County Chamber Collective

Inaugural showcase concert at St. Mary Magdalene

Chamber music lovers in the County got a special treat last Sunday afternoon as the County Chamber Collective held their inaugural showcase concert at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Picton. The concert was the culmination of a twoday intensive music retreat organized by Collective founders Caroline Reiss, Diana Lam, Vi Woo and Liz Tremblay. The idea for a collective came to Ms. Reiss when she attended the Prince Edward County Chamber Music Festival last year. “We have so much amazing music in the County over the summer, and I’m such a big fan of Maureen Dunn, who puts on the PEC Chamber Music Festival, and we get these amazing internationally renowned artists, but there’s nothing really for local artists, especially in the winter, so we’re trying to bridge that gap,” she said. Ms. Reiss is a semi-professional musician who plays in two Kingston orchestras, and she spread the word about forming a collective of local likeminded musicians among her contacts and through social media. There was plenty of interest and in a very short time small groups of classically trained musicians from the County, Kingston and Quinte area were playing at events across the region. “We’d like to put on concerts throughout the year at many venues to get people excited about classical music,” added Ms. Reiss.

While Ms. Reiss plays in two large orchestras, her preference is for chamber music, where a small group of musicians play together in an intimate setting. “You can really hear yourself and hear the other players that you’re working with. It’s much more about teamwork,” she said. “Orchestras are amazing, too, but you can kind of get lost in the bigger sections.” With that in mind, she and the other founders of the collective started to plan a two-day chamber music retreat that would end with a performance at St. Mary Magdalene Church. Fourteen musicians took part in the retreat which started with a dinner last Thursday night. The musicians rehearsed on Friday and Saturday, and they performed five pieces at St. Mary Magdalene Church on Sunday. “It was really easy to get everyone to play together during the retreat. Everyone had that same level of passion and love for chamber music and music of all genres. Choosing the pieces was a challenge. We had four flutes and three clarinets and only one violin, so we had to transpose some parts.”

“For the Beethoven piece we only had one bassoon, so we had to use a bass clarinet as a substitute. It was not exactly true to what Beethoven wrote, but everyone was having fun and enjoying it,” said Ms. Reiss. “It’s really inspiring to work with like-minded people who share a genuine passion and love for music.”

The concert on Sunday began with the Octet in E Flat Major for Winds by Ludwig Van Beethoven. It was superbly played, with the musicians taking cues and feeding off each other’s energy. The next piece was the Flute Trio in B Minor by Friedrich Kuhlau followed by the contemporary Fireflies for piccolo, flute and piano composed in 2015 by Herman Beeftink. The church acoustics were well suited to the high notes of the piccolo which remained bright without becoming shrill. After a short break the music resumed with Luigi Boccherini’s String Quartet in E Flat Major followed by the Nonet for Winds and Strings by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, conducted by Vi Woo. It was actually a decet rather than a nonet. At the start of the retreat, a clarinet was playing the horn part, but the late addition of a horn player meant this part was doubled up.

Ms. Reiss was thrilled with the concert on Sunday. “I’m so jazzed. It went super well. The performance was amazing, but I think it’s more about the connections that we made and the friendships that were formed. The whole experience went better than I could have hoped,” she said. The Collective has already begun to plan for next year. Word about the group has spread and there’s interest in forming a Baroque music group. “The County really doesn’t have an orchestra, which would be a cool thing to start. We already have ideas for next year. Stay tuned, it’ll be exciting,” said Ms. Reiss. Follow the group on Instagram at @countychambercollective.