The University of Idaho Auditorium Chamber Music Series (ACMS) has presented a mixture of world-renowned ensembles from string quartets to piano trios to vocal groups for the past 31 years.
These ensembles in past years teach and perform at UI, while also participating in community outreach.
The performers have visited elders, hospital employees and pre-school children in intimate settings. They have also performed for the local schools in the Palouse and given lessons to students.
Leonard Garrison, who has been the ACMS director for two years, said these performances have to be planned and finalized a year in advance.
The goal of these performances are to be diverse, so that students and the community can be introduced to a variety of music, Garrison said.
“We’re very fortunate to get the first rate groups that you would have to go to a bigger city to hear normally,” Garrison said.
After each event, the audience can meet the performers to ask questions and have discussions.
Veronica Murtagh, the ACMS student representative, has attended these performances in the past and said the groups give master classes to UI students.
Murtagh, who studies cello performance and music education, had a one-on-one session with David Ying of the Ying Quartet last year before their show.
“My best experience was with the Horszowski Trio last year,” Murtagh said. “The level that these people perform at and the way they touch you with their music, that was actually when I was a chemistry and music major and that was the day that I decided that I just want to focus on music, it was an unworldly experience.”
For the 2018-2019 school year, five ensembles will visit UI — two performances in the fall and three in the spring.
The London Handel Players performed Tuesday. The group consisted of England’s leading early music players, who tour the world with award-winning recordings. Their performance was presented in conjunction with Festival Dance and the Idaho Bach Festival.
The American Brass Quintet will perform Nov. 13 — their third appearance in ACMS. They are a premiere brass quintet and include music by Victor Ewald, Philip Lasser, Thomas Stoltzer and Eric Ewazen.
The JACK Quartet will perform on Jan. 24. They are a string quartet, who perform around the globe. Their program includes Elliot Carter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning String Quartet No. 2, Tetras by Lannis Xenakis, as well as new work by Zosha de Castri and Amy Williams.
Trio Solisti will perform March 5, consisting of a cello, violin and piano. The program features work by Haydn, Dvorak and Brahms — the great Trio in B Major, Op. No. 8.
The ACMS closes with a performance by Cantus on April 23, an a cappella vocal ensemble. Their program, “Alone Together,” connects diverse styles of music, from the Beatles and Beethoven to new works by David Lang, Libby Larsen and Steven Sametz.
“I never get to experience things like this, or if I do, it’s very rarely, and I’m just so glad that we have this program for this exact reason,” Murtagh said.
All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. in the UI Administration Building Auditorium.
Tickets are available at Book People of Moscow downtown, at the door or online at auditoriumseries.org. They cost $10 for students, $20 for seniors and $25 for the general public.
Clyde McCaw can be reached at [email protected]