Gail Niwa, who recently recorded with Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster, David Kim, will perform with Djokic. David

Michelle Djokic, David Krakauer, Gail Niwa, Richard Lalli after the concert The aura of Valentine’s Day still lingered Sunday afternoon as fans gathered at the Stephen Buck Theater for the Concordia Chamber Players’ second concert of the season welcomed on a bitterly cold day with hot coffee and valentine-decorated cakes. Cellist, Michelle Djokic, artistic director of Concordia, noted that she had planned the program with Valentine’s Day in mind. She cautioned the audience, however, that the concert would portray not so much the romance of the day, but underlying emotion which she described as “a macabre undertone to a romantic theme”. Djokic dove into Poulenc’s Sonata for Violoncello and Piano switching quickly from the light lyrical opening to a more restrained emotion then reverting to an almost depressing tone vividly portraying how light romance and deep emotion so often alternate in the experience of love. Pianist, Gail Niwa, opened the second movement with uncommon tenderness surrendering to the cello’s tranquil melody. Djokic’s intense presentation seemed to show the human spirit wandering through a world where love is all around but not within the heart. Following alternating moods the cello, as Djokic had promised earlier, sang to the audience with a

The Concordia Chamber Players’ celebration of Franz Schubert’s 206th birthday at its February 2, 2003 concert will feature acclaimed soprano, Dana Hanchard hailed by Time Magazine as “a singer of passionate virtuosity.” The all-Schubert program will include his String Trio in B flat Major, Shepherd on a Rock, and his popular Quintet D. 667, Opus 114A Major, Die Forellen (The Trout). The great composer was born in Vienna on January 31, 1797. Ms. Hanchard recently thrilled audiences at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, and at the Kaye Playhouse in New York City. She will kick off her South American tour this season at the American Embassy in Ecuador. Her numerous recording credits include Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Erato, ECM and Lyrichord labels. Her solo album, “Once Canciones” (Eleven Songs) has just been released by Fertile Ground Music. Her own musical work is featured in the new musical, Blackwater. Ms Hanchard will perform a selection of songs highlighting Schubert’s joyful and melancholic compositions. Michele Djokic, Artistic Director of the Concordia Chamber Players will lead the ensemble in the Schubert celebration. “We are so excited to have Dana Hanchard perform with Concordia. Her ability to