The University’s student musicians can expect to practice for hours alone, and for hours in large ensembles. But tonight, students will showcase something different.
The UNC Chamber Players, which is composed of several student chamber music groups, will be performing tonight in Person Recital Hall.
Junior violinist Kendra Griffin said chamber music is essential to the development of any aspiring musician.
“Chamber music gives musicians the opportunity to cultivate an important aspect of musicianship that playing in a large ensemble doesn’t usually offer,” Griffin said.
The concert will feature a variety of mostly traditional ensembles, including a piano trio and a string quartet, with an emphasis on late Romantic period music.
Pianist Suzanne Lea Crabtree, whose group will be performing difficult pieces by Gabriel Faure and Johannes Brahms, said she welcomes the challenges that small-ensemble playing brings.
“Not only are you forced to listen to yourself, which is hard enough, but you have to listen to everyone else you are playing with, and you need to make sure everyone can be heard at the appropriate times,” she said.
Sophomore cellist John Reardon will be performing with Crabtree, along with violist Margaret Neville and violinist Christin Danchi.
“With solo repertoire there’s a big emphasis on thinking for yourself and being an individual,” Reardon said.
