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Arts & Entertainment

Classical Music Series Heats Up in March

Trio Kavak, Flying Forms, Chamber Players and Soo Bae slated to perform at Southampton Cultural Center.

Chamber music lovers are in luck. There will be a classical music concert every week in March at the .

On the bill are on Mar. 6, on Mar. 12, the on Mar. 20, and cellist on Mar. 27. Most concerts will be held Sunday afternoons. The Flying Forms concert will be held on a Saturday night. 

Chamber music is performed by duos, trios or small ensembles. All of March’s concerts are part of the SCC Chamber Music Series. This month is the highest concentration of concerts in the season. The weekly performances provide a push of excitement as the series begins to wind down.

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“It’s a snapshot of the season,” said Marc Levine, the founder and artistic director of the SCC Chamber Music Series. “The idea of the series has always been to represent Stony Brook University’s music ensembles and to bring high quality classical music to the area in the off-season.”

SCC director Kirsten Lonnie said, “We believe that it is very important to give the community the opportunity to experience classical music live, in an intimate setting, where you are close to the artists and able to connect and talk to them after the performances.”

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Trio Kavak is presenting a program of contemporary classical music titled "Music out of Emptiness." The music explores or was inspired by “emptiness and silence,” according to the SCC.  The group is made up of Amelia Lukas on flute, Victor Lowrie on viola and Kathryn Andrews on harp.

Flying Forms performs baroque music on “historical copies of period instruments,” according to Levine. Music by Handel, Biber, Castello and others will be performed by Tami Morse on harpsichord, Christopher Morrongiello on lute and Levine on violin.

The SCC Chamber Players will perform French classics. The program includes the Ravel piano trio and sonatas by Debussy, Faure and Messiaen. Performing are pianist Vanessa Fadial, cellist Aron Zelkowicz and violinist Levine.

Cellist Soo Bae’s program will be released closer to the concert.

Concerts are held from September through April with a benefit concert as finale in May. Performing April 17 are the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players. This year’s benefit concert features pianist Christina Dahl held on May 1. The concert will feature the Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34. As a series encore, the annual Composers of the East End Concert will be held on May 15.  

Ensembles are selected to present a cross section of chamber music: traditional, contemporary, established ensembles and those emerging, said Levine. Recitals, guest musicians, returning performers, and the in-house SCC Chamber Players are part of the line-up.   

Concerts stay close to chamber music’s intent by providing an intimate and interactive experience for listening, Levine said. The performers introduce and explain the pieces before they play them. Tips, highlights and interesting passages may be described to audiences. After the concert, musicians mingle with guests and round out the experience.

Concerts are typically held Sunday afternoons. Sought-after ensembles can book concerts in NYC or Long Island on Saturday night and appear in Southampton on Sunday, said Levine. The timing has allowed groups like Yarn/Wire and the Escher String Quartet, an ensemble in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, to be part of the series.

Since finding its home at the SCC in 2008, the series has garnered a devoted following, Lonnie said. The series compliments the SCC’s Rising Stars Piano Recital Series and the long-running East End Composers Concert, now part of the SCC Chamber Music Series.

“Classical music receives special devotion at the SCC,” she stated. “While the classical genre gets a lot of attention during ‘the season,’ it is much less presented during the off season … We fill the ‘classical void’ with incredibly talented musicians through the Chamber Series and the Rising Stars Piano Recital Series.”

Concert tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students under 21 years old. Tickets to the benefit concert are $50 or $40 for season ticketholders. Visit southamptonculturalcenter.org for tickets.

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