Chamber Music for All Continues

-By Katy Henriksen

The fifth annual KUAF Fulbright Summer Chamber Music Festival began its season in a brand new venue: the Great Hall at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. As the audience listened to a night billed as “Music of the Americas,” they saw a glorious Ozarks sun setting all around them thanks to the hall’s expanses of glass wall.

If you haven’t caught one of these free weekly concerts, there’s still time, with the final two coming up tonight, June 13 and Thursday, June 20. This concert series brings a diverse program of chamber works ranging from expected names like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms to 20th century works from Schoenberg, whose “Transfigured Night” was performed last week at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall, and Thea Musgrave, whose 1967 composition “Impromptu No. 1” for flute and oboe, opens tonight’s concert at the Stella Boyle Smith Fine Arts Concert Hall on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.

Performers include the UA music department faculty and guest artists. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Stephen Gates, festival organizer and cellist, along with ensemble players for the past two seasons of my program Of Note. Those interviews are archived at our website and include discussions that range from what exactly a divertimento is to—in the case of yesterday’s segment—the way a chamber ensemble takes cues from each other in order to stay on the same page without the help of a conductor.

This free series is a perfect chance to bring the entire family for a night of exquisitely performed classical music in an intimate setting. More information about the series is available at http://fulbrightsummermusic.uark.edu.