As the 2021-22 academic year races toward the finish line, there are still ! For starters, don’t miss the final two Chamber Music Showcase performances and on —in person or online—featuring student groups from every department, and including new group arrangements and diverse repertoire. 

Says Chamber Music Coordinator Meta Weiss, “With their faculty coaches, students in the college’s Chamber Music Program have been rehearsing, studying and crafting their interpretations of varied chamber music works all semester, and they’re excited to present them in our showcase concerts.”

She adds, “Audiences will hear wind quartets, wind quintets, piano trios, piano quintets, string quartets, string quintets, saxophone quartets, brass quintets and various single-instrument brass ensembles—including a trombone quartet, horn quartet and tuba/euphonium quartet.

“This semester, we also have a harp duo, and several wind duos and trios. It’s an exciting lineup of chamber groups playing repertoire that’s just as varied as the groups themselves!” 

Every semester of chamber music is different because both the groups and the repertoire they are studying change. As Weiss explains, “Each performance features groups from every department, but the formation of the groups and personnel are always new … and there’s an almost unending wealth of chamber music repertoire.”

or stream the performance online!

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In that spirit, on Oct. 19 features Professor of Horn Michael Thornton and Professor of Piano David Korevaar—alongside graduate students and members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO)— in an evening of music for winds, including celebrated BIPOC composer George Walker's "Wind Set."

“I try to use Faculty Tuesdays as a platform to bring in colleagues from different parts of my research and work, and to enhance our students' professional development," says Thornton, who holds concurrent appointments as principal horn of LACO and the Colorado Symphony. "In the past, I've performed with members from the Colorado Symphony and friends from various music festivals. For this show, I'm excited to collaborate with College of Music faculty, the CU �鶹ӰԺ Graduate Wind Quintet and LACO colleagues. 

“For the Graduate Wind Quintet, this is a really good challenge in preparing repertoire in a timeline that's normal for professional musicians, while making meaningful connections with big names in TV and film industries. I'm also excited about diversifying the program with a composer who has meaningful connections to CU �鶹ӰԺ." 

Indeed, the late George Walker was a visiting professor here in the 1960s; in 1996, Walker became the first African American composer to win a Pulitzer Prize for "Lilacs," a work for voice and orchestra.

In addition to "Wind Set," next Tuesday's program presents the college's Graduate Wind Quintet in Mozart's Serenade in C Minor, K. 388, as well as pianist Korevaar in Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds. 

“Beethoven in this piece is jumping off from a model established by Mozart, who first wrote a piece for this combination of instruments," explains Korevaar, who—as an active soloist, chamber musician and collaborator—is thrilled to be playing in-person performances again. "Beethoven, of course, handles it differently. Young Beethoven was interested in his own virtuoso pianism and maybe didn't share the spotlight as well with the other players, compared to Mozart. 

“That said, there's wonderful wind writing that reflects this late-18th-century moment when orchestra wind sections were coming into their own.” 

Concludes Korevaar, "Beethoven has the exquisite ability to write music that's meant for five great soloists to play in collaboration, where everybody has a critical role. It’s an extremely well-written and fun piece to play, full of infectious humor. And I'm really looking forward to working with Mike and his colleagues, whom I haven’t worked with before."

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Spaulding, originally from Texas, was first introduced to the quartet when members of the ensemble started following her on Instagram … which soon led to her audition. 

“I started this ridiculous blog and called it my absurd practice blog,” says Spaulding, who started music late in life after exploring careers in neuroscience and dental health. “It helped me combat insecurities and confront feelings we have as musicians that we aren’t good enough. It gave me the freedom to be real. 

“The thing that inspires me most is expressing my feelings and experiences without using words.”

Often exploring the works of diverse composers and non-Western influences, the Thalea String Quartet—from the Greek name Thaleia (“to flourish, to blossom”)—is committed to shaping and contributing to the future of the string quartet repertoire. Specifically, the ensemble has premiered dozens of new works and collaborated on new commissions with such composers as Anthony Green, Paola Prestini, Tanner Porter and Akshaya Avril Tucker. Quartet members intentionally incorporate into their work awareness of the Black experience in classical music, “coming out” in classical music, mental health, learning disabilities and non-violent communication. They’re also known to collaborate and perform alongside poets, writers and other artists. 

This perspective on the Thalea String Quartet—shared by violinist David Harrington of the veteran Kronos Quartet—sums up the foursome’s broad appeal: “Just when I thought our society was falling apart, along came the Thalea Quartet’s vivid, expansive performances! Their beautifully textured sound is enveloped by thrilling individual brilliance and highlighted by a rare, magnetic quartet sense emanating from every note they play. Hearing the Thalea Quartet makes me feel very happy and gives me hope for the future. They are great ambassadors for music.”

Beyond her exciting new gig as a member of the Thalea String Quartet, Spaulding—who’s also a member of Meredith Monk’s contemporary performance ensemble, co-founder of the , a regular with the Colorado Symphony, principal violist and festival artist with the Colorado MahlerFest and an award-winning studio recording artist—energetically advocates for composers of all genders, identities, ethnicities and backgrounds.

Among her efforts, she works with the Boston-based initiative where musicians donate their time and help raise money to address food insecurity. 

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