Chamber Music Society of St. Cloud

Mill City String Quartet with Stacey Mastrian, soprano
2025-04-12 19:30 (America/Chicago) | St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
Come hear the 2024 Fanny Mendelssohn International Competition First Prize winning chamber music ensemble and “a sweet, shimmering soprano” (The Washington Post)

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Saturday, April 12, 2025 – 7:30 p.m.St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. CloudTickets online or at the door.  Adult $25 | Senior (65+) $20 | Student $5Concert sponsor: Julie Aronson Dehnel

Mill City String Quartet with soprano Stacey Mastrian concert closes our ’24-25 concert season with a delightful program of music for soprano and string quartet featuring works by Jesse Montgomery, Ottorino Respighi, Clara Wieck-Schumann, Caroline Shaw, Arthur Shepherd, and Carlos Simon.
Mill City String Quartet (MCSQ) is an internationally prize-winning chamber ensemble based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Recently, MCSQ achieved significant accolades, winning First Prize at the Fanny Mendelssohn International Competition in the Professional Chamber Music category (2024), Second Prize at the Charleston International Music Competition (Winter 2024), and Third Prize at the International Clara Schumann Competition (2023). This dynamic string quartet is dedicated to cultivating transformative concerts that not only promote underrepresented composers but also celebrate the classical music genre. Selected six times as Minnesota Public Radio Class Notes artists, MCSQ has introduced their music to thousands of school children through performances and master classes. Their recent engagements include performing the National Anthem for the Minnesota Twins at Target Field and concert performances in Iowa, Florida, and Oregon. The quartet has also held educational residencies with The Schubert Club and Oregon’s Britt Festival. MCSQ is committed to community outreach, having performed at Minnesota’s all-women’s correctional facility and The Glenn, a retirement community in Minnetonka. They frequently participate in regional chamber music series, showcasing their talent across various venues. Current members of MCSQ are Huldah Niles (Artistic Director and violin), Erika Hoogeveen (violin), Coca Bochonko (viola), and Rebeccah Parker Downs (cello). https://www.millcityquartet.com/
Stacey Mastrian is a Fulbright Grantee, Beebe Fellow, and Richard F. Gold Career Grant recipient.  Her repertoire extends from Hildegard von Bingen and Beatriz de Día to Machaut and Monteverdi, through Mozart and Verdi to the present, and she has sung in more than two dozen languages. In addition to standard classical repertoire, she specializes in art song, Italian vocal music, 20th- and 21st-century vocal works, and works that highlight social issues and innovation. Programming and performing thought-provoking repertoire spanning more than two dozen languages and 900 years, she endeavors to spark curiosity, deep empathetic responses, and reflection to shape our collective journey for the better. https://www.staceymastrian.com/

Musical Chairs 2025
2025-04-11 19:00 - 21:30 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
Friday, April 11, 2025, 7:00 p.m.
Join us for Musical Chairs! Our 30th annual fundraising party to benefit the Chamber Music Society features the Mill City String Quartet and soprano Stacey Mastrian. An intimate evening of chamber music performed by the MILL CITY STRING QUARTET and Stacey Mastrian  joined by prominent local musicians.
Desserts, wine, coffee & tea will be available! A silent auction of selected works by area artists as well as a multitude of other highly desirable items. Your support of this event helps bring top-quality live chamber music to Central Minnesota audiences. To purchase tickets:

Purchase/RSVP online: https://chambermusicstcloud.ticketspice.com/musical-chairs-2025
Call 320-292-4645
Send a check to the Chamber Music Society, PO Box 205, St. Cloud, MN 56302
Tickets will be available at the door the evening of the event

* Patrons at the $75 and $150 level will be acknowledged in the evening’s program with an RSVP by April 5.
THANK YOU!

Marko Topchii, guitar
2025-03-01 19:30 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
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More Marko music!Whitney Senior CenterMini-concert. Coffee. DessertFriday, February 28, 1-2 p.m.Call in advance for tickets:320-255-7245
Click Here

Guitar MasterclassWednesday, February 26, 6-7 p.m.College of St. Benedict campusBenedicta Art Center, Room A-135Free and open to the public.
Click Here

Whitney CenterMini-ConcertSt. Cloud Whitney Senior Center1527 Northway Dr, St CloudMusic. Coffee. Dessert.
Friday, February 28, 1-2 p.m.Call in advance for tickets:320-255-7245
Click Here

Multi-award-winning classical guitarist Marko Topchii was born to a musical family in Ukraine, in 1991. His prodigious achievements are best exemplified by his numerous competition victories: More than 100 awards worldwide in international classical guitar competitions, 55 of them being First Prizes in prestigious competitions including the 54th International Guitar Competition Francisco Tarrega, the 35th International Guitar Competition Andres Segovia in Spain, the 50th International Guitar Competition Michele Pittaluga in Italy, the 6th JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition in New York, the 16th Jan Edmund Jurkowski Memorial Guitar Competition in Poland, the Maurizio Biasini competition in San Francisco, the 56th Tokyo International Guitar Competition and most recently, the 2023 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition in New York.

