 Chamber Group Has Deep Roots in Community
By Terry Schommer
The Weekend of Chamber Music (WCM) is celebrating a 10-year love affair with Sullivan County and summertime music making in the Catskills. Kicking off the anniversary celebration in March, WCM introduced "Sundays at Big Twig." WCM artistic director and founder Judith Pearce performed with members of the Apollo Trio in the first program of the new concert series, and Pearce has a few more surprises in store for this special season, as well.
Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, a Mongaup Valley native currently making waves in the opera world, is scheduled to perform, WCM takes its show on the road to northeastern Pennsylvania and to Orange County, New York, and Sullivan County schools are reaping the benefits of expanded coaching sessions with some of WCM’s regular performers.
Simple beginnings
In the beginning, WCM was true to its moniker when its first season consisted of just one weekend of chamber music at the Meat Market in Lake Huntington. The artist workshop and summer gallery was WCM’s home from 1994 until it was sold two years later.
"The whole idea was to present chamber music as a vital art to a broad cross section of people," says Pearce, who also thought performing in the natural beauty of the Catskills would be a welcome respite from city life for many of her fellow professional musicians. High quality performance with a range of instruments was another important goal, and WCM has never shied away from any era of musical repertoire, from pre-1800 all the way through to modern-day compositions.
Chamber music is an intimate classical form, and Pearce has always built in time for direct communication with her audiences by including spoken introductions and interaction with the performers at pre-concert rehearsals.
"People are very open to discussion during the informal Friday rehearsals," she says. "It fascinates people to watch us work together and it all makes [the concerts] utterly believable to them. It’s always our aim to get across both our intense pleasure in playing and the ideas of the music. The interactive aspect of our work is so important, especially with children."
Combining artistic disciplines has always been an important theme for WCM. The children’s element of the first program included a chamber arrangement of Camille Saint Saens’ work, "Carnival of the Animals," narrated by baritone Simon Chaussé. In a morning workshop, children painted animal pictures with artists Jane Jacobs and Bud Wertheim. Wertheim, a sculptor known for his metal works, created huge, articulated, sculpted animals for the event. Wendy Townsend and Mark Koeppen brought in two live animals, Mr. Boa (a boa constrictor) and Spot the Iguana, for an up-close and hands-on encounter.
Reaching out to the community
When the Community Center in Cochecton opened in the fall of 1994, WCM featured the first of a number of concerts of American songs intermingled with local history. "A Concert of American Music, Poetry and Song" used historic letters from local archives to weave quotes about country life into music of the period.
When the Meat Market closed its doors, WCM moved to Narrowsburg’s Tusten Theatre in 1996, and that’s when the "Weekend" in the chamber group’s name actually became two. During the Tusten years, a Saturday writing workshop for children was added. Writers Mary Greene and Chris Nelson led a small group of children as they created poems, and Pearce, singer Annie Hat and guitarist/composer William Anderson used the poems as lyrics for original music performed in the concerts.
In addition, interactive concerts for children began and in April 1997, the "Music and Imagination" series started as a one-day workshop. Participating teachers from Sullivan County schools were Stephen Rovitz and Lori Orestano James of Monticello, who collaborated with string teacher Patricia Lubin and band director Gary Siegel from Liberty. Monticello hosted young people from both districts as WCM musicians worked with them on their instruments. Teachers Ann Trombley and Nancy Wegrzyn, also from Monticello, organized the daylong event for middle-schoolers, which began with a morning concert and workshops with cellist Käthe Jarka, pianist Marija Stroke and Pearce, on her flute. Later that evening students, parents and the public enjoyed a concert by the mentoring WCM musicians.
But the beauty of Lake Huntington lured WCM back in 1998, and the series moved to the Nutshell Art Gallery, located on the idyllic lake. A Thursday evening buffet and informal concert were added to the roster. There was an art exhibition on view at the time, and Pearce fondly recalls the full moon auspiciously reflecting off the lake on their first summer night at the gallery.
Another day was added for the "Music and Imagination" series that year, and WCM musicians began coaching high school students in Monticello’s chamber music class, in addition to their work with younger students.
During this period, WCM collaborated with the Liberty Library and the Liberty Museum and Arts Center on the "Main Street Program," adding another artistic genre to their work – architecture. A concert mixed with children’s original poetry set to music was given at the library, architect Robert Dadras gave an architectural tour of Main Street, and a final concert at the museum opened a quilt exhibition curated by Sharon Green, tying music into the everyday lives of people. Eventually, this led to a New York State Council on the Arts grant, spearheaded by the Liberty Museum and Arts Center, for the "Memory Project." English teacher Debra Rovitz began working with Narrowsburg 9th graders in 2001.
Three years ago WCM moved to Hortonville Presbyterian Church at the crossroads of county routes 121 and 131. Last year the mid-19th century church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and WCM seems to have found a welcoming home there. Not one to rest on her laurels, Pearce celebrated by expanding programming again, and in 2001, the "Weekend" became three. WCM’s chamber music coaching with students continues, and the "Memory Project," in its third phase now, includes 180 Liberty High School ninth-graders writing articles and poems based on interviews about local history, to be excerpted for the concerts.
A milestone year
The Weekend of Chamber Music’s tale is a story of growth and service through music to the Sullivan County community. Pearce says none of it would have been possible without support from some very special friends – Gertrude Katzoff, Doris Kreibich and Ekkehart Trenkner, who serve on WCM’s board.
In this milestone year, young musicians of Monticello High School’s chamber music class (now in its eleventh year) enjoy monthly coaching sessions with WCM musicians. A public concert at 7:30 p.m. May 15 is scheduled in the new band room at the school.
The summer season in the Catskills officially kicks off with "Music in the Barn," a summer gala benefit on June 12 in Bethel (details will be announced soon on WCM’s web site), and a return of the July 4 celebration at the Liberty Museum and Arts Center.
Hortonville Church again sets the stage for the regular series at 8 p.m. Saturdays, July 10, 17 and 24. Each concert is preceded Friday evenings by an open rehearsal of one of the program pieces, and an informal chat with the players.
Highlights this year include Bach’s 2nd Brandenburg Concerto, a tribute to the 70th anniversary of composer Gustav Holst’s death, a U.S. premiere of a colorful new British work, and Schubert’s much-loved "Trout Quintet." Respighi’s great work "Il Tramonto" for voice and string quartet, provides the setting for Stephanie Blythe’s "hometown" appearance on July 24. Among the more than 20 featured musicians traveling to Sullivan County to celebrate with Pearce this summer are pianist Tannis Gibson and her husband, violinist Mark Rush, "regulars" since 1994, as well as oboist Matt Sullivan, and harpsichordist Kenneth Hamrick.
WCM travels to Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania on July 11th and to Cornwall, N.Y. on July 25. Stay tuned at the WCM web site, http://wcmconcerts.org or call 845-932-8527 or 718-638-8962 for all the details.
After 10 years of reaching out to the Sullivan County community, it’s fair to say that WCM has grown into a well-regarded citizen in Sullivan County’s cultural life. This anniversary marks a decade of concerts, innovative programming for children and creating opportunities for the public to actively participate in the intimacy and warmth of chamber music with highly skilled musicians, passionate about their art.
WCM’s season is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. Further information on tickets and programs is available online at www.wcmconcerts.org or by calling 845-932-8527 or 718-638- 8962.
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