Chamber Players to pair for festival performance

The opportunity to play with internationally renowned musicians and conductors might be a performance highlight for some, but for Chih-Yi Chen, a Jacobs School of Music faculty member and acclaimed pianist, the familiarity of the Bloomington audience is the most exciting.

“IU is so supportive of the players, and it’s really rare and makes playing here a lot of fun and easy,” Chen said.

The Summer Music Festival’s fourth performance will feature the Festival Chamber Players performing “An Evening of Sonatas” at 8 p.m., June 26, in the Recital Hall.
Tickets are $12 for regular admission and $6 for students.

The group, featuring both full-time and Summer String Academy faculty, includes violinist Erin Aldridge, violist Atar Arad, cellist Csaba Onczay, and pianists Evelyne Brancart, Chih-Yi Chen and Cory Smythe. All are respected on an international level, said Mimi Zweig, Summer String Academy director.

But not all six players will perform each piece; this concert varies from others because different combinations of the players will play the four pieces.

“The different styles from one player to another throughout will be refreshing and different for the audience,” Chen said.

“An Evening of Sonatas” will include pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven, Edvard Grieg, Franz Schubert and Igor Stravinsky.

Zweig presented the concept of a sonata-themed show to the players, she said. From there, a variety of sonatas were chosen by the players, and the list was then submitted to Zweig. She then chose four pieces from the submitted list.

“It’s like putting together a puzzle, a well-rounded and balanced program,” Zweig said.

IU alumna Aldridge returns this year for her first year as full-time Summer String Academy faculty.

“It’s wonderful to be on this faculty and wonderful to work for everyone,” she said. “It’s coming full circle. I started out as kid in the (Summer String Academy) and now I am a teacher, so it’s pretty cool.”

Aldridge said she is most excited to play Schubert’s “Fantasy” with Smythe because it is not a piece that is played often. When it premiered in 1822, it was not well-received.

“People actually walked out of the performance,” Aldridge said. “It was way ahead of its time, but it’s really a glorious piece.”

Chen even commented about how she is anticipating “Fantasy” because it is a technically demanding piece. In terms of the pieces she will be playing, Chen said she is excited to play both Grieg and Stravinsky.

“The Grieg song is very romantic and folk-like,” she said. “It has a clarity of sound.”

She is looking forward to Stravinsky’s piece for two pianos because of its beauty and simplicity and also because she will be playing with Smythe, whom she also played with as an undergraduate at IU.

“The pianos piece is refreshing,” Chen said. “The sound and seniority is simple, and it’s not a piece that has a lot of fast passages and octaves.”

Chen and Aldridge both love coming back to Bloomington because it is a familiar place and the atmosphere at the festival is inviting.

“It’s fun, first of all,” Chen said. “It’s a great community just for the people to come enjoy music, feel the joy of making music and have a good time.”