Marko Topchii has appeared in the world’s most important venues, including the Carnegie Hall in New York, Yamaha Ginza Hall in Tokyo, Salle Cortot in Paris, Grand Hall of the Kyiv Philharmonic, Grand Hall of Liszt Academy in Budapest, among others. He often collaborates with orchestras, having performed more than 15 concertos for guitar and orchestra. His discography includes the albums Marko Topchii on Naxos’ Fleur de Son Classics label (US) and Stars of the Guitar with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (as the winner of the Michele Pittaluga competition) on Naxos, as well as Van Gogh Fire and Carnival (following his win in the Tarrega Guitar Competition in 2021) on the Contrastes Records label in Spain.
Marko started studying the guitar at the age of four, under Volodymyr Homenyuk, and graduated from the Kharkiv Conservatory at the age of 21, where he studied under Volodymyr Dotsenko, an Honoured Artist of Ukraine. He continued with a three-year postgraduate programme at the Kyiv Music Academy under Yuri Aleksik, Honoured Artist of Ukraine. In 2018, he joined the professional studies programme of the San Francisco Conservatory in the class of Judicaёl Perroy, with whom he continued his studies at Haute Ecole de Musique de Geneve as part of the Master Soloiste programme.
Marko Topchii uses strings provided by Augustine and plays a Julian Dammann guitar.
Tickets online or at the door.Adults $25 |Seniors (65+) $20 | Students $5Seating opens at 7:00 p.m.
Concert sponsors: Bill and Chip Martin-Chaffee

Mill City String Quartet Family Concert
2025-02-08 14:00 - 15:00 | St. Cloud Public Library, 1300 W. St. Germain St., Saint Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
Saturday, February 8 @ 2 p.m. the Mill City String Quartet plays a family concert matinee program of string quartet music by four of today’s most exciting female composers: Shelly Washington, Caroline Shaw, Tomeka Reid, and Jessie Montgomery.
PROGRAM:Shelly Washington: MiddlegroundCaroline Shaw: Plan and ElevationTomeka Reid: Prospective DwellersJessie Montgomery: Strum

Mill City String Quartet (MCSQ) is an internationally prize-winning chamber ensemble based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. Recently, MCSQ achieved significant accolades, winning First Prize at the Fanny Mendelssohn International Competition in the Professional Chamber Music category (2024), Second Prize at the Charleston International Music Competition (Winter 2024), and Third Prize at the International Clara Schumann Competition (2023). This dynamic string quartet is dedicated to cultivating transformative concerts that not only promote underrepresented composers but also celebrate the classical music genre. Selected six times as Minnesota Public Radio Class Notes artists, MCSQ has introduced their music to thousands of school children through performances and master classes. Their recent engagements include performing the National Anthem for the Minnesota Twins at Target Field and concert performances in Iowa, Florida, and Oregon. The quartet has also held educational residencies with The Schubert Club and Oregon’s Britt Festival. MCSQ is committed to community outreach, having performed at Minnesota’s all-women’s correctional facility and The Glenn, a retirement community in Minnetonka. They frequently participate in regional chamber music series, showcasing their talent across various venues. Current members of MCSQ are Huldah Niles (Artistic Director and violin), Erika Hoogeveen (violin), Coca Bochonko (viola), and Rebeccah Parker Downs (cello). www.millcitystring.com
Family Concert sponsor: Great River Regional Library
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

ProMusica Minnesota
2024-11-24 16:00 | Saint John’s University – Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, 2850 Abbey Plaza, Collegeville, MN, 56321
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ProMusica MinnesotaSunday, November 24 – 4:00 PMSt. John’s University – Stephen B. Humphrey Theater2850 Abbey Plaza, Collegeville
ProMusica Minnesota brings a beautiful program featuring favorite piano quintets by Dvořák and Schumann. Pianist and ProMusica Minnesota Artistic Director Bethel Balge performs with Minnesota Orchestra’s First Associate Concertmaster Susie Park and Associate Concertmaster Alan Snow (violins); Associate Principal Viola Marlea Simpson, and Principal Cello Anthony Ross.
Tickets online or at the door.  Adults $25 | Seniors (65+) $20 | Students $5Seating opens at 3:30 p.m.
Program: Dvořák Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major Schumann Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Concert sponsors: Jennifer Galovich and Tom Sibley Concert co-sponsor: Susie Osaki Holm

