August 19th & 26th, 2010 at 7 pm Open Rehearsals at Chandler Music Hall Free admission August 21st, 2010 at 8 pm Strauss, Handel-Halvorsen and Brahms at Chandler Music Hall August 22nd, 2010 at 4 pm An Encore Performance Strauss, Handel-Halvorsen and Brahms Presented by Pentangle Council on the Arts Woodstock Unitarian Universalist Church August 27th, 2010 at 11 am CHILDREN'S CONCERT: Heroes and Legends Chandler Music Hall August 27th, 2010 at 8 pm Kodály, Rossini and Dvořák Unitarian Church - Montpelier, VT August 28th, 2010 at 8 pm Kodály, Rossini and Dvořák at Chandler Music Hall August 29th, 2010 at 4:30 pm CONCERT AND DANCE AT THE INN Back by popular demand! Paul Woodiel and Friends perform a CONCERT and play for a CONTRA DANCE with caller Pete Sutherland Complimentary student tickets are available thanks to a special grant, on a first come first serve basis. Please call the Box Office for more information: (802) 728-6464. The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival announces the release of its first highlight CD: Festival Harvest "The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival has come a long way since it was founded in 1993 by Peter Sanders, a New York cellist who grew up spending his summers in the Randolph area. An indication of just how far is its excellent New CD, "Festival Harvest," a compilation of live performances of works by Mendelssohn, Schönberg and Frank Bridge at the Chandler Music Hall in 2000 and 2004. When I first heard the album, I had recently heard an excellent performance of Mendelssohn's A Major String Quintet at Vermont's justly revered Marlboro Music Festival. The same work opens this CD, and I actually preferred the Randolph performance. That's big praise." Read the review from the December 2, 2005 issue of Vermont's Times Argus History of The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival In the late summer of 1992, after taking part in the Crested Butte Chamber Music Festival (Colorado) Peter Sanders returned to Vermont and his family's summer home in the Randolph area. At that time, Chandler Music Hall was not getting the performance use it deserved as one of Vermont's premiere concert venues. After some discussion with his mother (who had the festival idea,) he was guided to speak with Laura Morris, at Chandler. Following some back and forth negotiations and under the umbrella of the A. B. Chandler Cultural Foundation, the Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival was created and season number one was presented in 1993. August 1993 was a highly successful and critically acclaimed first season. The CVCMF applied for its own not-for-profit 501(c)(3) status in early 1994 which was granted. Originally very much a family run festival, the CVCMF has grown over the years. The Randolph area community has been very supportive and now assists with the production of an interesting variety of concerts including world-class chamber performances, an annual children's concert, a variety of radio performances and two open rehearsals. Spring concerts have become a tradition at the Three Stallion Inn in Randolph with presentations by string ensembles to consistently sold-out houses. Festival musicians also give a special annual concert at the local high school which is always enjoyed by students, faculty and performers alike. In the summer of 2005 the CVCMF released its first highlight CD "Festival Harvest", which includes recordings from the 2000 and 2004 seasons. Wonderful performances of the Mendelssohn String Quintet in A Major, Op. 18, Schönberg - Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4 and the Frank Bridge Phantasie Trio (Trio No.1) in c minor are included. The CD was given a rave review by Jim Lowe the Times Argus newspaper critic. This disc is a fine example of the World-class Music in the Heart of Vermont that the festival offers. The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival has earned its reputation over the years as a major contributor to the summer music scene in Vermont and the Northeast. Be sure to encourage people to visit this website: www.centralvtchambermusicfest.org, and you are most welcome to join us as a Facebook friend! Peter Sanders Artistic Director Reviews of The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival closed its 18th season Saturday at Chandler Music Hall, with a concert that wouldmatch in quality virtually any festival in the state - and, in Vermont, that's saying something. The major work and the biggest success on the program was Antonin Dvorak's String Quintet in G Major, Opus 77, a deeply lyrical work. Violinists Cyrus Beroukhim and Adela Peña, violist Danielle Farina, cellist Peter Sanders, the festival's founder and director, and bassist Roger Wagner delivered a mature and expressive performance that successfully plumbed the work's depths. Beroukhim, in particular, combined a warm and brilliant sound with a natural lyricism to make Dvorak's lines sing. But it was the ensemble as a whole that brought this rich tapestry cohesion and musical power. The slow movement, Poco andante, was intense, touching and sublime. Peña, Beroukhim and Farina opened the program with a virtuosic performance of Zoltan Kodály's earthy 1920 Serenade, Opus 12, full of salty Hungarian folk influences, both harmonically and rhythmically. The three played cohesively with flair as well as subtlety. Farina played with remarkable expressiveness. Real virtuosity as well as humor was heard in the Rossini's