Newsletter

TAKE THE PLUNGE Dive into the musical stream of “Fish Out Of Water” and join Chamber Music Society of St. Louis for an evening that swims with charm and whimsy. From Eric Satie’s dreamy aquatic musing for piano, “The Dreamy Fish” to Haydn’s Quartet in D Major “The Frog”. And of course we will make a splash with the finale….Schubert’s beloved “Trout” Quintet for piano and strings. HOOK YOUR SEATS HERE MEET AMERICA’S BEST YOUNG STRING QUARTETS This is the header on the Saint Paul String Quartet Competition (SPSQC) website. Two of the seven quartet finalists in the Junior Division are St. Louis musicians. Our CMSSL audiences have heard both quartets in the Prelude segments of our concerts.The Junior Division will be live broadcast on April 12, 2025. You can visit the SPSQC website to hear interviews, view the schedule, access the competition and…..participate by supporting your favorites. SPSQC Junior Division Audience Prize voting opens at 12pm on April 12. This will link you to voting when it opens on 4/12/25 at 12pm See the news story HERE and follow updates to information about the broadcast as soon as it becomes available. BINGE ON BACH Experience all six of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos in one afternoon presented by our friends at The Bach Society of Saint Louis. The Bach Society Orchestra will share these masterpieces as part of their 2025 St. Louis Bach Festival. Don’t miss the rare opportunity to experience all six timeless compositions together ON Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 3 PM at Salem United Methodist Church. TICKETS

Dear Friends of The Chamber, Nicholas McGegan Help us welcome back and experience the magic as Nicholas McGegan Returns to join The Chamber for an unforgettable evening of music including Handel’s Water Music, Haydn’s Symphony # 85 “La Riene”, a trumpet concerto by Wolfgang Amadeus’ father, Leopold Mozart, featuring Steven Franklin as soloist, and a lovely work for strings by Tomaso Albinoni. Bring a friend,…. bring your family! Take advantage of our special BOGO offer: Buy 1 Ticket, Get 1 FREE! Use coupon code: NIC10 at checkout. Date: February 10 Concert: Nicholas McGegan Returns All ticket holders are invited to the post concert reception honoring Nic and Concert Sponsor, Phoebe Dent Weil. A Gentle Reminder: Your Support Makes a Difference: As our “end of year giving campaign” comes to a close, we want to thank you for being part of our Chamber Family. Your generosity fuels our mission to bring the beauty of classical music and free education programs to our community. Every contribution, large or small, helps us sustain and grow our programs. If you’ve been considering making a gift, there’s a few days before our campaign concludes. Your support ensures that we can continue to share the timeless gift of music with audiences of all ages. Make Your Contribution Today                      By Check       Secure Online Donation Thank you in advance for being an indispensable part of our musical family, Marc

Looking for an evening of fun and to hear some hysterical music? Join Leonard Slatkin as he narrates and conducts CMSSL musicians in…… “D. Bach L”….. the music of Peter Schickele and Schickele’s comic fictional composer P.D.Q. Bach. Earlier this year, Peter Schickele passed away at the age of 88, leaving a wonderful legacy of music, some hilarious, and more serious nature. All kinds of shenanigans are planned and we can promise a very unusual and entertaining evening. This program will be performed in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center with general seating (unassigned seats) and a 7:30pm start time. To take advantage of the promotional offer: CLICK HERE AND APPLY PDQ25

Hello Friends, We are delighted to invite you to the Opening Concert of Chamber Music Society of St. Louis with “Open Strings”, marking the start of an extraordinary musical journey for Season 16! Please join us Monday evening for “Open Strings”, an evening of captivating music by Beethoven, Borodin, Mozart and one of the most popular works we have ever performed, Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings. Musicians performing Monday are Xiaoxiao Qiang, Jessica Cheng Hellwege, Jesse Chen, Hannah Ji, Alejandro Valdepeñas, Chris Tantillo, Susan Gordon, Bjorn Ranheim and Davin Rubicz. The Prelude portion will feature a performance by our student musicians of the Lyra String Quartet, Zoe Baldwin, Hayden Baker, Reid Huntley and Sylvia Kennedy. Celebrate the power of music with us in our cabaret-style seating while enjoying a beverage from STL Barkeep at your table. There are just a few seats left so secure your tickets soon. We look forward to sharing the music with you. TICKETS Want to have some irreverent fun with music? Tune your radio or navigate your browser to Classic 107.3 for our final The Chamber At Home broadcast of the season on Saturday at 5pm and repeated on Monday at 10am. This week’s encore concert is “A Frivolous First”. As I warned the audience that night…I take no responsibility for what went on in the performance. Happy listening, Marc

