Community Calendar

“The Baltimore Consort is one of the best period instrument ensembles around...distinguished by the absolute joyous mastery of their instruments to the degree that they can improvise at will…” Times Union, NY

Chamber Music Concerts (CMC) presents the Baltimore Consort early music ensemble on Friday, January 30th at 7:30pm at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall, 450 S Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR. Purchase tickets at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or call 541-552-6154.

Founded in 1980, the Baltimore Consort has toured the U.S. and abroad, and often performs on such syndicated radio broadcasts as St. Paul Sunday, Performance Today, Harmonia and the CBC’s OnStage.

The "rambunctious sextet" (Washington Post), known for their lively renditions of Renaissance tunes, presents "The Food of Love: Songs, Dance and Fancies for Shakespeare." This program features their core repertory — music of the Elizabethan era — with songs and consort music from Shakespeare’s plays. Ethereal soprano Danielle Svonavec performs some of the greatest hits from the Bard's songbook, such as It Was a Lover and his Lass, Where the Bee Sucks, Full Fathom Five, and The Willow Song. The Consort instrumentalists play sparkling arrangements of dances and consort music with their exquisite consort of instruments: lute, cittern, viols, and flute.

Tickets are $49/59, with discounts available for full-time students and Oregon Trail Card holders. Purchase online at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or by calling 541-552-6154.

★★★★★ “The lyricism and airy limpidity of the four performers give these movements a profundity and unexpected allure.” Diapason, France

Chamber Music Concerts (CMC) presents the Esmé Quartet on Saturday, February 21 at 7:30pm at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall, 450 S Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR. Purchase tickets at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or call 541-552-6154.

Praised for their warm sound and powerful stage presence, the Esmé Quartet was formed in 2016 at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany by four musicians who had been friends since their youth. The quartet has rapidly gained a worldwide reputation as a chamber ensemble of exceptional artistry and achievement.

In Spring of 2018, the quartet won the first prize as well as sweeping four special prizes at the prestigious Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London, and in the same year it became HSBC Laureate of the Académie du Festival d’Aix. This recognition followed prizes at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition and the 55th Possehl Musikpreis Lübeck. In October 2020, the quartet was awarded the first Hans-Gál Prize by the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz, and Villa Musica.
The Esmé Quartet was named the first Artists-in-Residence at the Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul, Korea for the 2020-2021 season. Most recently, they have been named Ensemble-in-Residence at San Francisco Performances where they are currently based. The quartet takes its name “Esmé” from the old French word for “beloved.”

The Esmé’s concert program for CMC features Henri Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit; Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major; and Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14, D. 810 "Death and the Maiden.”

Tickets are $39/49, with discounts available for full-time students and Oregon Trail Card holders. Purchase online at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or by calling 541-552-6154.

“Brilliance is not a strong enough word — it’s more like an electric shock. The music transfixes the listener from literally the very first note, electrifying heart and brain without any advance warning…the Mandelring Quartett, under extreme tension, heated and feverish, is dangerously close to catching fire!” Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Chamber Music Concerts (CMC) presents the Mandelring Quartett on Saturday, March 14 at 3pm at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall, 450 S Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR. Purchase tickets at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or call 541-552-6154.

Audiences will be thrilled to welcome a long-time favorite, the Mandelring Quartett, as the four affable Germans return to the stage in Ashland for a single performance.

Named by Fono Forum as one of the six best string quartets in the world, the Mandelring Quartett’s expressivity and remarkable homogeneity of sound have become its distinguishing characteristics. Formed in 1983 in the German wine region in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, three Schmidt siblings — Sebastian, Nanette and Bernhard — join with violist Andreas Willwohl in an approach to music that is always emotional and personal. The Mandelring Quartett celebrated its 40th Anniversary in 2023.

The Mandelring's concert program for CMC features Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in D Major, Op. 44 no. 1; Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet in F-sharp Minor, Op 108; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59 no. 3

Tickets are $39/49, with discounts available for full-time students and Oregon Trail Card holders. Purchase online at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or by calling 541-552-6154.

“Precision, dedication and a spark of magic” Aulakonzerte Göttingen

Chamber Music Concerts (CMC) presents Trio Bohémo, a Czech ensemble composed of violin, cello and piano, on Saturday, March 28 at 7:30pm at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall, 450 S Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR. Purchase tickets at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or call 541-552-6154.

Trio Bohémo was formed in 2019, and immediately its talent and deep musicality became apparent. They received numerous awards: first they caused a stir at the Gianni Bergamo Award in Lugano, Switzerland, where they were awarded second prize. Due to this success, the trio was accepted into the “Le Dimore del Quartetto” network, which later awarded them the prize for Ensemble of the Year 2021. In the same summer they received several special prizes at the ISA Festival in Austria such as for the best interpretations of Viennese Classical Music, work by Bohuslav Martinů or the Czech Contemporary Chamber Music. A few days later they won first prize at the International Filippo Nicosia Award in Italy.

In 2023 they received first prize, prize for the best interpretation of Joseph Haydn, and the audience prize at the International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna. The trio also won third prize and the audience prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in Australia, and they were awarded three special prizes at the ARD International Music Competition. On top of that, Trio Bohémo was selected to receive the prestigious prize of the Czech Chamber Music Society.