Getting there:Saint John’s University Map(Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, Saint John’s Art Center, Abbey Church, and Great Hall)Google MapDRIVING DIRECTIONS:From I-94: Take exit 156. Turn south on County Road 159. Follow signs for event parking (See parking details below).PARKING:Park in lot near Abbey Church or behind Alcuin Library. Accessible parking is available directly outside the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, near the Abbey Church. Parking is ALWAYS free!

This activity is made possible in part, by a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board with funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from its general fund.

Erinys Quartet
2024-10-05 19:30 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
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Named for the Erinyes (a.k.a. the Furies) from the Greek tragedy Oresteia by Aeschylus, and with roots in Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, the United States and Finland, the Erinys Quartet was founded in 2018 at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki where they worked closely with cellist Marko Ylönen. Since Autumn 2023 Erinys has been the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, PA (USA).
The Erinys Quartet has performed throughout Finland, the rest of Europe, and in the United States. They have been featured at festivals and concert series including Indiana University Summer Music Series (USA), Mimir Chamber Music Festival (Texas, USA), and Festival Groba (Ponteareas, Spain). They have also taken part in the inaugural Dover Quartet Workshop at the Curtis Institute of Music as well as the Professional String Quartet Seminar with the Pacifica Quartet and Atar Arad (Cleveland Quartet) at Indiana University.
At the Bad Tölz International String Quartet Competition in 2023 they were awarded the Audience Prize Award of the City of Bad Tölz, as well as the Esterházy Foundation Special Prize for best interpretation of a Haydn string quartet.
Since 2021 Erinys Quartet has been supported by Le Dimore del Quartetto where they are also a part of the European Union-sponsored MERITA platform.
Tickets online or at the door.  Adults $25 | Seniors (65+) $20 | Students $5 | Seating opens at 7:00 p.m.
Program:Kaija Saariaho: Terra Memoria Mozart: String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat major, K.589Beethoven: String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major, Op.127
Concert Sponsors: St. Cloud Camera & Photo Concert Co-Sponsors: Molly and Keith Ewing Mary Lou and Jerry LenzDale and Carol Mossey

This activity is made possible in part, by a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board with funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from its general fund.The Erinys Quartet appears by special arrangement with Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Heath Quartet
2024-04-20 19:30 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
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Saturday, April 20, 2024, 7:30 p.m.St. John’s Episcopal Church1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud

The dynamic and charismatic Heath Quartet is one of the most exciting British chamber ensembles of the moment, steadily building a reputation for their upbeat and integrated sound. The Telegraph calls the “delicate perfection” of their sound “a marvel,” with “an exquisite tenderness,” and The Washington Post praises their “winsome blend of impetuosity and discipline.” Their recording of Sir Michael Tippett’s string quartets (Wigmore Live) received widespread acclaim and won the 2016 Gramophone Chamber Disk of the Year.
They bring an innovative program that features features works by Bach, Haydn, and Korngold, and spotlights a “forgotten” Dutch composer, Henriëtte Bosmans.

Tickets online or at the door. Adults $25 | Seniors (65+) $20 | Students $5

Concert Sponsors: Jennifer Galovich & Tom Sibley
Program:Bach, J.S.: O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde gross, BWV 622Haydn: String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 50, No. 1Henriëtte Bosmans: String QuartetKorngold: String Quartet No. 3, Op. 34

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Musical Chairs 2024
2024-04-19 19:00 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
Friday, April 19, 2024, 7:00 p.m. St. John’s Episcopal Church 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud “Musical Chairs – our annual fundraising party to benefit the Chamber Music Society features the Heath Quartet. Join us for Musical Chairs – our 29th annual fundraising party to benefit the Chamber Music Society featuring the Heath Quartet. An intimate evening of chamber music performed by the HEATH QUARTET joined by prominent local musicians. Desserts, wine, coffee & tea will be available! A silent auction of selected works by area artists as well as a multitude of other highly desirable items. Your support of this event helps guarantee that top-quality live chamber music will remain accessible to all in Central Minnesota. To purchase tickets: Purchase online here https://bpt.me/6258679 (Online ticket sales end 5 p.m. March 31.) Call 320-292-4645 Send a check to the Chamber Music Society, PO Box 205, St. Cloud, MN 56302 Tickets available at the door the evening of the event * Patrons at the $75 and $150 level will be acknowledged in the evening’s program with an RSVP by April 12. THANK YOU!

