Celebrating its 26th season, the Colgate Chamber Players presented its concert “Autumn Leaves” on Sunday, October 27, in the Colgate Memorial Chapel at 3:30 p.m. The concert was free and all were welcome to attend.

The Colgate Chamber Players is a talented group on campus that primarily plays traditional chamber music using mostly string instruments and piano. The group consists of students and professionals who share a passion for traditional and diverse compositions. Members of the Colgate Chamber Players spend many hours weekly to prepare for performances on campus and around the community. The group demonstrates their hard work during concerts which are held about four to five times every year. Under the direction of Laura Klugherz, Professor of Music and Africana and Latin American Studies at Colgate as well as the founder of the Colgate Chamber Players, the group successfully executed works ranging from Mozart to Beethoven and Schoenberg.

 The “Autumn Leaves” concert on Sunday included workds by Antonio Vivaldi, as well as music from movements of Beethoven’s “String Quartet, Opus 76.” Since it is the 30th anniversary of Latin American studies at Colgate University, the group also performed dance-inspired Cuban and Puerto Rican music created by composers Eduardo Gamboa and Paquito d’Rivera.

Special guest and Baroque violinist Ursula Baur from Munich, Germany, played solo violin during Vivaldi and Bach. Baur was in residence at Colgate for a week prior to the concert and assisted some of the chamber players during their lessons and coached them on the Baroque style. The Colgate Chamber Players concluded their concert with the music of Bart Alan Dunn, Franz Joseph Haydn and William Grant Still. 

First-year Olivia Miller, a pianist in the Colgate Chamber Players, was pleased with the way the performance went.

“Everyone did a great job and it was a well-rounded and well-constructed program. I am so glad I got to participate in the concert and I am honored to be a member of the Colgate Chamber Players. I am really looking forward to our next performance,” Miller said.

A reception with refreshments followed the concert downstairs in the Chapel.

Contact Caroline Weihs at [email protected].