Chamber Music

Chamber Music

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UCR Chamber Ensembles, currently under the direction of Frances Moore, was founded in 1990.  Evening concerts in the Music Department performance series are generally presented twice a year.  Recitals have featured not only works by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms, but also works of Gabriel Fauré, Camille Saint-Saëns, Francis Poulenc, Malcolm Arnold, Gustav Holst, and Benjamin Britten. Performances have included outstanding works by UCR student composers such as the Canciones Celestiales by Abraham Fabella.

The students in UCR Chamber Ensembles represent a number of different campus majors. Math, biochemistry, business, computer science, and biomedical sciences, as well as music majors, have participated in recent years. Most members of the class have had some years of private or school instruction on their instruments. Players of orchestral instruments and pianists make up the bulk of the groups, but singers and those who play unusual instruments are also welcome.

Groups from UCR Chamber Ensembles have performed for the re-dedication of the Riviera Library, for the Chancellor's Round Table in Palm Springs, the Watkins Society, and at the California Museum of Photography. Ensembles from the class have participated in the Maxwell H. Gluck Program in the Arts at UCR, which takes them into the community for performances in schools, retirement centers, and nursing homes. Some opportunities arise to play for pay at local events and private parties.

In the spring of 2002, three ensembles from UCR Chamber Ensembles participated in a Master Class with the Alexander String Quartet, who were guest artists on UCR's Cultural Events Series. We hope to give our students more opportunities to interact with such outstanding visiting artists.

The UCR Music Faculty, including the directors of all performance ensembles, work together to ensure that student performers experience a wide variety of musical styles and performing situations. Care is taken to coordinate performance schedules since many students belong to more than one UCR ensemble.

Chamber Ensembles is an inherently cooperative experience. The student performers are, in large measure, the people who create the performances. Without their enthusiasm, energy, ideas, and devotion to extra hours, such a performance activity could not exist. The course number is Music 166. If you would like to participate, please contact the Director for an interview and audition.

Listeners are also important to us. If you would like to hear UCR Chamber Ensembles perform, contact UCR Arts Calendar information at 951-827-3245.

For more information, please contact:

Frances Moore
Office: ARTS 156B
Phone: 818-606-3399
Email: fmoore@ucr.edu