Concertos bring Chamber Soloists together again

Murray’s initial plan was to bring together talented musicians from across Westchester, providing them with opportunities to perform as soloists. While some of the Brandenburg players have professional experience, it wasn’t a requirement to secure an invitation to the group.

“We have professional instrument performers, professional instrumental teachers who perform, and we have advanced amateurs who love to perform but pay the bills with other careers,” Murray said, “What unites everybody is a passion for chamber music.” 

Violinist and co-artistic director Kate Ashby of Hastings noted that  despite the varying levels of experience, the members remain close. 

“There’s a real sense of community in our ensemble,” Ashby said. “Everybody is important, everybody is playing a leading role.” 

For over two years that community put its passion for chamber music on hold due to the coronavirus. 

“Once the world locked us down, especially in the pre-vaccine days, we were at home by our lonely selves,” Murray said. 

Murray spent much of those years in his home studio learning, and recording video of himself performing, Mozart’s 21 piano concertos. Some of those concertos featured accompaniments performed by ensemble members, but the Westchester Chamber Soloists as a whole remained silent. 

To celebrate the group’s return, the six Brandenburg Concertos — which went unperformed for more than 100 years after they was finished — seemed apt. Bach completed the concertos in 1721 and sent them to a Berlin noble as a musical job application. The noble never responded, and the concertos were held under lock and key until they were rediscovered in 1849. One year later they were published for the first time. 

According to Murray, the Brandenburg Concertos are masterful as a Baroque classical piece, and led to a style of music still relevant today. 

“Think of the Beatles, right?” Murray said, “They didn’t just all four of them bang away and call it a hit, right? They’d open up all four, then one of the soloists would step out, they’d do a solo, and then they’d all fall back in, and then another soloist would play... That form is Bach’s Brandenburg. If it didn’t originate with Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, he perfected that format.” 

In addition to the musical intricacy Murray mentioned, Ashby noted the Brandenburg Concertos offer a peppy experience for listeners. 

“The pieces are very much beloved throughout history, but they’re very rarely performed all six of them together,” Ashby said. “They have such a variety of musical expression and emotion, they have beautiful melodies, and they’re very energetic and full of life. So we felt that was a great way to celebrate the New Year and bring some energy and inspiration to the villages.”

The group will continue its reemergence with another performance of the Brandenburg Concertos this Saturday, Jan. 7, at Pleasantville Presbyterian Church at 7 p.m., and will feature a larger orchestra thanks to the return of some musicians from holiday travel. Tickets, $25 for adults, $15 for students ages 25 and under, can be purchased on the Westchester Chamber Soloists’ website (www.westchesterchambersoloists.com) or at the door, subject to remaining availability.

The Westchester Chamber Soloists will also perform at Sarah Lawrence College on March 5, April 2, and June 4. For additional information on those performances, visit their website.