Holloway
ChamberFest Brown County will hold a Benefit Concert, 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, Helen Haddad Hall, 315 Franklin Street in Columbus.
This concert brings together many gifts: The best in musicianship and a generous donation of space. No tickets are required but donations are welcomed to support the 2023 season of ChamberFest Brown County. For more about ChamberFest, visit our website at chamberfestbrowncounty.com.
Helen Haddad Hall is an acoustically designed performance space behind the offices of the Columbus Philharmonic. Its state-of-the art sound and lighting systems and Shigeru Kawai concert grand piano make this an ideal venue for chamber music. Thanks to a generous donation from the Philharmonic’s principal flautist Kathy Dell, this space is ours as a gift.
The program includes Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, and Brahms, with musicians Futaba Niekawa, piano, Lecturer in Music, IU Jacobs School of Music; Andreas Ioannides, piano, Lecturer in Piano, Cork, Ireland; Samantha Johnson-Helms, Principal Clarinet, Columbus Philharmonic; and Yang Guo, viola, Indianapolis Symphony.
The concert will raise funds for ChamberFest Brown County, the newest in the cornucopia of musical offerings in Nashville, Indiana, and the first to make world-class performances of chamber music accessible in rural Indiana venues.
Now in its third year, ChamberFest Brown County brings musicians of international repute to venues across downtown Nashville for a week of inspiring concerts, multimedia presentations, workshops and educational experiences.
Classical music is a genre absent from the many musical offerings for which Brown County is known. Until now rural Brown County communities have not had an opportunity to challenge the common misperception of classical music as a remote or alien art form.
ChamberFest addresses these gaps with its seven-day festival, presenting most of its programming free of charge, in support of our belief in making classical music accessible to everyone.
This mission is made possible thanks to collaborations with local educational and civic organizations in Brown County, as well as generous support from our sponsors and donors.
We are blessed to have ideal performance spaces in the sanctuaries of local churches. Until now, these churches have been underused as performance spaces.
One of our church venues was designed by a local architect, who conducted acoustic studies to ensure the best possible aural environment for music. This partnership with our local churches is bringing to light the potential of these spaces as ideal music venues.
ChamberFest’s educational mission also includes reaching younger audiences, with concerts geared to younger age groups. This year we will be presenting a performance of Poulenc’s “The Story of Babar” for kindergarten, first, and second graders at the Brown County Presbyterian Church on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 18.
We continue to grow our outreach to local schools through performances, visits to schools, and meet-the-artist opportunities. Schools are increasingly enthusiastic about our programming and opportunities for younger audiences.
Please join us for our festival, Aug. 13 through 19, in Nashville.
The program at Helen Haddad Hall includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Kegelstatt” Trio for piano, viola and clarinet (K. 498: I. Andante; II. Menuetto; III. Rondeaux. Allegretto), Frederic Chopin’s Piano Etudes (op. 25, No. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12), Franz Schubert’s Allegro in A minor (D. 947 “Lebensturme” for piano duet), Johannes Brahms’ Viola Sonata in F minor (op. 120 no. 1; I. Allegro appassionato; II. Andante un poco adagio; III. Allegretto grazioso; IV. Vivace).
Jan Holloway is a Brown County resident and a writer and editor at Indiana University. She is also a member of the board of ChamberFest Brown County. She can be reached at [email protected]. Send comments to [email protected].
Jan Holloway is a Brown County resident and a writer and editor at Indiana University. She is also a member of the board of ChamberFest Brown County. She can be reached at [email protected]. Send comments to [email protected].