Sybarite5
2024-02-17 19:30 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
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SYBARITE5Saturday, February 17, 2024 — 7:30 p.m.St. John’s Episcopal Church1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud

Tickets online or at the door. Adults $25 | Seniors (65+) $20 | Students $5Concert Sponsors: Bill & Chip Martin-Chaffee

Defying categorization and keeping audiences on their toes for over a decade, they bring equal parts passion, grit, and musical ecstasy.
About the Program:RITE ON TIME — In today’s turbulent modern world, we need to come together more. Diversity is a strength, and SYBARITE5 is known for bridging genre gaps to bring unexpected musical combinations together to create unique and dynamic concert experiences. SYBARITE5 brings this concept full circle and performs music with roots in classical, rock, jazz, Armenian folk, and more.
Expect works from John Coltrane, Radiohead, Xavier Foley, Komitas, The Punch Brothers, Pedro Giraudo, Marc Mellits, Jessica Meyer, Kenji Bunch, Shawn Conley, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Astor Piazzolla, and Aleksandra Vrebalov, to name a few.
SYBARITE5 is an intoxicating cocktail of post-genre musical goodness expressed through the virtuosity of violinists Sami Merdinian & Suliman Tekalli; violist Caeli Smith; cellist Laura Andrade; and double bassist Louis Levitt. It’s the first ensemble of its kind to win the prestigious Concert Artists Guild competition and the group is constantly evolving, defying categorization, and keeping audiences on their toes.
Dubbed “the millennial Kronos” (Theater Jones), SYBARITE5 is chamber music’s most dynamic ensemble taking listeners on a musical journey of staggering breadth and depth with new works by living composers, as well as the group’s favorites.
Join us to hear “the range of their eclecticism… the depth of their repertoire.“

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Balge – Park – Ross Trio
2023-11-19 16:00 | SCSU Ruth Gant Recital Hall, 620 3rd Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56303, United States
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Program

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Sunday, November 19, 2023 – 4:00 pmSCSU Ruth Gant Recital Hall620 3rd Avenue South, St. Cloud (scroll down for map)
Enjoy another beautiful program this season by pianist and ProMusica Minnesota Artistic Director Bethel Balge with Minnesota Orchestra members first associate concertmaster Susie Park and principal cellist Anthony Ross. Their program begins with Antonin Dvořák’s gorgeous Piano Trio No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 26 and continues with Theme and Seven Variations on “Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen” from Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” for cello and piano by Beethoven. The tune from Mozart’s opera praises the universal joys of love. Their romantic program closes with Johannes Brahms’ powerful Piano Trio No 3 in C Minor, Op. 101. The program, titled Heart Throbs, allows all instruments to explore their emotional range and reach for the heart.
Concert Co-sponsors: Mary Lou & Jerry Lenz | Molly & Keith Ewing
Tickets online or at the door. Adults $25|Seniors (65+) $20|Students $5 Seating opens at 3:30 p.m.

