This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 7, 2012 - Since Chamber Project St. Louis was founded in 2008, the group has made it a point to live up to its motto: “Engaging Music, Unusual Settings.”
Now in the middle of its fifth season, Chamber Project has performed pieces by classical composers such as Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart and modern composers such Adrienne Albert, Osvaldo Golijov and Libby Larsen.
And Artistic Directors Jennifer Gartley (flute), Adrianne Honnold (saxophone), Dana Hotle (clarinet) and Laura Reycraft (viola) – along with combinations of other core musicians – have played a classroom at Meramec Community College, the Saxquest music store on Cherokee Street to the Atrium of the Siteman Cancer Center and watering holes like the Schlafly Tap Room, the Tavern of Fine Arts and the Wine Press.
But the most unusual venue to date for a Chamber Project performance will be this Saturday, Dec. 8. Gartley and violinist Hannah Frey will perform on a special MetroLink train dubbed the “Holiday Magic Express.”
For the third year, MetroLink and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission have worked together to add a little holiday cheer for passengers. MetroLink employees decorate the chosen train with ornaments, garlands, wreaths and holiday decals. And on specific runs of the Holiday Magic Train -- on either the Blue Line or Red Line over the next couple of weeks – music is added to the mix.
“Hannah and I are going to be playing on the train during its run this Saturday from Fairview Heights to Shrewsbury and then back to Fairview Heights,” Gartley says during a recent interview that included Hotle. “It should be interesting to play in an environment where we’re moving,” she added with a laugh.
Gartley and Frey’s MetroLink adventure is scheduled to start at 12:12 p.m. when the Holiday Magic Express leaves the Fairview Heights station. The Shrewsbury arrival is set for 1:04 p.m. But the music won’t end, as duo then will play the return journey (1:19 p.m., leaves Shrewsbury; 2:11 p.m. arrives Fairview Heights).
“Basically, we’ll be playing two one-hour performances with a break,” says Gartley. “Since this is a holiday performance, we’ll be doing more traditional music of the season as well as well-known classical pieces. And we’ll see how the music goes with stops and starts at the stations!”
Hotle sees the MetroLink performance as yet another way Chamber Project St. Louis can fulfill its stated mission.
“We’ve played in some unusual locations for musical concerts over the past few years,” she states, “but nothing quite like this. But playing music on a train also reinforces our concept of presenting music in a very intimate environment that breaks down the barrier between the audience and the performers.”
Return to the intimate
As its name implies, chamber music was originally performed in intimate settings, primarily in private homes and smaller public spaces. But as music performances have become more formalized, chamber music performances now primarily take place in concert halls – often in the same spaces used by for concerts by large orchestras.
Chamber Project St. Louis strives to take a step back toward chamber music’s original presentation style - by providing a genuinely up-close and personal experience for musicians as well as the audience.
Chamber Project’s remaining 2012/13 season events also feature several additional opportunities to experience chamber music in the intimate setting it was often written for.
“On Jan. 10, Jennifer and guitarist Vince Varvel will be playing music by Astor Piazzola, the Argentinean composer who revolutionized tango music,” states Hotle. “It’s part of our ‘Very Open Rehearsal’ series that we’ve done before at the Tavern (of the Fine Arts), and it’s really a way for listeners to get involved in the music in a very close, personal – and interactive way.
The Piazzola compositions will be performed again as part of “Voyage,” a larger Chamber Project concert that will be at the St. Louis Art Museum on Feb. 22 and at the Chapel on March 1. The latter is an intimate venue (6238 Alexander Drive), which is just behind Memorial Presbyterian Church at Skinker and Wydown. Compositions by Schoenberg and Derek Bermel will round out this program.
“We love playing at the Chapel,” says Gartley. “It’s become our home base, and it has a very intimate feeling plus great acoustics. It’s just an ideal place to play. But we also love getting out and playing in unusual situations – like the Holiday Magic Express.”
The Chamber Project season wraps up with performances at the Chapel on Friday, April 12, and on Friday, June 1.
“The April 12 concert will include music by Schubert, Schumann and Paul Creston,” Hotle says. The final concert “is our annual ‘Audience Choice’ performance. We ask people to vote on what they want to hear again from the pieces we’ve performed earlier in the season.”
Chamber Project gained nonprofit status last year, which has opened the door for grants and funding for additional efforts to expand the group’s goal of presenting a variety of classical and contemporary chamber music in unusual and interesting venues – and expanding the audience for the music in that process.
This summer, an ensemble of musicians from the Project will be in residence at the Community Music School at Webster University, working with students at a summer camp. Chamber Project is also focused on applying for grants and moving into the second phase of the group’s inaugural fundraising campaign.
“It’s definitely a lot of work,” concludes Hotle. “But chamber music is something we all love to play, and we want to try to expand what we’re doing to reach people who are unfamiliar with it.”
“I’m hoping to see a lot of kids this Saturday on the train,” adds Gartley. “Kids love trains! And we’re really looking forward to this, too!”