Hello Friends, Monday night’s “Vintage Gala” celebrating Leonard Slatkin’s 80th birthday and The Chamber’s 15th Anniversary Season is a wrap. We thank everyone who championed and attended the event. We are very grateful for our Presenting Sponsor Noémi Neidorff and Artists Sponsor Dr. Tai Lin of Ariel Premium Supply. Thank you to our Mary Strauss and Tom and Carol Voss for serving as Honorary Chairs and their generous support. We appreciate the herculean efforts of Event Chair Miran Halen and her Co-Chairs Becky Domyan and Amalia Pfannenstiel. Special thanks to Miran for her video shown during the performance. If you would like to view the 5-minute video on the Slatkin family heritage, you can view it HERE. We greatly appreciate the artistry of the musicians who performed so beautifully. Ozzie Smith gave a delightful performance in presenting the Louisville Slugger custom baseball bat The Chamber had made for Leonard. Thanks also to Joan Berkman and our Media Advisory friends for their coverage of the Vintage gala and certainly to our Rader Young Artist student ensemble, The Lyra Quartet for their excellent performance during the cocktail hour.We are indebted to Ellen Condie for her expertise in guiding our team in planning the event and all the volunteers who made things work. To get a taste of the Monday night excitement, you can experience some videos and photos by visiting THIS PAGE. The Chamber At Home summer season is winding down. This week’s broadcast “Everything but the Kitchen Sink” is a ton of fun with Martinu’s La Revue De Cuisine and our dear friends, jazz piano duo Stephanie Trick & Paolo Alderighi. While you will enjoy listening to the music from these two wonderful musicians, if you have not seen them in person, watching them is just as much fun. You can do that when they join CMSSL for their 5th year in February with “4 Hands, 88 Keys”. The Chamber At Home broadcasts air on Classic 107.3 Saturdays at 5pm and Mondays at 10am. Happy listening, Marc

Greetings Everyone, We are so excited that our Vintage Gala is just about two weeks away! The program booklet will be sent to the printer next week. So if you wish to be acknowledged on the list of Sponsors and VIP Supporters, make a dash to the Vintage Gala page on our website HERE. There you can view the remaining sponsorship opportunities including a private event with Leonard Slatkin and Ozzie Smith “An Evening With Maestro and the Wizard”, purchase VIP Ticket Packages and navigate to view the Silent Auction Items available right now. Silent auction is live and includes these unique items: Dinner for 2 at Tony’s Restaurant in Clayton A case of Pinot Noir Fox Club VIP experience to enjoy the spectacular Neil Diamond musical, A Beautiful Noise at the Fabulous Fox Theatre A collection of chamber music CDs by St. Louis artists A table for Four with dinner and parking – Jeremy Davenport at Ferring Jazz Bistro A bottle of 1977 vintage port An official STL City SC Jersey, signed by players. You can bid on these silent auction items HERE now through Monday, September 9 until 9pm. Silent auction winners will be notified by email. You can also see the exciting entries included in the Live Auction at the event…with the exception of one surprise item. You can preview these exclusive items available at our live auction, including a St. George Island Florida vacation, a special St. Louis Cardinals package that includes throwing out a first pitch, plus a choice of a week in Orlando, FL or Myrtle Beach, SC. Live Auction items include         Choice of a week in Orlando, FL      A week at a St. George Island or Myrtle Beach, SC.                       Florida vacation home and                                     The St. Louis Cardinals’ Experience Check back frequently for new additions. If you can’t attend the gala but would still like to support this event honoring Leonard Slatkin, you can make a donation HERE. We’ll see you in your vintage best on September 9. Marc make a donation

Griaß di (Hello There), Music on the Saturday broadcast of The Chamber At Home will salute the Viennese tradition with works by Johannes Brahms, Fritz Kreisler and W.A. Mozart. Violinist Hannah Ji and pianist Brian Woods perform the powerful Brahms D minor Sonata. Violinists Xiaoxiao Qiang and Asako Kuboki join violist Susan Gordon and cellist Ranya Iqbal who will play Mozart’s #17 string quartet K458, “The Hunt”. Brian joins in for a piano trio by Fritz Kreisler….his whimsical Miniature Viennese March. So, when 5pm rolls around on Saturday evening, tune your radio to 107.3 FM, or your HD radio to 96.3 HD 2, or navigate to Classic 107.3 to listen on the internet. Then pour yourself an Ottakringer Vienna Lager and enjoy the music. If you plan to hear the rebroadcast on Monday morning at 10am, maybe a cup of Viennese Blend Coffee would be more appropriate for some of us. Whichever day…whichever brew…enjoy the music. Have you secured your tickets to help us celebrate Leonard Slatkin’s 80th birthday at our September 9 Vintage Gala? Special guests include internationally renowned pianist Olga Kern, violinist Cho-Liang (Jimmy) Lin and Baseball Hall of Fame Legend Ozzie Smith plus some surprises. Information on the event and tickets can be found here. Switching from Austria to Italy/Egypt…Union Avenue Opera has one performance remaining of Verdi’s Aida. This opera is presented in a concert version in the original Italian with projected English supertitles. You can find information and purchase tickets HERE. Auf Wiederschauen,Marc

