Category Archives: Chamber Music

Chamber Music, chamber music

Weekly Chamber Music Workshop Resumes October 23, 2024

Classical string, wind, and keyboard players of all skill levels and musical interests are invited to join the coached Chamber Music Workshop for five weekly meetings, plus an informal recital for members of the workshop and their invited guests.

The workshop meets Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 pm starting  October 23, under the guidance of violinist/violist Tara Flandreau. 

Participants play music from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, and Contemporary chamber literature.  Good music-reading skills are essential; experience playing with others is a definite plus but not essential.  Our goals are to help you enlarge your familiarity with chamber music literature; become a more confident and proficient ensemble player; and meet others who share your interest in chamber music.

If you would like to enroll, please fill out this short form.

Chamber Music, Classes, for Teens

SUMMER STRING QUARTET WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG STRING PLAYERS

If you are between the ages of 12 and 18 and play violin, viola, or cello, you are invited to join a workshop coached by Marin Symphony violist Meg Eldridge where you’ll hone your ensemble skills and play pieces by Mozart, Britten, Holst, and other great composers.

Chamber music is the classical music equivalent of a rock band (but without the singing): There’s no conductor and each member of the group is responsible for their own part.  

If you’re used to playing in an orchestra – or if you’re new to playing with people other than your teacher – get ready for a great new experience.

The workshop meets at Marin Community Music School in San Anselmo from 3:00 to 4:30 pm on four consecutive Sundays starting August 4 and concludes with a brief informal performance on Sunday, August 25 at 5:30.

The participation fee is $200. Financial assistance is available to qualified applicants. You do not need to be currently enrolled at Marin Community Music School to participate.

Apply using this online form on or before the July 21 registration deadline.

Chamber Music, Classes, for Adults, for Teens

Chamber Music Class Starts July 21st

Classical string, wind, and keyboard players of all skill levels and musical interests are invited to join the coached Chamber Music Workshop for five weekly meetings, plus an informal recital for members of the workshop and their invited guests.

The workshop meets Sunday mornings from 10:00 am to noon, starting  April 7, under the guidance of flautist Carol Adee. 

Participants play music from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, and Contemporary chamber literature.  Good music-reading skills are essential; experience playing with others is a definite plus but not essential.  Our goals are to help you enlarge your familiarity with chamber music literature; become a more confident and proficient ensemble player; and meet others who share your interest in chamber music.

If you would like to enroll, please fill out the following short form here.

SUMMER 2024  Chamber Music  Class 

coach:  Carol Adee

dates:   July 21 – August 18, 2024

hours:  five Sundays, 10 am – noon,  plus recital Fri, August 18, time TBA

$180  for the  class

Students will be formed into groups and coached on specific pieces of music during the  course.  At the end of the five-week session, groups will perform their pieces at an informal concert.

Chamber Music

Chamber Music Workshop Begins April 7, 2024

Classical string, wind, and keyboard players of all skill levels and musical interests are invited to join the coached Chamber Music Workshop for six weekly meetings, including an informal recital for members of the workshop and their invited guests.

The workshop meets Sunday mornings from 10:00 to Noon, starting April 7, under the guidance of violinist Kathy Marshall.  A member of both Marin Symphony and Santa Rosa Symphony and a faculty member at Marin Community Music School, Kathy is an experienced chamber music coach who excels in helping amateur musicians achieve their ensemble goals.

Participants play music from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern, and Contemporary chamber literature.  Good music-reading skills are essential; experience playing with others is a definite plus but not essential.  Our goals are to help you enlarge your familiarity with chamber music literature; become a more confident and proficient ensemble player; and meet others who share your interest in chamber music.

If you are new to our program, please inquire here.

If you have participated in the past, please inquire here.

Chamber Music, News

Summer 2023 Chamber Music Workshop Report

Nothing is more delightful for musicians than playing with others in a small group. Whether it’s a jazz trio, a bluegrass band, a rock group, or a string quartet, small groups offer us the chance to share music with others in the most personal way. Instead of watching the conductor’s baton, we watch one another and communicate with small gestures, nods, raised eyebrows, and, of course, through the music itself.

