Boston Chamber Music Society
Encyclopedia
The Boston Chamber Music Society (BCMS) is an American organization of musicians located in Boston
, Massachusetts
and dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music
. The organization performs works from the Baroque
era to the present day and is a member of Chamber Music America. BCMS' website states that it is "New England
’s preeminent chamber music society and presents the most extensive and longest-running concert series in the region". BCMS offers 12 concerts during an annual season and also presents an annual summer festival of music during the month of August. BCMS is currently led by executive director Alan Mann and Artistic Director Marcus Thompson
.
. Originally called the Boston Conservatory Chamber Players, its founding members include such distinguished musicians as cellist and former Artistic Director of BCMS Ronald Thomas
, violinists Stephanie Chase
and Lynn Chang
, violist Katherine Murdock, and cellist Bruce Coppock, among others. Other current members of BCMS include: violist and Artistic Director Marcus Thompson, clarinetist Thomas Hill
, violinist Ida Levin
, violinist Harumi Rhodes, violist Roger Tapping, pianist Randall Hodgkinson
, and pianist Mihae Lee
.
BCMS also frequently invites guest musicians to perform in their concerts. Past BCMS guests have included violinists Steven Copes, Jennifer Frautschi
, and Arturo Delmoni, double bassist Edwin Barker
, violists Cynthia Phelps, Steven Ansell
, and Mark Holloway, cellist Michelle Djokic, baritone Chris Pedro Trakas, clarinetist Jo-Ann Sternberg, french horn player William Purvis
, cellists Rhonda Rider and Wilhelmina Smith, sopranos Dawn Upshaw
and Amanda Forsythe
, harpist Jessica Li Zhou, and pianists Pedja Muzijevic and Benjamin Hochman among many others.
BCMS concerts are held in several different venues including Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory, the Sanders Theatre at Harvard University
, Pickman Hall at the Longy School of Music
, and the First Church in Cambridge.
In addition, BCMS is frequently invited to perform all over the world. The ensemble has toured Europe, Asia and throughout the United States. They have also performed at many of the worlds leading music festivals and collaborated with some of the world's finest music organizations including The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
, the Muir Quartet, the Borromeo Quartet, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Sanibel Music Festival, and the Tanglewood Music Festival
among others.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
. The organization performs works from the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
era to the present day and is a member of Chamber Music America. BCMS' website states that it is "New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
’s preeminent chamber music society and presents the most extensive and longest-running concert series in the region". BCMS offers 12 concerts during an annual season and also presents an annual summer festival of music during the month of August. BCMS is currently led by executive director Alan Mann and Artistic Director Marcus Thompson
Marcus Thompson
Marcus Thompson is a violist and viola d'amore player known for his work as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and educator....
.
History
BCMS was founded in 1982 by a group of music professionals in the Boston areaGreater Boston
Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
. Originally called the Boston Conservatory Chamber Players, its founding members include such distinguished musicians as cellist and former Artistic Director of BCMS Ronald Thomas
Ronald Thomas (cellist)
Ronald Thomas is an American cellist known for his work as a soloist and chamber musician. Thomas has made guest appearances with some of the world's finest orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony...
, violinists Stephanie Chase
Stephanie Chase
"One of the most respected classical violinists in the world," Stephanie Chase is an American concert violinist and educator.- Biography :...
and Lynn Chang
Lynn Chang
Lynn Chang is a Chinese American violinist known for his work as both a soloist and a chamber musician. Chang is a founding member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and is currently a faculty member at MIT, Boston University, the Boston Conservatory, and the New England Conservatory of...
, violist Katherine Murdock, and cellist Bruce Coppock, among others. Other current members of BCMS include: violist and Artistic Director Marcus Thompson, clarinetist Thomas Hill
Thomas Hill (clarinetist)
Thomas Hill is an American clarinetist known for his work as a soloist and chamber musician. He is currently the principal clarinetist of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society.-Biography:...
, violinist Ida Levin
Ida Levin
Ida Levin is an American concert violinist. Born in Santa Monica, California, Levin began studying the violin at the age of three and made her professional debut performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the young age of ten. This was followed by a performance for President Reagan and the...
