Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society

Will you please take a short survey to help us plan for the 2021 - 2022 season of the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society? As we make plans for the 2021-2022 season, we have to keep in mind the uncertainty of the ability to gather in large groups in the fall. The Canadian Brass concert that was scheduled for 2020 has been moved to November 30th, 2021. At this point, it is our plan to make the Canadian Brass concert the first concert of the season and continue with the spri...ng season as usual with two more concerts. As members and supporters of this organization, we value your input. Will you please fill out the following survey that will help us plan for the 2021 - 2022 HJCMS season? Click here to take the short survey: https://ghsu.wufoo.com//harry-jacobs-chamber-music-societ/

Throwback Thursday! The Daedalus String Quartet performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society in 2004. Praised by The New Yorker as a fresh and vital young participant in what is a golden age of American string quartets, the Daedalus Quartet has established itself as a leader among the new generation of string ensembles. Since winning the top prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2001, the Daedalus Quartet has impressed critics and listener...s alike with the security, technical finish, interpretive unity, and sheer gusto of its performances. The New York Times has praised the Daedalus Quartet’s insightful and vibrant Haydn, the impressive intensity of their Beethoven, their luminous Berg, and the riveting focus of their Dutilleux. The Washington Post in turn has acclaimed their performance of Mendelssohn for its rockets of blistering virtuosity, while the Houston Chronicle has described the silvery beauty of their Schubert and the magic that hushed the audience when they played Ravel, the Boston Globe the finesse and fury of their Shostakovich, the Toronto Globe and Mail the thrilling revelation of their Hindemith, and the Cincinnati Enquirer the tremendous emotional power of their Brahms. Since its founding the Daedalus Quartet has performed in many of the world’s leading musical venues; in the United States and Canada these include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center (Great Performers series), the Library of Congress, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and Boston’s Gardner Museum, as well as on major series in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. Abroad the ensemble has been heard in such famed locations as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, and in leading venues in Japan. Here is a video of the Daedalus String Quartet performing the Beethoven Quartet in Bb major, Op. 18 no. 6. https://youtu.be/BEZtW2lDg3U

Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society Time Capsule: The Akropolis Reed Quintet performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society in 2017. The Akropolis Reed Quintet was founded in 2009 at the University of Michigan and has won seven national chamber music prizes including the Fischoff Gold Medal and Fischoff Educator Award. The San Francisco Chronicle dubbed Akropolis’ recent third album release, The Space Between Us, pure gold.... A nonprofit organization supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and numerous foundations and individuals nationwide, Akropolis delivers more than 120 annual performances and workshops. Current projects include a collaboration with Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Pascal Le Boeuf, and Christian Euman, touring drummer for Grammy Award-winning artist Jacob Collier. Akropolis is collaborating with BodyVox Dance on a full-length music and dance production celebrating the 1920s and the fight for suffrage. In June 2021 they will premiere a new work by Annika Socolofsky in collaboration with video artist, XUAN, celebrating diversity in small businesses around America. Their 4th album, Ghost Light, will be released on April 9, 2021 on New Focus Recordings. https://youtu.be/DnisQeBx5AI

Throwback Thursday! The Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society in 2014. Here is a video of them performing L’Embarquement pour Cythere, by Francis Poulenc. Recorded by Wisconsin Public Television at Farley’s House of Pianos.... A piano duo that can charm even the most versed music lovers (Gazeta Krakowska, Poland), the Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo is comprised of pianists Stanislava Varshavski and Diana Shapiro, who began playing together in 1998. Since then, they have gone on to capture the top prizes at numerous competitions, including the most prestigious competition for piano duos the Murray Dranoff International Piano Competition in Miami. A winner of the Astral Artists’ 2012 National Auditions, the Varshavski-Shapiro Piano Duo also won first prizes at the Italy’s XV Piano Competition Rome 2004, the Jerusalem’s Kol HaMusica Young Artists Competition, the Israel Chamber Music Competition, the XIII Schubert Competition in the Czech Republic, and the First International Piano Duo Competition in Bialystok, Poland. https://youtu.be/jJb8QZS7U7g

Throwback Thursday Have you ever heard of a baryton? The baryton is a bowed string instrument similar to the viol, but distinguished by an extra set of plucked strings. It was in regular use in Europe until the end of the 18th century. (Wikipedia) In 1992 the London-based Esterhazy Baryton Trio performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society. ... Listen to this recording to hear what a baryton sounds like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryqcv2QpwTQ

We are saddened to hear the news of the passing of Harry A. Jacobs, son of Harry M. Jacobs and Vola O’Connor Jacobs. Please keep the Jacobs family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. https://www.legacy.com/obit/augustachronicle/obituary.aspx

Have you ever seen a trumpet without valves?