About the artists:
Winner of the Louis B. Sudler Award in the Arts, pianist Bethel Balge has performed in Germany, including at Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, in Russia as soloist with the Voronezh Philharmonic, as well as in various American venues. Balge’s “highly concentrated, technically secure and captivating interpretation” of Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit attracted notice from a reviewer at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung after a performance at the Alte Oper. As a doctoral student of Lydia Artymiw, Balge performed in a Minnesota Public Radio live broadcast in the Bach Birthday concert organized by MPR host Michael Barone. She is founding Artistic Director of the Summit Avenue Music Series (SAMS) and Co-Artistic Director of the ProMusica Minnesota Chamber Music Festival. In May 2020, Balge became Executive Director of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra.
After living for six years in Germany, Balge received a Diplom degree from the University of Frankfurt’s Staatliche Hochschule fuer Musik und darstellende Kunst. Previously she received her Master of Music M.M. from the University of Wisconsin under Howard Karp. She is a cum laude graduate (Bachelor of Music) of Michigan State University, where she studied under Van Cliburn gold prize winner Ralph Votapek. In 2014, she received a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota under Lydia Artymiw. As a student, Balge received numerous awards: Louis B. Sudler Award in the Arts, Grand Rapids Concerto Competition (1st Prize), Michigan State University Concerto Competition (1st prize), UW Madison Beethoven Competition (1st prize) Milwaukee’s Ida Schroeder Foundation Scholarship Competition (1st prize), Chicago Civic Orchestra Concerto Competition (finalist), Georgia’s Esther Wilburne Barnes National Competition (3rd prize). She also participated in the Concurso Internacional de Musica Da Cidade do Porto (International Piano Competition, Porto. Portugal). She continues to perform frequently, particularly with friends in chamber music concerts.
Australian-born Susie Park, the Minnesota Orchestra’s first associate concertmaster, had already toured with the Orchestra before beginning her appointment in September 2015, performing concerts and participating in educational programs when the ensemble traveled to Cuba the previous May.
Park has concertized around the world, performing solos with such European orchestras as the Vienna Symphony, Orchestre National de Lille and the London-based Royal Philharmonic; American orchestras including the Pittsburgh Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Memphis Symphony and Orchestra of St. Luke’s; the major Australian symphony orchestras including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania, Canberra and Perth; Korea’s KBS Orchestra; and Orchestra Wellington in New Zealand. She has collaborated with conductors including Simon Rattle, Hans Vonk, Alan Gilbert, Fabio Luisi and Yehudi Menuhin, performing in venues ranging from New York’s Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Symphony Hall in Boston, the Ravinia Festival and Millenium Park in Chicago, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the Smithsonian Institute, Vienna Musikverein Cologne Philharmonie, Düsseldorf Tonhalle and Danish Radio Concert Hall.
Park has received numerous awards. She won top honors at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, the Wieniawski Competition in Poland and the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition in France, which led to many performances and reengagements throughout the U.S. and Europe. She also won the Richard Goldner Concerto Competition, Ernest Llewellyn String Award and various additional awards.
Park is passionate about chamber music. She is a founding member of ECCO, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, a conductorless ensemble comprising a diverse selection of talented chamber musicians, soloists and principal string players from American orchestras; their self-titled debut album of 2012, released on the eOne label, includes works from three centuries, by Geminiani, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.
In addition, Park was the violinist of the Eroica Trio from 2006 to 2012, with which she recorded the ensemble’s eighth CD, an all-American disc nominated for a Grammy, and toured internationally. She was also a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two, collaborating with Wu Han, Gary Hoffman and Ida Kavafian. For three consecutive summers she was in residence at the Marlboro Music Festival, and she has participated in numerous tours with Musicians from Marlboro. Additional musicians with whom she has performed chamber music include members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Emerson and Cleveland Quartets, and Kim Kashkashian, Pamela Frank, Jason Vieaux, Cho-Liang Lin and Jaime Laredo. Among her festival engagements have been performances at Music from Angel Fire, Music in the Vineyards in Napa, the Seattle, Caramoor, Skaneateles, Aspen, Ravinia, Portland and Bowdoin festivals in the U.S.; Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove in England; Bermuda Festival; the Mozarteum Sommerakademie in Austria; and Keshet Eilon in Israel.
Park’s interest in music of all genres has also led to collaborations with artists such as jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, with whom she performed 41 consecutive shows at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York.
A native of Sydney, Park picked up a violin at the age of three, made her solo debut at five and completed preparatory studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She went on to earn a bachelor of music degree at the Curtis Institute and an artist diploma at the New England Conservatory; her teachers have included Jaime Laredo, Ida Kavafian, Donald Weilerstein, Miriam Fried, Shi-Xiang (Peter) Zhang and Christopher Kimber. In her spare time she enjoys a variety of creative arts, including knitting and clothing design.
Dynamic leader of the Minnesota Orchestra’s cello section since 1991, prize-winning cellist Anthony Ross has appeared as soloist many times with the Orchestra, performing all the standard cello concertos under Osmo Vänskä, Edo de Waart and Eiji Oue. Equally passionate about new music, he has given powerful performances of Michael Daugherty’s Tales of Hemingway, James MacMillan’s Cello Concerto, Paul Moravec’s Montserrat, and he and his wife, Beth Rapier, have championed David Ott’s Concerto for Two Cellos since 1993. Prior to assuming the principal role in Minnesota, Ross performed for four years as principal cello of the Rochester Philharmonic under David Zinman.

