Ensemble from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Courtesy photo
BY ANN MCLAUGHLIN
Artistic Director
Los Alamos Concert Association
An ensemble from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will replace the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble in the Los Alamos Concert Association’s Oct. 26 concert.
The American consulate in London, swamped with work visa requests, was unable to issue the Academy ensemble’s visas in time for their US tour. The Chamber Music Society (CMS) will send an ensemble to Los Alamos that will play the same repertoire planned by the Academy.
From its home base in New York’s Alice Tully Hall, CMS draws more people to chamber music than any other organization of its kind through its performance, education, recording and broadcast activities. The rotating roster of CMS artists performs a regular concert series in New York and tours extensively, bringing chamber music to audiences throughout the country.
The Oct. 26 concert, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Duane Smith Auditorium, will feature octets by Schubert and Irish composer Howard Ferguson plus Benjamin Britten’s arrangement of Purcell’s Chacony for Strings.
The Chacony by 17th Century composer Henry Purcell is a series of variations on a simple theme with unspecified instrumentation. In 1948 Benjamin Britten arranged the piece for strings, an homage from one great English composer to another.
Howard Ferguson composed some of the most important 20th-century music to emerge from Northern Ireland. His Octet for Winds and Strings uses the same instruments as the Schubert octet on the program: string quartet, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, and French horn.
All those attending the concert will be required to wear masks in the Duane Smith Auditorium lobby and performance hall. There are no assigned seats, so patrons will be asked to be vigilant about social distancing when choosing seats in the spacious auditorium. It will be particularly helpful if those entering an empty row will move toward the center so later arrivals won’t need to climb over people sitting at the aisle.
Ordinarily, LACA tickets are not refundable, but in this unusual situation, requests for refunds can be sent (with tickets enclosed) to PO Box 572, Los Alamos, NM 87544. As is always the case with LACA, tickets to this concert will be valid for any concert in the 2021-22 season.
The Duane Smith Auditorium is located at 1300 Diamond Drive on the campus of Los Alamos High School. Tickets ($35) are available in Los Alamos at the Fuller Lodge Arts Center and Smith’s Marketplace, in White Rock at Smith’s and electronically at www.losalamosconcert.org. Tickets for young people ages 6-18 are free and will be available at the local outlets, electronically, and at the door.
For complete artist, venue, and ticket information, visit LACA’s web site at www.losalamosconcert.org