By Tori Pfeifer
To end a successful concert and performance series for their 2018-2019 season, Friends of Chamber Music hosts the Dover Quartet for their final chamber concert this year on Monday, April 8, at 7pm at First Presbyterian Church in College Station.
Friends of Chamber Music is an organization of volunteers in Bryan College Station that focuses on bringing music to the community. Although it was founded 25 years ago, the organization is now closing out its 23rd official season. William Rogers, president and co-founder of the organization, is an experienced musician himself and is passionate about the mission behind his organization.
“The organization is founded on outreach for the arts,” says Rogers. “We support all the arts, but our specific contribution to it is chamber music, which consists of instruments in small ensembles.”
Typically, these ensembles are made up of string instruments played by a small group of people. To help their effort to support and expand the arts outreach in B/CS, Rogers says Friends of Chamber Music hosts internationally and nationally famous ensembles. This spring, the organization had both the Schumann Quartet and Mark Husey, an organist, perform live concerts.
Rogers says the organization has received support from the community, both through individual donations and the Arts Council of Brazos Valley. The support from a large organization like the Arts Council, he says, has benefitted Friends of Chamber Music’s mission by making the B/CS community more aware of the arts.
“You can see the benefit of this for the community to make people aware of the arts, and how it can help enrich people’s lives and bring people together,” Rogers says. “Regardless of where they’re from, regardless of their beliefs or politics, music brings people together. The arts bring people together, it’s a universal language. That’s a very important point for us.”
The organization’s final chamber concert this season features the Dover Quartet, a young group of string musicians who have won a number of prestigious awards. Among those is the Grand Prize at the 2010 Fischoff Competition, the nation’s largest chamber music competition.
“Each of the concerts is unique in itself,” says Rogers. “The last concert is the one where you start thinking about the future, what type of events could be next, and what suggestions you could have for future concerts, which is something we’re always open to.”
Friends of Chamber Music concerts are always free to the public and do not require any tickets for entry. The organization welcomes all people and makes the concerts as easily accessible as possible in their efforts to expand arts awareness in the B/CS community. Additionally, free childcare is offered during performances, followed by free receptions open to everyone who attends.
“Accessibility means you’re more likely to take advantage of it,” says Rogers. “In taking advantage of it, you’ll become more aware of the beauty of it and how it enriches your life. So, people will be more likely to engage in the arts and support it in the future.”
For more information about Friends of Chamber Music and the final concert, visit www.communitychamberconcerts.org. For more information about the Dover Quartet, visit www.doverquartet.com.