Since its founding in 2009, Marin Community Music School has always attracted amateur classical musicians to its coached chamber music program. And while COVID restrictions put the program on hold for a couple of years, it’s happily come back to life with a wonderful new coach, flutist Carol Adee, who brings a fresh, welcoming approach to her students.

“Playing with other people is not only interesting and fun and rewarding, it makes people more aware of how music comes together,” Carol says. “It accustoms us to holding an inner sense of time while also being aware of other people.”

The Summer program met Wednesday evenings from July 26 through August 23.  At the final meeting, the players entertained one another with informal performances of Kuhlau’s Grand Quartet for flutes, Beethoven’s opus 11 Piano Trio, and the Piano Quartet opus 1, number 2 by Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1740-1801), pictured above.

The program resumes on October 4, 2023, under the guidance of violinist/violist Tara Flandreau. Learn more here.

Board, chamber music, Chamber Music, chamber music, Faculty, People, Piano, Theory and Composition, Viola, Violin

Tara Flandreau ——– violinist and violist

Fourth-generation San Francisco native and long-time Marin resident Tara Flandreau is a violinist, violist, composer/improviser, and conductor.  She graduated from College of Marin and Dominican College, earning Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, and did doctoral work at Columbia University.  Tara has an extensive career as music educator and performing musician. She was chair of the Music and Performing Arts Departments at the College of Marin for many years, where she taught music theory and composition, ear training, strings, computer music notation software,  chamber music, and conducted the COM Symphony Orchestra.  Currently, Tara teaches string lessons and chamber music classes at MCMS, and plays in the ECHO Chamber Orchestra and the Marin Symphony.

Besides classical repertoire, Tara enjoys playing a wide variety of music, from performing at the Monterey Pops Festival recreation of the entire Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper Album, to a SF concert series celebrating the 100th birthday of composer John Cage.  She has performed and recorded with many improvising orchestras and free-jazz musicians.  Among her compositions is a short opera about SF eccentric Grimes Pozikov, the “Human Jukebox” who performed songs on his trumpet in a phone-booth sized box at Fisherman’s Wharf during the 1960’s – 1980’s..  

Tara has also created an extensive music theory resource website called  www.musictheoryteacher.com which has helped music students from around the world to better understand music theory.

chamber music, Chamber Music, Classes, Faculty, Lessons

Carol Adee, flutist & chamber coach

Flutist Carol Adee was surrounded by music growing up.  Holding a M.M. from Yale School of Music and a Waldorf Teaching Certificate, she has taught flute and chamber music at Stanford and Dominican Universities as well as Music and Musical Pedagogy for the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training.  

Her many years as Music Director at Marin Waldorf School have contributed to her collaborative spirit and interest in integrating music, story, art and movement into other subjects.  She is currently Music Director at Heartwood Charter School and a Teaching Artist for Enriching Lives through Music, an El Sistema program in Marin County working primarily with the vibrant multilingual children of the immigrant community.
As a performing musician, Carol has worked in a wide variety of new music, chamber and orchestral environments, having played with San Francisco Symphony, Ballet and Opera Orchestras along with other Bay Area orchestras, including touring and recording as principal flute with Women’s Philharmonic for 15 years.  Her solo CD Bach to Nature Three Suites in the Wilderness, has been distributed on several continents and on Spotify.  As a founding member of ECHO Chamber Orchestra, Carol is working to create more collaborative orchestral experiences for musicians and audiences.

chamber music, Chamber Music, Faculty, Viola, Violin

Violist Meg Eldridge

Violist Meg Eldridge grew up in Marin County, and is an active orchestral and chamber musician, and string teacher.

Meg studied at the University of Michigan, the Manhattan School of Music, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She performs with the Marin Symphony, the Santa Rosa Symphony, Carmel Bach Festival, and Philharmonia Healdsburg. She also plays violin with the Archangeli Baroque Strings, Marin Baroque of the Marin String Quartet, which gives concerts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Meg plays on a viola that was made by Bronek Cison in Chicago in 2007, as well as on a French viola made in Mirecourt in the late 1800’s. She also teaches violin and viola at the Marin Waldorf School and at the Branson School.