“Valentines Day is around the corner, and the mood at Bainbridge Performing Arts is appropriately starry-eyed.Three young pianists, bracketed by adult ensembles, will play masterpieces of the Romantic period for the Chamber Music at the Playhouse series Feb. 11. The theme is the shift, in the 1820s, from the dominance of Vienna and of classical forms to Romantic subjectivity and ‘mood,’ said Jim Quitslund, coordinator of BPA’s classical music program.Pianist Quitslund and violist Gwen Franz open with Robert Schumann’s Marchenbilder. Described by Franz as a cool piece about fairy tales, the work makes spectacular use of the many voices of both viola and piano.The program concludes with clarinetist Patty Beasley, pianist Darden Burns and cellist Barbara Deppe playing Johannes Brahms’ Trio for Clarinet, Violoncello and Piano in A minor.Playing this piece was my idea. This is one of the great pieces written for clarinet, Beasley said.The middle of the program is reserved for Wesley Corbett, Heidi Schuler and Nissa Kahle, recommended by teachers Peggy Swingle, Irene Bowling and Claire Marshall, respectively.Including young performers in the chamber music series is a concept Kathleen MacFerran and I worked out with the island’s music teachers, Quitslund said. It’s community outreach to expand the number of performers we have. Corbett and Kahle are 14, and Schuler is 17. Corbett has studied 10 years, Schuler nine and Kahle seven. None find performing daunting, although Kahle has learned to avoid looking at the audience.All three were exposed early by musical families, and all three are considering careers as professional musicians.The question the youngsters are mulling – how music fits into their lives – is one each adult performer has had to resolve.The decision to go pro is not an easy one; that construct of the Romantic imagination, the heroic, starving artist may have some basis in fact. You go from being the only show in town to the reality of being lost in the crowd with many talented people who end up starving, Deppe said. You realize you either don’t want to, or don’t have the ability to cut through everything that it takes to be an orchestral cellist.Deppe put her instrument away for nine years, only picking it up again after she moved to Bainbridge. Franz got her master’s degree in music and has played professionally with Northwest Sinfonietta, the Pacific Northwest Ballet orchestra and the Seattle symphony.She became professional, she says, to completely immerse herself in music.Beasley took up the clarinet at her elementary school and spent summers at Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. If I had it to do again, I might try to become a professional, Beasley said. ‘I could’ve been a contenda’ for orchestra instrumentalist.But if I really got a job in an orchestra, it might become just another job.Quitslund cites as deterrents stage fright and the intimidating mythology surrounding the great pianists.Only when music had become an avocation for him as a literature student at Harvard, did he discover the creative excitement of performance. His interest in performing has strengthened during his 10 years on the island.Burns, who studied music at college and teaches piano professionally, said, I think there’s a misconception that if you’re going to play music, it has to be all or nothing. People think you’ve got to get into the real competitive groove and play in a professional orchestra or teach university level.But look at all the people in this program. We found a way, even though we’re not full-time professional musicians, for music to be a central part of our lives.Chamber Music at the Playhouse will be at 4 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Playhouse. Admission is $10; call 842-8578. “
Three of HeartsChamber musicians visit the Romantic period.
"Valentines Day is around the corner, and the mood at Bainbridge Performing Arts is appropriately starry-eyed.Three young pianists, bracketed by adult ensembles, will play masterpieces of the Romantic period for the Chamber Music at the Playhouse series Feb. 11. The theme is the shift, in the 1820s, from the dominance of Vienna and of classical forms to Romantic subjectivity and 'mood,' said Jim Quitslund, coordinator of BPA's classical music program.Pianist Quitslund and violist Gwen Franz open with Robert Schumann's Marchenbilder. Described by Franz as a cool piece about fairy tales, the work makes spectacular use of the many voices of both viola and piano.The program concludes with clarinetist Patty Beasley, pianist Darden Burns and cellist Barbara Deppe playing Johannes Brahms' Trio for Clarinet, Violoncello and Piano in A minor. "