Throwback Thursday The Wilanow String Quartet performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society in 1994. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSyZzpYdvY4

Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society Time Capsule: Cantus performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society in 2012. Cantus performs more than 60 concerts each year both in national and international touring, and in its home of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Cantus has performed at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, UCLA, San Francisco Performances, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.... Enjoy this video of Cantus performing Simple Gifts. https://youtu.be/c_g4rEPXkyI

Augusta University’s director of Jazz Studies, Wycliffe Gordon, worked with the students of "NYO Jazz" this summer. Every summer this group rehearses and performs a concert in Carnegie Hall in New York City and then goes on tour to some of the world’s great music capitals. However, this summer was a virtual experience for the students which culminated in projects such as this. Watch and listen as Wycliffe Gordon and the students from the NYO Jazz perform his original composition We’re Still Here / He’s Alright.

Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society Time Capsule: The Baltimore Consort performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society in 1996. The Baltimore Consort is a musical ensemble that performs a wide variety of early music, Renaissance music and music from later periods. They began in 1980 as a group specializing in music of the Elizabethan period, but soon expanded their repertoire to include Scottish music, broadside ballads, and Italian, French, and other European music o...f the 16th and 17th centuries. Their music bridges the genres of classical and folk music. Here is a video of "Tarleton’s Jig" from their performance at the 2016 Madison Early Music Festival in Madison, Wisconsin. https://youtu.be/G49NMFIK-2Y

Today is the first day of the fall semester! Register for online music lessons at www.augusta.edu/conservatory. We offer lessons for all ages for piano, voice, guitar, band instruments, and orchestra instruments. New students can start at any time.

HJCMS 2020 - 2021 HJCMS 30th Anniversary Season Update: Due to COVID-19, performances by non-University groups are not permitted at Augusta University through the month of December. Therefore, we have postponed the two concerts that were scheduled for this fall. These concerts include a performance by the American Chamber Players, scheduled for October 2020, now scheduled for April 25, 2021, and the holiday concert featuring the Canadian Brass and Wycliffe Gordon which will b...e moved to November 30, 2021. At this point, we are keeping the spring schedule as planned, but as it gets closer to January, we will reevaluate to see if we will be able to have an in-person audience, live stream, or a combination of the two. Visit our website, www.augusta.edu/harryjacobs, for a detailed schedule of concerts starting in January 2021. Thank you for your continued support during this unprecedented time.

Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society Time Capsule: The Eden Stell Guitar Duo performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society in 2016. Internationally renowned for their dynamism, innovation, and breathtaking virtuosity, the Eden Stell Guitar Duo have ‘breathed new life into the world of the classical guitar’ (Rotterdam Dagblad). Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading guitar ensembles, the duo’s chameleon-like ability to communicate in a multitude of musical styl...es makes them a constantly evolving entity with a unique creative voice. Please enjoy this video of highlights from their 20th-anniversary performance at the Wigmore Hall in London. https://youtu.be/scI9o7z6jSw

Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society Time Capsule: The New York Woodwind Quintet performed for the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society in 2001. They are an ensemble-in-residence at the Juilliard School in New York City, originally appointed in 1987. At Juilliard, the members of the New York Woodwind Quintet present seminars each year for student woodwind ensembles, give regular coachings, and performances. This ensemble has been performing for more than 50 years in concerts an...d workshops in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. More than 20 compositions have been written for and premiered by the quintet, some of which have become classics of the woodwind repertoire. They include and quintets by Gunther Schuller, Ezra Laderman, William Bergsma, Alec Wilder, William Sydeman, Wallingford Riegger, Jon Deak, and Yehudi Wyner. The Quintet has featured many of these pieces in recordings for such labels as Boston Skyline, Bridge, New World Records, and Nonesuch. This video features them performing a set of dances composed by John Dowland (1563-1626) and arranged by hornist, William Purvis. It was recorded live at the Wa Concert Series in New York City in 2018. https://youtu.be/3WVCOZkPr0c