Duet in D Major for cello and bass. Sanders and Wagner had great fun with this operatic bonbon - as did the audience. Jim Lowe, The Times Argus, VT - August 30, 2010 NYC Critic Impressed By Chamber Concert by Peter Goodman, as appeared in the HERALD, Randolph, Vermont, August 27, 2009 It's been many years since I actually wanted to write a review. Decades spent in concert halls, museums, stadia and other places where music is presented have worn out my fingers and, unfortunately, dulled my senses. In short, I was the kind of guy who would say, "Rats, gotta go to another opening at the Met tonight." (Tongue not completely embedded in cheek.) But Saturday's Central Vermont Chamber Festival concert at Chandler Music Hall had me babbling by intermission. When Peter Sanders told his listeners from the stage that they don't know how lucky they are, he was dead right. Except that I think they do know how lucky they are. He's lucky, too. Not only was the performance (of three good works, if not masterpieces) exceptional, but it had an exceptional audience. One could tell from the silence. And from the sense of smiles at particularly witty passages in Moritz Moszkowski's ebullient little Suite. From the complete stillnesses between movements---no rustling, no coughs, no shifting in seats or crackling of candy wrappers. Chandler itself is a gem of a hall, understated and beautifully balanced. It was obvious that people were listening very closely, and for good reason. Chamber music is a conversation, and Saturday's discussion was on the highest level. Of the three works on the program-the aforementioned Suite, Op. 71, for two violins and piano, Erno Dohnanyi's Serenade, Op. 10, for violin, viola and cello, and Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Quartet in c minor, Op. 1-the first was the most fully formed and the third the most promising. By the time of the Suite, Moszkowski was a composer in complete control of his medium. Listeners could easily follow the flow of thought, especially as advanced by violinists Arturo Delmoni and Adela Pena and pianist Jeewon Park. Dohnanyi may still have been finding his own voice at the time of the Serenade, but it was already rich and romantic. Violist David Cerutti and cellist Sanders joined Delmoni in a warm, sometimes gorgeous interpretation. Of the Mendelssohn Piano Quartet, written when he was 13, suffice it to say that there are flashes of beauty and moments when he's reaching beyond his grasp. Park's pianism sparkled, though Pena's sweet tone did not carry as well as it needed to. Quibble, quibble---stop being a critic, already. Here's the point: In the lobby afterward, a woman wearing an open cast from ankle to thigh on her left leg was overheard explaining how that happened: "I had just chased the coyote from the chickens, and the ground was uneven. And I was tired from using the chainsaw and climbing on and off the tractor." You're not likely to hear that in the lobby at Alice Tully Hall. (For many years Peter Goodman was a music critic for Newsday and New York Newsday. He is the author of "Morton Gould: American Salute" (Amadeus), and is currently an assistant professor of journalism at Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y.) "The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival has become a welcome tradition in Randolph and the central Vermont area, and Saturday's impassioned high level illustrates just why." Jim Lowe, The Times Argus, VT "Pianist Albert Stanziano, violinist Arturo Delmoni and cellist Peter Sanders simply reveled in this over-the-top music (Joachim Raff - Piano Trio in a minor, Op. 155). Stanziano delivered the dramatic washes of notes with clarity and virtuosity, while Delmoni and Sanders plied the dramatic lines with passion. They also responded to the subtle moments with sensitivity, making this a grand - and fun - performance." Jim Lowe, The Times Argus, VT "Chamber music festival opens with finesse, spirit. Just when you think you've heard enough chamber music for the summer, someone comes along and performs the Mozart Clarinet Quintet - beautifully, in this case - and the passion returns immediately." Jim Lowe, The Times Argus, VT "The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival has proven itself over its 10 years, becoming an important part of Vermont’s musical fabric ... Saturday’s concert, which closed the season, was notable not only for its refinement of playing and ensemble, but its musical excitement." Jim Lowe, The Times Argus, VT "Foote's 1890 Piano Quartet in C Major, Opus 23, rather than profound, is traditional, grand and lyrical. And in the hands of these fine players, it was a joy to hear. Violinist Arturo Delmoni, violist Leslie Tomkins, cellist Peter Sanders and pianist Christopher Oldfather delivered a well-played and grand performance." Jim Lowe, The Times Argus, VT "The Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival has achieved a new level of excellence ... not only were the performances exciting, they were cohesive and satisfying." Jim Lowe, The Times Argus, VT "Chandler Music Hall's Central Vermont Chamber Music Festival has come into its own with some powerful performances, these ... players can hold their own with the best in Vermont." Jim Lowe, The Times Argus, VT The festival is a non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS. Please help support the CVCMF. Friend us on Facebook Enjoy a clip from a past festival performance Repertoire and Artists from 1993 to present