About Chamber Music
What is chamber music?
Chamber music is music written for groups small enough to not usually need a conductor. Unlike orchestras, where there are often more than one musician on a part, chamber music is written to have one player to a part, so for MACP: one flute, one clarinet, one oboe, one bassoon and one horn for a woodwind quintet. This season we'll be collaborating with other musicians for chamber music concerts that will also include violin, viola, cello, bass, and percussion.
What kind of ensembles perform chamber music?
Ensembles are often named by the number of musicians performing: like a string quartet (two violins, one viola and one cello) or a wind quintet as described above. The most common types of chamber ensembles are string quartets, wind quintets, and brass quintets (two trumpets, one horn, one trombone, and one tuba).
What kind of ensemble is Mill Ave Chamber Players?
MACP has a woodwind quintet as it's core ensemble (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon). We often collaborate with other musicians to perform a wide variety of music, to grow the ensemble to include strings, brass, and percussion. There's a world of great music out there, so programming concerts where we can perform with friends and other great musicians helps give us and our audiences a variety of experiences and sounds to enjoy.
Attending a Concert
When should I arrive?
Check the information about the concert first, some concerts have pre-concert lectures that give great insight and information about what you're about to hear. It's a great way to help you have a more in-depth concert experience. Another approach that we often take is to talk to our audience during our concerts to set the scene of what you're about to hear. We think it's a great opportunity for our audiences to get a better idea of what we're like without our instruments in or on our mouths!
What can I do before a concert to learn more about what I am going to hear?
This is a GREAT question: the reason that people enjoy attending a concert is because they are already familiar with the music that they are going to hear. Think about it: you have a favorite band you've been listening to for years, and are headed to hear their concert. You know the words to every song and are thrilled to see them perform live....it's exactly the same with any type of music!
So, do you homework! Head over to our facebook page, where we'll put up links to pieces that we're preparing and listen to the works that you're going to hear. Becoming familiar with the programs before you come to a concert - just like going to see your favorite band - will insure that you're going to have a great time seeing a live classical music concert.
Where do you perform?
We have five chamber music series this season: Central United Methodist Church, Peoria Center for the Performing Arts, Glendale Public Library, United Church of Sun City and Cicero Preparatory Academy. We're also performing at Glendale Community College and in the Willo District in Downtown Phoenix. We're already planning for the next two seasons, so if you're interested in having chamber music in your area, contact us!
Central United Methodist Church: A new chamber music series presented by MACP, we have four outstanding concerts planned for our first season. Learn more about each concert here, where you can also purchase tickets.
Peoria Center for the Performing Arts: Our second season as part of the PCPA community offers amazing programming paired with wine from France, the Czech Republic, Germany and America.
Glendale Public Library: MACP was the recipient of the Performing Arts Partnership Grant to maintain the 25-year-old "Live at the Library" Series. Held on the fourth Thursday of each month from 6:30-7:30 PM, MACP will be performing or presenting six concerts throughout the 2014-2015 season.
United Church of Sun City: This unique concert series is held at 9:30 on Wednesday mornings, with coffee, pastries and fellowship before the concert. This series gives the audience a chance to hear members of our group perform solos, duos, and trios, where they get to pick music that they passionate about playing, but doesn't always work well in large concert halls.
The great thing about these three series is that EVERY concert is different...you won't hear the same program if you came to every concert we have planned for this season!
If I arrive late to concert when will I be seated?
You will be seated at the end of a piece, usually when you hear applause. People are not seated in between movements because there is not enough time to get seated and situated before the next movement begins. It is not polite to enter while performers are playing, as it disrupts the musicians and the audience, so plan to arrive with plenty of time before the concert starts.