The Grace Note Chamber Players, founded in 2010, is a flexibly-sized ensemble devoted to presenting programs of rare and beautiful chamber music to Bay Area audiences.
Program:
Variations on a Russian Theme (1899): Artsybushev/Scriabin/Glazunov/Rimsky-Korsakov et al.
String Quartet No. 3 in F, Op. 73 (1946) - Dmitri Shostakovich
Allegretto - Moderato con moto - Allegro non troppo - Adagio - Moderato
String Sextet in E-flat, H. 107 (1912) - Frank Bridge
Allegro moderato
Andante con moto - Allegro -Tempo I
Andante con moto - Allegro -Tempo I
Allegro ben moderato - Tempo moderato
The Grace Note Chamber Players at the Maybeck
Sunday, April 19, 2015, 3:00pm
Suggested donatation: $20 at the door
Seating is limited. Get your required online reservation here.
Claudia Bloom, violin, began her studies in Berkeley with Anne Crowden. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music as a full scholarship student under Raphael Bronstein and Ariana Bronne. She completed her Master of Music degree as a teaching assistant at the Yale School of Music where she studied with Syoko Aki Erle. From 1982 to 1990 Ms. Bloom was a member of the Ciompi Quartet in residence at Duke University as a well as a full-time member of the faculty. From 1990-92 Ms. Bloom played in the Zurich Symphony Orchestra where she was assistant concertmaster. In 1992 Ms. Bloom returned to the Bay Area where she plays principal second violin in Opera San Jose, is a member of the Grace Note Chamber Players and teaches privately in Palo Alto and at Santa Clara University where she performs regularly.
Geoffrey Noer started playing the violin at the age of six, studying with notable teachers including Barbara Sonies and Charles Gray. Mr. Noer is currently Concertmaster of the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San Jose, having performed with the group since its founding in 1996. Heard in venues across North America and Europe, he is also an avid chamber musician. Outside of music, Mr. Noer holds a computer science degree from Swarthmore College and enjoys a successful high technology career in Silicon Valley.
Casey Mullin holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Western Washington University, and has been continuously active as a performer for many years. His instructors have included Matthew Michelic of Lawrence University and Eric Kean of WWU. As a chamber and orchestral musician, he is equally at home on the viola and piano. He was a member of Seattle-based string quartet Muse and the Madrona String Quartet, and has performed with orchestras in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Washington, and California. He is also a published writer of program notes and concert reviews, having served in the latter capacity for the Bellingham Herald. In his professional life, Mr. Mullin is a metadata librarian at Stanford University, and holds several committee posts with the Music Library Association.
Rachel McGuire began playing viola in the Iowa City public school music program where she had exemplary teachers who helped to shape her career path to come. She went on to study with William Preucil, Sr. at the University of Iowa while working on a degree in viola performance and teaching certification in music. Rachel continued her studies with Eric Kean at Western Washington University while earning a masters degree in music education. Rachel has taught strings in public and private schools in Iowa, Washington, and currently teaches with the Palo Alto Unified School District. She plays with the Santa Cruz Symphony, the California Pops Orchestra, and is active freelancing and playing chamber music throughout the Bay Area.
Russ Bartoli is a cellist and chamber musician. Since receiving a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Southern California School of Music, he has given numerous performances in California, Oregon and New Hampshire as recitalist and chamber musician. He was a member of the Trio della Rosa and the Pro Musica String Quartet. Mr. Bartoli studied with Gabor Rejto, Laszlo Varga and Lawrence Lesser and is co-director of the Golden Gate Chamber Players. He is also currently principal cellist of the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony in San Francisco.
Hans Brightbill is an active chamber musician in the Bay Area and is the principal cello with the Bohemian Club Orchestra and assistant section leader with the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony. Hans studied cello at UC Irvine with Stephen Erdody of the Angeles String Quartet, as well as coaching with members of the Alexander and St. Lawrence string quartets. During the day Hans conducts biomedical research in Immunology at Genentech.