The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes continues its Musicians’ Choice Chamber Music Series on Friday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m. at 171 Cedar Arts Center, with a program featuring the ensemble Janus.
Flutist Laura Campbell says the concert grew from a desire to spotlight a beloved chamber work — and to create something entirely new.
“We have four pieces on the program,” Campbell said. “We start with a woodwind trio without piano, a piece called "Abad" by the French composer Paul Diwali. The second piece is a world premiere by Timothy Schirmer. Then we have Malcolm Arnold’s "Divertimento" for woodwind trio, and we end with Saint-Saëns’ "Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs" for trio and piano.”
The world premiere, titled Three Settings, came about through a reconnection decades in the making. Campbell and Schirmer were graduate students together at the University of Illinois in the late 1970s.
“I was putting together this proposal and thought maybe we should do something that hasn’t been done before,” she said. “I happened to see Tim’s name on Facebook and sent him a friend request. When we finally connected, I asked, ‘Are you still actively composing?’ He said yes. So I asked if he would consider writing a piece for woodwind trio and piano — and he agreed. We’ve been collaborating for about a year now.”
Campbell describes Three Settings as colorful and rhythmically vibrant. The first movement, Entrata and Theme, features “independent and interconnected voices,” built from short rhythmic figures passed among the players. Campbell doubles on piccolo, and the oboist also plays English horn, expanding the ensemble’s tonal palette.
The second movement, Chorale, is loosely based on the hymn “Shall We Gather at the River?”
“It may not be obvious as we’re playing it,” Campbell said, “but I think for people who know that ahead of time, they might be able to hear that melody within the slow movement.”
The finale opens with a clarinet cadenza and moves into shifting meters and lively rhythmic energy.
“It’s almost jazzy at times,” she said. “We have some five-eight and seven-eight meters — and it ends in what he calls a rousing finish. It’s a fun piece to play.”
Rehearsals for the new work began in January. “With holidays and everyone’s schedules, it was hard to get together sooner,” Campbell said. “But we’ve been spending a lot of time on it recently.”
She is joined by clarinetist Richard McDowell, a native of Ithaca who has taught at Interlochen and the University of Texas at Austin; pianist Bill Cowdery, a longtime Ithacan with degrees from Cornell; and oboist Erica Howard, a recent addition to the area who also performs with orchestras in her native Georgia.
The program itself was built around Saint-Saëns’ "Caprice".
“That piece was really the anchor,” Campbell said. “The two trios without piano are works we’ve each played before, so we knew they would be crowd-pleasers and wouldn’t require as much rehearsal time as the premiere and the Saint-Saëns.”
The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes presents this Musicians’ Choice Chamber Music concert Friday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m. at 171 Cedar Arts Center in Corning. More information is available at https://osfl.org