The trio’s concert program for CMC features Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Trio in E Minor, Op. 90 “Dumky;”Marios Christou’s Dvořák in Cyprus; and Franz Schubert’s Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 100, D. 929.

Tickets are $39/49, with discounts available for full-time students and Oregon Trail Card holders. Purchase online at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or by calling 541-552-6154.

Borromeo Quartet: “A remarkably accomplished string quartet, not simply for its high technical polish and refined tone, but more importantly for the searching musical insights it brings.” Chicago Tribune

Verona Quartet: “bold interpretive strength, robust characterization and commanding resonance.”Calgary Herald

Chamber Music Concerts (CMC) presents the Borromeo/Verona String Octet on Saturday, April 18 at 3pm at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall, 450 S Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR. Purchase tickets at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or call 541-552-6154.

What a special opportunity: This concert combines two world-class string quartets to explore the masterpieces of the string octet repertoire. This is music rarely heard at this level of performance and is a can’t-miss event.

Each visionary performance of the award-winning Borromeo Quartet strengthens its reputation as one of the most important ensembles of our time. The quartet has received numerous awards throughout its illustrious 25-year career, including the Avery Fisher Career Grant and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. The ensemble has been hailed for its “edge-of-the- seat performances” by the Boston Globe, which called it “simply the best.” The BSQ has been ensemble-in-residence at the New England Conservatory and Taos School of Music, both for 25 years, and is quartet-in-residence at the Heifetz International Music Institute, where first violinist Nicholas Kitchen is Artistic Director. The quartet was also in residence and has worked extensively as performers and educators with the Library of Congress and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The Verona Quartet has firmly established itself amongst the most distinguished ensembles on the chamber music scene today. The group’s singular sense of purpose earned them Chamber Music America’s coveted 2020 Cleveland Quartet Award, and they serve on the faculty of the Oberlin College and Conservatory as the Quartet-in-Residence at Nova Scotia’s Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance. The quartet has appeared across four continents, captivating audiences at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City), Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.), and many others.

The octet’s concert program for CMC features Dmitri Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet, Op. 11; George Enescu’s String Octet in C Major, Op. 7; and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.

Tickets are $39/49, with discounts available for full-time students and Oregon Trail Card holders. Purchase online at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or by calling 541-552-6154.

“A glowing tone, a seductive timbre and an emotionally pointed approach to phrasing that made you want to hear him again” The New York Times

“He has the flair of the young Rostropovich” American Record Guide

Chamber Music Concerts (CMC) presents Israeli cellist Amit Peled with Spanish pianist Daniel del Pino on Saturday, May 2nd at 7:30pm at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall, 450 S Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR. Purchase tickets at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or call 541-552-6154.

Recently in the Rogue Valley for a sold-out performance, Amit Peled and Daniel del Pino return to the stage a year later to thrill the community once again. Their masterful musicianship and engaging manner captivates audiences all over the globe — this concert should not be missed.

Internationally renowned cellist, conductor, and pedagogue Amit Peled is acclaimed as one of the most exciting and virtuosic instrumentalists on the concert stage today, and has performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Seoul Arts Center in Korea, and the Konzerthaus Berlin in Germany. He is a cello professor at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and has performed in and presented master classes around the world.

Daniel del Pino is one of the leading Spanish concert pianists in the international scene. He has performed on all five continents, in the most prestigious venues all over Europe, and in Morocco, Tunisia, the Middle-East, Gabon, India, Kazakhstan, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Australia, and the U.S.

Peled and del Pino bring a varied concert program for CMC, featuring Ludwig van Beethoven’s 7 Variations on Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte; Mieczslaw Weinberg’s Cello Sonata no. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63; Mark Kopytman’s Kadish; and Frederic Chopin’s Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65.

Tickets are $49/59, with discounts available for full-time students and Oregon Trail Card holders. Purchase online at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or by calling 541-552-6154.

“These are the men who put brass music on the map with their unbeatable blend of virtuosity, spontaneity and humor.” Washington Post

Chamber Music Concerts (CMC) presents the Canadian Brass on Sunday, May 17 at 3pm at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall, 450 S Mountain Ave, Ashland, OR. Purchase tickets at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or call 541-552-6154.

With an international reputation as one of the most popular brass ensembles today, Canadian Brass has truly earned the distinction of “the world’s most famous brass group.” Canadian has appeared on The Tonight Show, Today, Entertainment Tonight, and recently to more than 1/2 a billion viewers for Chinese New Year on China’s most popular station. They have appeared as guest artists on Evening at Pops with John Williams and the Boston Pops, Beverly Sills’ Music Around the World, numerous PBS specials, and a celebrated appearance on Sesame Street.

Masters of concert presentations since 1970, Canadian Brass has developed a uniquely engaging stage presence and rapport with audiences. Each of their concerts show a full range of repertoire, from their trademark Baroque and Dixieland tunes to new compositions and arrangements created especially for them — formal classical presentations served up with lively dialogue and theatrical effects. Whatever the style, the music is central and performed with utmost dedication, skill and excellence.

Concert tickets are $49/59, with discounts available for full-time students and Oregon Trail Card holders. Purchase online at ChamberMusicConcerts.org or by calling 541-552-6154.