Buffalo, NY – Today the Albright-Knox Art Gallery announced the Buffalo Chamber Players at the AK 2018–2019 season, continuing the museum’s acclaimed partnership with the Buffalo Chamber Players with an expanded concert series in the Albright-Knox Auditorium.

As Buffalo’s preeminent chamber music ensemble, the Buffalo Chamber Players presents innovative music programs performed by our region’s finest performers. Formed by BPO violist Janz Castelo, the group comprises members of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and distinguished area musicians. The Buffalo Chamber Players’ critically acclaimed concerts explore historical masterworks of the chamber music repertoire as well as contemporary works by living composers. Through its performances, the ensemble aims to challenge, redefine, and enhance the public’s perception of chamber music while promoting the City of Buffalo and our region as a culturally vibrant place to live, work, and play.

Individual concert tickets are $20 general admission, $15 for Members, and $5 for students. Season tickets for all five concerts are available at a discounted rate of $80 ($60 for AK Members) through the first concert on October 11, 2018. Tickets can be purchased online at www.albrightknox.org/buffalochamberplayers1819, by phone at 716.270.8292, or in person at the Albright-Knox Admissions Desk.

AK Café will serve a prix-fixe dinner before each concert. Reservations are essential; please call 716.270.8223 or reserve online using OpenTable.

No Strings Attached

Thursday, October 11, 2018, 7:30 pm

Historically, chamber music programs have been predominately strings-only affairs, neglecting the rich repertoire for wind and percussion instruments. However, hidden in the Baroque tradition is a set of works for winds by Telemann, highlighting the virtuosity of the early wind instruments. By the twentieth century, composers such as Poulenc and Reich mastered the rich melodic and playful nature of wind and percussion music. 

Francis Poulenc Sextet for piano and winds
Francis Poulenc Sonata for horn, trumpet, and trombone
Steve Reich Nagoya Marimbas
Georg Philipp Telemann Tafelmusik II, Quartet in d minor

It’s Just a Phase: Composers and the 1960s

Thursday, November 15, 2018, 7:30 pm

The 1960s were a time of social, political, and cultural unrest, and this manifested itself in the art and music of the period. Complementing the Albright-Knox’s exhibition Giant Steps: Artists and the 1960s, the concert program explores the various musical trends of the 1960s, including Minimalism, phase music, recorded sounds, dance, mechanical works, and performance art.

Luciano Berio O King
John Cage Music for Amplified Toy Pianos
Morton Feldman De Kooning
György Ligeti Poème symphonique for 100 metronomes
Steve Reich Violin Phase

Schumann 1842

Thursday, January 31, 2019, 7:30 pm

1842 was a very prolific year for Robert Schumann, witnessing the composer’s first forays into chamber music. While his wife, Clara, was concertizing in early 1842, Robert spent his time brooding and studying the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. On Clara’s return in early April, Robert flew into a compositional frenzy that resulted in what musicologists refer to as his “Year of Chamber Music,” in which he wrote his quartet and quintet for piano and strings as well as several other chamber works.

Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Robert Schumann Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47

¡Viva España!

Thursday, March 21, 2019, 7:30 pm

Experience the exotic sounds of Spain in a program spanning six centuries of music. Blending European, Moorish, and Sephardic musical traditions, the music of Spain developed a musical syncretism of modes, textures, and timbres all its own. The concert will highlight a newly restored harpsichord in a performance of Manuel de Falla’s Harpsichord Concerto.

Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga String Quartet No. 2 in A Major
Manuel de Falla Harpsichord Concerto
Francisco de la Torre Danza Alta
Joaquín Turina Scène andalouse, Op. 7 for solo viola and piano quintet

Images from the Dark Land

Thursday, May 9, 2019, 7:30 pm

A haunting program of musical depictions of war, drawing inspiration from various historical conflicts from the Crusades to the Vietnam War. These works share their portrayals of the brutality of war and the resilience of the human spirit. 

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber Battalia à 10
George Crumb Black Angels: Thirteen Images from the Dark Land
Claudio Monteverdi Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda

Buffalo Chamber Players at the AK is a partnership between the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Buffalo Chamber Players. Buffalo Chamber Players concerts are made possible by a grant from the Cullen Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the support of Buffalo Chamber Players donors, and the generosity of Albright-Knox Art Gallery patrons. We thank ABC-Amega, Inc. for its generous corporate support.

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