Ross’ compelling interpretations have won wide acclaim from Moscow to Kalamazoo, and Dallas to Duluth. As concerto soloist, he has played with the Moscow State Orchestra, the Louisville Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the South Dakota Symphony and many other Midwest regional orchestras.
A cellist of many facets and talents, Ross engages with equal passion as he plays tennis, teaches young cellists and shares the festival stage as a chamber musician or while recording sonatas. Ross has taught at the Eastman School of Music, on the faculties of the Aspen and Grand Tetons Music Festivals and at the Interlochen and Madeline Island Music Camps. His many festival appearances include performances at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Music in the Vineyards, the Colorado Music Festival, the Rhodes Music Festival in Greece, the Cactus Pear Music Festival in San Antonio, Orcas Island Music Festival and the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Madison. In the Twin Cities, he is a member of Accordo and the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota.
Winner of the prestigious bronze medal at the 1982 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Ross went on to gain the Stulberg Award, the G.B. Dealy Award and a prize in the Parisot International Cello Competition. He was awarded a McKnight Artist Fellowship, once as soloist and again in 2005 as part of the Ross Rapier Cello Duo. A graduate of Indiana University where he studied with Fritz Magg, Ross earned another degree at the State University of New York, studying with Bernard Greenhouse and Timothy Eddy.
Ross’ recordings include Leonard Bernstein’s Three Meditations from the Mass with the Minnesota Orchestra under Eiji Oue on Reference Recordings, the George Lloyd Cello Concerto with the Albany Symphony under David Alan Miller on Albany Records and the Sonatas of Rachmaninoff and Elliott Carter for Boston Records.

Tony likes to tell a joke or a story to the cello section right before going onstage for a concert. His favorite activities are tennis, sailing, hiking and cooking.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

During this event, free parking is permitted in the L Lot and in the O Lane adjacent to the Performing Arts Center, and may also be available on the streets (check the signs). See map below.

Click here for an SCSU campus map.

Detail of campus map for O Lane parking:

Parker Ramsay, harp
2023-09-22 19:30 | Atonement Lutheran Church, 1144 N 29th Avenue, St. Cloud, MN, United States
Buy tickets tonight at the door!

Catch this rising star in his captivating program of twentieth-century music of Caplet, Britten, Hindemith, and a new work by Nico Muhly and Alice Goodman.
Parker Ramsay has forged a career defying easy categorization. Equally at home on modern and period harps, he pursues his passions in tackling new and underperformed works and bringing his instrument to new audiences. Recent and upcoming performances include solo performances at Alice Tully Hall, the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, the Phillips Collection, Cal Performances, Shriver Hall, IRCAM, King’s College, Cambridge, the Spoleto Festival USA and the Center for the Art of Performing at UCLA.
His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was praised as “remarkably special” (Gramophone), “nuanced and insightful” (BBC Music Magazine), “relentlessly beautiful” (WQXR), and “marked by a keen musical intelligence” (Wall Street Journal). His last album, released in October 2022, features The Street, a new concert-length work for solo harp and text by Nico Muhly and Alice Goodman. In 2024, he will tour The Street with Mark Morris Dance Company.
He has also collaborated with composers such as Marcos Balter, Saad Haddad, Josh Levine, Jared Miller and Sarah Kirkland Snider. Alongside gambist Arnie Tanimoto, Parker is co-director of A Golden Wire, a period instrument ensemble based in New York. As an organist, he has performed at Washington National Cathedral, Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center, St Thomas Church, 5th Avenue and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has presented talks, performances and lectures on period instruments at the Smithsonian Collection and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has been published in VAN Magazine, Early Music America Magazine, the Washington Post and the New York Times.
Raised in Tennessee, Parker began harp studies with his mother, Carol McClure. He served as organ scholar at King’s College, Cambridge before pursuing graduate studies at Oberlin at Juilliard. In 2014, he was awarded First Prize at the Sweelinck International Organ Competition. He lives in Paris.
Program:Divertissement à la française | André Caplet Sonate für Harfe | Paul HindemithSuite for Harp, Op. 83 | Benjamin BrittenRhapsodie | Marcel Grandjany The Street (Fourteen Meditations on the Stations of the Cross) | Nico Muhly and Alice Goodman
Concert Sponsor: Julie Aronson Dehnel

