On Sunday, March 6, students and members of the Hamilton community gathered in the Colgate Memorial Chapel to hear the Colgate University Chamber Players perform as part of Colgate’s Performing Arts Weekend. Their concert, under the direction of Professor Laura Klugherz, was titled “Mozart, Moszkowski and More!” Playing alongside them was renowned violinist Linda Rosenthal.

The concert took a great deal of preparation from the musicians. Sophomore cello player Kamron Zand recalled the amount of time he spent in practicing for his performance. “We rehearse a lot. I personally practice pretty much everyday. I’m always playing, so I have it under my fingers a lot,” Zand said.

To guide the musicians in their practice was Colgate University’s guest resident musician Linda Rosenthal. The chamber players all expressed their appreciation for the support and guidance they received from the guest.

“She came into my practices, listened and had some advice. I think it’s always fun to interact with the guest. I feel like everyone gets a lot out of it,” sophomore oboe player Kaye Kuphal said.  

The audience was treated to a wide variety of compositions spanning different time periods and regions. Various composers of both classical and contemporary genres were introduced. Familiar names included Mozart and Vivaldi, but the Chamber players also performed pieces from composers that the audience may be less acquainted with, such as Dvořák and Gamboa. Director of Chamber Music Laura Klugherz explained that her decision to include such diverse compositions was to expose the Chamber Players to the various kinds of music created around the world.  

“I try to get them acquainted with different styles over the course of several years. Get them to expand their horizons a little bit in what music actually means in culture. They do a body of the famous pieces, and then we always do other contemporary things, and we use this as a window to talk about different cultures, to talk about styles,” Klugherz said.

Sophomore Matthew Lee expressed his support for the Chamber Players and his appreciation of the diversity of music choices.

“I enjoyed it. I get to see a lot of my friends performing. It’s different from orchestra because obviously chamber group’s smaller, so you can actually hear what each individual starts playing. It’s nice to hear that,” Lee said. “[There was a] variety of repertoire, from

Vivaldi to the last one by Gamboa. A lot of

variety, so it was a good experience.”

Zand acknowledged the value of the exposure he received in his time with the Chamber players.

“It’s been pretty good. I’ve played a lot of great music that I don’t think I would have had I not been in it. I’m looking forward to more in the future,” Zand said.