, violinist Harumi Rhodes, violist Roger Tapping, pianist Randall Hodgkinson
Randall Hodgkinson
Randall Hodgkinson is an American pianist. He won the International American Music Competition which was sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Foundation...
, and pianist Mihae Lee
Mihae Lee
Mihae Lee is an American pianist of South Korean birth. Born in Seoul, Lee won the Korean National Music Competition which led to her professional solo debut at the age of fourteen with the Korean National Orchestra. That same year she moved to the United States to study at the Juilliard School on...
.
BCMS also frequently invites guest musicians to perform in their concerts. Past BCMS guests have included violinists Steven Copes, Jennifer Frautschi
Jennifer Frautschi
Jennifer Frautschi is a Grammy-nominated American born classical violinist, currently based in where she lives with her husband, world renowned horn soloist Eric Ruske, and their 2-year-old daughter...
, and Arturo Delmoni, double bassist Edwin Barker
Edwin Barker
Edwin Barker is an American double bass player who graduated from the New England Conservatory. He is currently Principal Double Bass with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Associate Professor of Music at Boston University College of Fine Arts.-Career:...
, violists Cynthia Phelps, Steven Ansell
Steven Ansell
Steven A. Ansell , is an American violist whose versatile career involves work as a chamber musician, solo artist, and orchestral musician. Ansell is currently principal violist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since September 1996. Prior to his appointment, Ansell had...
, and Mark Holloway, cellist Michelle Djokic, baritone Chris Pedro Trakas, clarinetist Jo-Ann Sternberg, french horn player William Purvis
William Purvis
William Purvis is an American French horn player and conductor. He performs with the New York Woodwind Quintet, Speculum Musicae, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's...
, cellists Rhonda Rider and Wilhelmina Smith, sopranos Dawn Upshaw
Dawn Upshaw
Dawn Upshaw is an American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary...
and Amanda Forsythe
Amanda Forsythe
Amanda Forsythe is an award winning American light lyric soprano who is particularly admired for her interpretations of baroque music and the works of Rossini...
, harpist Jessica Li Zhou, and pianists Pedja Muzijevic and Benjamin Hochman among many others.
BCMS concerts are held in several different venues including Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory, the Sanders Theatre at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Pickman Hall at the Longy School of Music
Longy School of Music
The Longy School of Music of Bard College is a conservatory located near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and Boston...
, and the First Church in Cambridge.
In addition, BCMS is frequently invited to perform all over the world. The ensemble has toured Europe, Asia and throughout the United States. They have also performed at many of the worlds leading music festivals and collaborated with some of the world's finest music organizations including The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Its website states that it is "the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music."...
, the Muir Quartet, the Borromeo Quartet, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Sanibel Music Festival, and the Tanglewood Music Festival
Tanglewood Music Festival
The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts....
among others.
Awards and honors
- Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino named March 26 as "BCMS Day" as a tribute to the organization's 25th anniversary.
Selective Discography
To date BCMS has released 6 CDs of music featuring the member ensemble. BCMS has also recorded music for compilation CDs on the Koch Int'l Classics label, Andante label, Music Little People label, Boston Centre label, and Pearl label. The first four of BCMS's CDs listed below were recorded under the Northeastern label, and the fifth and the sixth were under its own recording label.- BCMS: Brahms Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114/ Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115, recorded in 1990
- BCMS: Brahms: Piano Trio in B major, Op. 8 / Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 60 , recorded in 1990
- BCMS: Shostakovich: Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 67 / Cello Sonata in D minor, recorded in 1994
- BCMS: Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht Op. 4; Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence in D Op. 70, recorded in 1994
- BCMS: Mendelssohn Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20; Enescu Octet in C major, Op. 7, recorded in 1998
- BCMS: Mozart: Trio in E-flat, K. 498 "Kegelstart"; Schumann: Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Tales Telling), Opus 132; Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat (A Soldier's Tale), Bartók: Contrasts, recorded in 1999