ONLINE: WCO Winter Chamber Series

press release: While full orchestras remain sidelined, the WCO is excited to present the Winter Chamber Series. This new series will feature chamber works for multiple ensembles ranging from trios to octets, showcasing the versatility and caliber of the WCO’s 34 world-class musicians. Programs are on demand from Friday at 7:30 pm through the following Monday at 7:30 pm.

After a full opening in January, the February program is weighted towards the strings and percussion. We open with a duet by American composer, Thomas Siwe for timpani and snare drum, and “clapping music” from 1972 by American minimalist, Steve Reich. Additionally, American composer, Craig Russell is featured in his Rejuvenations for Piano Sextet (2020), a COVID era adaptation of a 2013 work written for full orchestra. His style is heavily influenced by the early Baroque Spanish music prevalent on what is now the California Coast during the late 1700s. Continuing this early classical theme, is Mozart’s homage to Haydn – his String Quartet No. 17 known as “the Hunt”, Rossini’s early string sonata No. 5 in E flat for two violins, cello and bass, written when he was just 12, and Beethoven’s first string quartet Op.18 No.1.