Harlem Quartet
2023-04-01 19:30 - 21:30 | First Presbyterian Church, 340 5th Avenue South, Saint Cloud, 56301
First Presbyterian Church, 340 5th Avenue South, St. CloudTickets online or at the door.
Concert Sponsors: Bill & Chip Martin-Chaffee
The Chamber Music Society of Saint Cloud presents the Harlem Quartet in a program titled Cross Pollination, showcasing the exchange of musical ideas and styles between the classical European tradition and world music. Their program features works by Jessie Montgomery, William Grant Still, Wynton Marsalis, Guido López-Gavilán, Caroline Shaw, and Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel.
Harlem Quartet has been praised for its “panache” by The New York Times and hailed in the Cincinnati Enquirer for “bringing a new attitude to classical music, one that is fresh, bracing and intelligent.” Since its public debut in 2006 at Carnegie Hall, the ensemble has thrilled audiences and students in 47 states as well as in the U.K., France, Belgium, Brazil, Panama, Canada, Venezuela, Japan, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Harlem Quartet’s unique programming combines standard string quartet literature with jazz, Latin, and contemporary works.
April 1 Concert Program:Jessie Montgomery: StrumWilliam Grant Still: Lyric QuartetteWynton Marsalis: At the Octoroon BallsGuido López-Gavilán: Cuarteto En GuaguancoCaroline Shaw: Entr’acteFanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-Flat Major
More chances to catch the Harlem Quartet’s music while they are in St. Cloud:
Friday, March 31, 9:30 a.m.Coffee Cake, Coffee and String QuartetsWhitney Senior Center, 1527 Northway DriveClick here to purchase tickets in advance online or call 255-7245.
Saturday, March 31 at 2:00 p.m.Family Concert – Free admissionSt. Cloud Public Library, 1300 W Saint Germain Streetsponsored by the Great River Regional Library
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Central MN Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
And we invite you to join us on Friday, March 31, 7 p.m. for Musical Chairs – our annual fundraiser! Click to learn more and purchase tickets

Musical Chairs 2023
2023-03-31 19:00 - 21:30 | St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56301, United States
St. John’s Episcopal Church – 1111 Cooper Avenue South, St. CloudCome to the 28th annual fundraising party to benefit the Chamber Music Society of St. CloudFriday, MARCH 31, 2023 – 7:00 p.m.
An intimate evening of chamber music performed by the HARLEM QUARTET joined by prominent local musicians
Desserts, wine, coffee & tea A silent auction of selected works by area artists as well as a multitude of other highly desirable items Tickets: $45 / $75* / $150* available in advance * Patrons at the $75 and $150 level will be acknowledged in the evening’s program with an RSVP by March 27. Your support of this event helps guarantee that top-quality live chamber music will remain accessible to all in Central Minnesota. To purchase tickets:

purchase online here (Online ticket sales end 5 p.m. March 31.)
call 320-292-4645
send a check to the Chamber Music Society, PO Box 205, St. Cloud, MN 56302
tickets available at the door the evening of the event

THANK YOU!

Ann DuHamel, piano
2023-01-21 19:30 - 21:30 | SCSU Ruth Gant Recital Hall, 620 3rd Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56303, United States
Ann DuHamel performs works selected from her current project Prayers for a Feverish Planet: New Music about Climate Change. Watch the concert recording – available now through March 12.

View the program. Get parking information.
Concert Sponsors: Mary Lou & Jerry Lenz
Pianist Ann DuHamel’s performances have been praised as poetic and “… a delight for the ears and the soul” (Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón, Mexico City). Hailed as a “forward thinking classical pianist” (Midwest Record) for her debut album Rückblick: New Piano Music Inspired by Brahms (Furious Artisans, 2020), she actively champions contemporary composers, recently commissioning works by Marc Chan, Flannery Cunningham, Jocelyn Hagen, Edie Hill, and Tyler Kline, among others.
Ann has performed and presented in 16 countries on 4 continents, including Sala Verdi in Milan, Italy; the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; and Trinity College in Oxford, England. In demand as a collaborative pianist, Ann has performed chamber music with members of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as with Martha Councell-Vargas, flute; Preston Duncan, saxophone; and Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano. Her performance at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall with ensemble: Périphérie was lauded by the New York Concert Review as “outstanding,” praising the group of “superb musicians” who “played with power and assurance.”
Ann’s latest project, “Prayers for a Feverish Planet,” features 60 new works for piano and piano/electronics about climate change. Ann is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota Morris, and serves as Immediate Past President of Minnesota Music Teachers Association. She earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Iowa under the tutelage of Ksenia Nosikova.
This project is made possible in part by a University of Minnesota Grant in Aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship Award. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Central MN Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund and in part by a grant from the Central MN Arts Board with funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from its general fund.

