Past Seasons: 2022-2023 25th Anniversary Season
It is our great pleasure to welcome you to Chameleon Arts Ensemble’s 25th anniversary. Joy, community, and celebration are at the heart of our programming this season, as we continue Chameleon’s unmatched legacy of the most adventurous concerts in Boston with our inimitable mix of the witty and the sublime, the new and the beloved.
The chamber music series includes six vibrant, innovative programs studded with masterpieces by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Mendelssohn; new and neglected works by Florence Price, Edward Elgar, and Helen Grime; and a very special entry featuring Bach’s original “Chameleon” ensemble. Our popular and critically-acclaimed Up Close recital series returns with a tour de force for piano four hands and a program exploring the boundaries of expression. It’s sure to be a thrilling year. We look forward to seeing you at the concerts and celebrating our exciting 25-year milestone with you!
Chamber Series 1: Vienna Dreams
- Saturday, October 1, 2022, 8 PM, First Church in Boston
- Sunday, October 2, 2022, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Quartet in D Major for flute & strings, K. 285
- Elliott Schwartz, Vienna Dreams for clarinet, viola & piano
- Arnold Schoenberg, selections from Das Buch der hängenden Gärten for soprano & piano, Op. 15
- Aaron Jay Kernis, Mozart en Route (or, A Little Traveling Music) for string trio
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26
Chamber Series 2: Gods and Monsters
- Saturday, October 29, 2022, 8 PM, First Church in Boston
- Sunday, October 30, 2022, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
- Robert Schumann, Drei Fantasiestücke for clarinet & piano, Op. 73
- Andrew List, The Gargoyles of Notre Dame for flute, clarinet, string trio, piano & percussion
- Andre Caplet, Conte fantastique d’après “Le Masque de la Mort Rouge” for harp & strings
- Cynthia Lee Wong, Piano Quartet (After Poe)
- Robert Schumann, Piano Trio No. 3 in g minor, Op. 110
Chamber Series 3: The Brandenburgs
- Saturday, November 19, 2022, 8 PM, First Church in Boston
- Sunday, November 20, 2022, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
- J. S. Bach, Complete Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046–1051
Chamber Series 4: How silver-sweet sound
- Saturday, March 4, 2023, 8 PM, First Church in Boston
- Sunday, March 5, 2023, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
- Erich Korngold, Suite from Much Ado About Nothing for violin & piano, Op. 11
- Ralph Vaughan Williams, Six Studies in English Folk Song for English horn & piano (1926)
- David Matthews, Terrible Beauty for soprano, flute, clarinet, harp & string quartet, Op. 104
- Thomas Adès, Court Studies from The Tempest for clarinet, violin, cello & piano
- Edward Elgar, Piano Quintet in a minor, Op. 84 (1918)
Up Close 1: Once upon a time…
- Sunday, March 19, 2023, 4 PM, Goethe-Institut, Boston
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata D Major for piano four hands, K. 381
- George Crumb, “Alpha Centauri” from Celestial Mechanics, Makrokosmos IV
- Maurice Ravel, Ma mère l’Oye for piano four hands
- Igor Stravinsky, Petrushka for piano four hands
Chamber Series 5: Fêtes galantes
- Saturday, April 1, 2023, 8 PM, First Church in Boston
- Sunday, April 2, 2023, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
- Claude Debussy, Première rhapsodie for clarinet & piano, L. 116
- Helen Grime, Pierrot Miniatures for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello & piano
- Gabriel Fauré, Cinq mélodies “de Venise” for soprano & piano, Op. 58
- Andrea Clearfield, Unremembered Wings for oboe & piano
- Felix Mendelssohn, Sextet for piano, violin, 2 violas, cello & double bass, Op. 110
Up Close 2: On the Verge
- Sunday, April 30, 2023, 4 PM, Goethe-Institut, Boston
- Robert Schumann, Violin Sonata No. 1 in a minor, Op. 105
- Sebastian Currier, Verge for clarinet, violin & piano
- Carl Reinecke, Fantasiestücke for clarinet & piano, Op. 22
- Helena Tulve, Saar (Island) for clarinet & violin
- Béla Bartók, Contrasts for violin, clarinet & piano, Sz. 111, BB 116
Chamber Series 6: Diversions & Entertainments
- Saturday, May 20, 2023, 8 PM, First Church in Boston
- Sunday, May 21, 2023, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
- Florence Price, Fantasie No. 1 in g minor for violin & piano
- Paul Hindemith, Kleine Kammermusik for wind quintet, Op. 24, No. 2
- John Musto, Divertimento for flute, clarinet, viola, cello, piano & percussion
- Franz Schubert, Octet in F Major, D. 803, Op. 166
Free Family Concerts: Big Ideas!
- Saturday, June 3, 2023, 11 AM, Hyde Park Branch Library
- J.S. Bach, Prelude from Suite No. 1 in G Major
- Frank Bridge, Cherry Ripe for string quintet
- Marta Ptaszynska, selection from Spiderwalk for solo percussion
- Michael Haydn, Presto from Divertimento in C Major for violin, cello, and bass
- Connor Chee, Coyotes for violin and vibraphone
- Astor Piazzolla, Milonga del Ángel for string quintet & vibraphone (arr. Hans Spencer)
- Jessie Montgomery, Strum for string quintet