Hello Chamber Family, While our in-person concerts are on hiatus for a couple of months, you can satisfy your chamber music cravings with encore performances of The Chamber starting Saturday on The Chamber At Home series by listening to Classic 107.3. These broadcasts begin July 6 and will air on Saturdays at 5pm with a repeat broadcast on Mondays at 10am. The complete series schedule and repertoire can be found HERE. We acknowledge our Independence Day Weekend featuring music with an American focus—–MADE IN AMERICA. Only the best things that last through time can be called vintage. Invitations to our September 9 Vintage Gala, commemorating Maestro Leonard Slatkin’s 80th birthday and the 15th Anniversary of Chamber Music Society of St. Louis will be in the mail this weekend. If you wish to join us in celebration with Leonard and support The Chamber, you can find information on VIP ticket packages and sponsoring opportunities HERE. There will be an announcement of silent auction items with information on access to view and/or bid. Best wishes to everyone for this singularly American Independence Day Holiday as we celebrate all the things that make our country and our city a wonderful place to live. Marc

Read “Fashion-Filled Evening Kicks Off Upcoming Gala” by Joan Berkman / Photos by Suzy Gorman Read more about our “Vintage” Gala here Event Chair Miran Halen with Co-Chairs Becky Domyan and Amalia Pfannenstiel View Photos and story by Christina Kling-Garrett, Ladue News Ellen Soule, Joan Berkman Arlene Maminta Browne, Jane Roodman Weiss, Galia Movitz Melissa Miller, Kelly Bagwe, Heidi Gorham Adam Foster’s Fine Jewelry, St. Louis Ted Wight, Suzie Nall, Sagy (Saruul) Purev Gala Kick-off Hosts Adam Foster and Mary Steward Amalia Pfannenstiel Kelly Bagwe Fashion design by Alex Teih, New York Barbara Barenholtz Sagy (Saruul) Purev, Miran Halen, Ali Breitbach, Amalia Pfannenstiel Marc Gordon and Cindy McTee Slatkin Watch Video of Event HERE Naomi Fitzgerald De Grave, Charles Whimper Becky Domyan

Hello Chamber Friends, We are all excited about our upcoming “Return Visit to Vienna” Monday evening. Performing the music will be a collection of marvelous musicians… Hannah Ji, Brian Woods, Xiaoxiao Qiang, Asako Kuboki, Susan Gordon and Ranya Iqbal. These folks will be playing some delightful repertoire to bring the flavor of Vienna to your table in the Pillsbury Theatre. As we wind down our 2023-24 Season, we have a big crowd coming, so arrive early, visit STL Barkeep to grab your beverage of choice and settle in at your table. We will regale you with music by Brahms, Mozart, Hummel, Kreisler, and of course, Johann Strauss Jr. will be represented with his waltz….On the Beautiful Blue Danube. SELECT YOUR TABLE AND PURCHASE TICKETS HERE If you made a guess on composer/composition on the manuscript in the graphic from the last email…and you guessed Brahms…you would be correct. And, the composition just happened to be the Brahms Sonata Op.108 that Hannah and Brian will be performing Monday evening. Our concert will open with the Prelude segment featuring Rader Young Artists, Sophia Heaton, violin and Brody VanWave, viola. IMPORTANT REMINDER: That April 30 date has passed but you can still get your subscription forms for the 2024-25 Season in before ticketing reverts to the e-ticket system. SUBSCRIBE NOW. By the way, they will be performing with other Rader Young Artists side by side with CMSSL musicians… in a free concert on Sunday, May 26th at 6:00pm at First Congregational Church in Webster Groves.  INFO IS ON OUR WEBSITE Lastly, if you are a pianist or have a child or grandchild that is an aspiring pianist, encouragement and information are free at Sunday’s Piano Master Class with Shen Wen. So much can be learned from watching and listening, including those not actually playing in the class.  All classes are free and open to the public. We will be pleased to have you join us on our journey to this “City of Music”. See you then, Marc