Family concert: Ann DuHamel, piano
2023-01-21 14:00 - 15:00 | St. Cloud Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 3226 Maine Prairie Road, St. Cloud, Minnesota, 56301, United States
Hear works selected from her latest project, “Prayers for a Feverish Planet,” in response to the climate crisis. After a call to composers across the globe, she created a collection of 60+ new pieces for piano.
Her family concert program includes excerpts of works by Anél Van de Venter, Chris Williams, Ian Dicke, Frank Horvat & Minato Sakamoto, & For the Love of Bees by Anna Rubin, with poet Athena Kildegaard, narrator.
Bring the whole family to this one-hour informal program.Masks recommended.Admission is free!
Family Concert Sponsor: St. Cloud Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
View the program How to get there
Pianist Ann DuHamel’s performances have been praised as poetic and “… a delight for the ears and the soul” (Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón, Mexico City). Hailed as a “forward thinking classical pianist” (Midwest Record) for her debut album Rückblick: New Piano Music Inspired by Brahms (Furious Artisans, 2020), she actively champions contemporary composers, recently commissioning works by Marc Chan, Flannery Cunningham, Jocelyn Hagen, Edie Hill, and Tyler Kline, among others.
Ann has performed and presented in 16 countries on 4 continents, including Sala Verdi in Milan, Italy; the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; and Trinity College in Oxford, England. In demand as a collaborative pianist, Ann’s performed chamber music with members of the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as with Martha Councell-Vargas, flute; Preston Duncan, saxophone; and Clara Osowski, mezzo-soprano. Her performance at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall with ensemble: Périphérie was lauded by the New York Concert Review as “outstanding,” praising the group of “superb musicians” who “played with power and assurance.”
Ann’s latest project, “Prayers for a Feverish Planet,” features 60 new works for piano and piano/electronics about climate change. Ann is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Minnesota Morris, and serves as Immediate Past President of Minnesota Music Teachers Association. She earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree at the University of Iowa under the tutelage of Ksenia Nosikova.
This project is made possible in part by a University of Minnesota Grant in Aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship Award. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Central MN Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund and in part by a grant from the Central MN Arts Board with funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from its general fund.

Balge-Park-Ross Trio
2022-11-06 16:00 | SCSU Ruth Gant Recital Hall, 620 3rd Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN, 56303, United States
We are delighted to bring back pianist Bethel Balge again this season to join Minnesota Orchestra members first associate concertmaster violinist Susie Park and principal cellist Tony Ross. Their program is filled with a wide range of passion, from the 19th century emotional dialogue intrinsic to Johannes Brahms to the 20th century drama of Samuel Barber and Jesse Montgomery.We hope you’ll join us!
Check out Michael Barone’s pre-concert chat with Bethel and Tony! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO6zFnKwt_o
Samuel Barber: Cello SonataJesse Montgomery: Rhapsody No. 1Johannes Brahms: Piano Trio in C Major, No. 2, Op. 87
Concert Sponsors: Jennifer Galovich & Tom Sibley
This activity is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board with funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from its general fund. This organization is funded, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Central MN Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Pacifica Quartet
2022-09-18 19:30 | First Presbyterian Church, 340 5th Avenue South, Saint Cloud, 56301
a concert to honor the memory of Susan Dubin
First Presbyterian Church340 5th Avenue South, St. Cloud
Program:Florence Price: String Quartet No. 1 in G majorProkofiev: Quartet No. 2 in F major, Op. 92Beethoven: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132
Concert sponsor: Julie Aronson Dehnel
Susan Dubin

We invite you to this special concert to honor the memory of Susan Dubin,our founding Executive Director, by one of her favorite ensembles.Susan led the Chamber Music Society for more than three decadesbefore retiring in 2013.
About the Pacifica QuartetWith a career spanning nearly three decades, the multiple Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. The Quartet is known for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and often-daring repertory choices. Named faculty string quartet-in-residence at the Indian University Jacobs School of Music in 2012, the Quartet was previously quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and most recently received its second Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for Contemporary Voices (2020), featuring the works of three Pulitzer Prize-winning women. The Quartet also leads the Center for Advanced Quartet Studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Formed in 1994, the Pacifica Quartet quickly won chamber music’s top competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. In 2002 the ensemble was honored with Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award and the appointment to Lincoln Center’s The Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two), and in 2006 was awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. With its powerful energy and captivating, cohesive sound, the Pacifica has established itself as the embodiment of the senior American quartet sound. www.Pacificaquartet.com

This activity is made possible in part, by a grant from the Central MN Arts Board with funds appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature from its general fund.

For the well-being of all and following current CDC guidelines, we strongly recommend our audience members wear a mask while in the concert hall or lobby. Updates as needed will be posted to the home page of our website.
