On  March 6, ‘The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Front Row: National’ played at Sonoma State University Green Music Center. This was a free event for all Sonoma students and was able to see virtually via Zoom that was put on by directors David Finckel and Wu Han.

‘The Chamber Music Society’ is an American organization that is based out of New York City and tours all around the nation. The group played beautiful melodies for over an hour at the Green Music Center and has been playing in venues for over 50 years.

Annette Bening, a stage and screen actor talked about ‘The Chamber Music Society’ at a 50-year celebration by saying, “I’ve been working with actors my whole life and the great joy we share is the magic of a close knit ensemble, exchanging not just lines but nuance and tempo.  One of the reasons I love chamber music is because it has that same power. The Chamber Music society working with hundreds of musicians all around the world comes together to make those magical moments.”    

On the Green Music Center website, The Music Society is described as, “Capturing performances in HD video and sound for many years. Because this material is of such high quality – both artistically and technically – it represents a unique collection for chamber music lovers.”

The show started with Mozart with selections from Don Giovanni which is one of the most famous operas of all time and widely regarded as one of Mozart’s greatest achievements. Mozart is famously remembered as writing this piece the day of the premier of Don Giovanni and not allowing the group to have enough time to practice before. But luckily, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center was able to practice before and played it brilliantly.  

The next number played by the group was BALAKIREV: Octet for Flute, Oboe, Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, and Piano. Also OP.3 who was a Russian composer in the 1800’s and was famous for promoting musical nationalism. The Chamber Music Society had great flute and violin work, including BARBER: Summer Music for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Horn, OP.31. This number played was slightly different than the other too because it was more along the lines of woodwind instruments. POULENC: Sextet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, and Piano. The group played a number after Francis Poulenc who was a French composer and pianist.  

The Chamber played many different numbers and many diverse instruments and they were terrific in all aspects. Each number had different individuals coming in and out playing for the group and it was fascinating for all of them to work simultaneously together.

Jacob Fowler, a junior at Sonoma State attended the show and said, “I really enjoyed the show. I do not normally go to shows like this but I was pleasantly surprised that I had a good time. I liked the first set they did with Mozart; it was very cool to hear their take on something so famous and old.” 

The Chamber Music Society is famous for their outstanding work when it comes to playing chamber music at its finest. Directors David Finckel and Wu Han were able to overcome the obstacles of COVID-19 and were able to put on a great show.