The Colorado Chamber Players (CCP), now entering its 18th Season, is a fully professional mixed chamber ensemble. The group's core is string quartet, 2nd cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, 2 pianos, and guitar. The CCP has garnered awards and grants at the local and national level, including those from Chamber Music America, Colorado Creative Industries, National Endowment for the Arts, ARRA, Denver Office of Culture and the Arts, SCFD, Colorado Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, Argosy Foundation, Copland Foundation, and many others. The CCP performs 45+ concerts each season, primarily in the Denver Metro region, and is featured on over 30 annual Colorado Public Radio broadcasts, heard statewide in Colorado. The CCP was thrilled to perform at the Museo de las Americas in July 2010 as part of the Denver Biennial of the Americas.
Repertoire for the 2011-2012 season:
Bruce Adolphe: The Tiger's Ear: Listening to Abstract Expressionism, for Flute, Oboe, Violin, Viola, Cello and Piano
Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata, op. 27, Solo Piano
Beethoven: Waldstein Sonata, op. 53, Solo Piano
Leonard Bernstein: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Johannes Brahms: Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34
Johannes Brahms: Clarinet and Piano Sonata op. 120, no. 2
Johannes Brahms: Violin and Piano Sonata in d minor, op. 108
Max Bruch: Acht Stucke for Clarinet, Viola and Piano
Aaron Copland: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Antonin Dvořak: Viola Quintet in Eb, op. 97, American
Antonin Dvořak: Cypresses B. 152, arr. by the composer for String Quartet
Antonin Dvořak: Piano Quintet, op. 81, A major, for String Quartet and Piano
Antonin Dvořak: Terzetto op. 74, for Two Violins and Viola
Gordon Jacob: Four Fancies, for Flute Quartet
Gordon Jacob: Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano
Mark Fish: Pictures of Miro excerpts, for Flute Quartet
George Gershwin: Promenade for Clarinet & String Quartet, arr. by composer
George Gershwin: Solo Piano Preludes
Philip Glass: String Quartet no. 2 Company
Osvaldo Golijov: Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, Clarinets and String Quartet
Augustus Hailstork: As Falling Leaves, for Flute, Viola and Harp
Edgar Meyer: Trout Variations for Violin, Viola, Cello Double Bass and Piano
W.A. Mozart: Kegelstatt Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano
Mark O'Connor: String Orchestra, Volume I, from New American String Method
Mark O'Connor: String Quartet no. 2 (2005)
Franz Schubert Quintet D. 667 in A major, The Trout, for Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass and Piano
Ervin Schulhoff: String Quartet no. 1 (1924)
Benjamin Tomkins: Insect Fables, for Oboe, Strings, Piano, and Percussion*
Charles Tomlinson Griffes: Two Sketches on Native American Melodies, for String Quartet
David Waldman: The Gnat and the Lion for Oboe, Strings, Piano, and Percussion*
David Waldman: The Legend of Pecos Bill, with text by Scott Perry and Gregory Eidell*
David Waldman: Mr. Mendelssohn's Menagerie with text by Scott Perry*
Katrina Wreede: The Dove and the Ant, for Oboe, Strings, Piano, and Percussion*
*Works commissioned or co-commissioned by the CCP
Colorado Chamber Players Board of Directors:
David Sherman, Chair
Joanne Kauvar, Vice-Chair
Monica Guidice, Treasurer
At Large:
Henry Lowe
Marla Cohen
Catherine Skokan
Morton Bramson
Reviews of the CCP:
"It was an evocative mix of words and music, combining Poe's feverish writing style, Caplet's broad palette of sounds and the feel of a vintage radio drama; it was a creative marriage that summoned a strong sense of impending doom. The intensity from Trevathan and from each member of the chamber ensemble was spot-on. The five musicians offered a feverish interpretation of Caplet's piece."
Adam Goldstein, Westword, October 11th, 2010
"The concert's high point came in the second half when the group was joined by the St. John's Cathedral Choir and Colorado Chamber Players for Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata No. 140, Wachet auf."
-Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post, December 5th, 2009
Debussy's quartet showed how well matched the four CCP string players are in both skill and cohesiveness".
-Paul Siegal, Colorado Buzz Magazine, May 2008
"The Colorado Chamber Players rendition of the music score accompanying Medusa (with music by Andre Caplet, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Ervin Sculhoff) was wonder-filled."
-Donald Atwood, World Dance Review, October 28, 2007
"Magnificently played Messiaen!"
-Wes Blomster, Boulder Camera, February 2008
"Grand, authoritative...intense"
-Glenn Giffen, Denver Post, March 14, 2006
"The program offers one revelation after another, all with a decidedly political context."
- April 6, 2002, Rocky Mountain News
"The Chamber Players ......tend to stay away from the road most traveled. For music lovers with a taste for adventure, this is welcome news...Their thought-provoking programming.... sets the CCP apart from other chamber groups."
- Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News, November 19, 2000
"The players tackled this music with commendable commitment and zeal....they brought the kind of focus and tight interaction that such music demands."
- Kyle MacMillan, February 11, 2002
"Exotic, sometimes challenging and unceasingly captivating sounds filled the hall...the Colorado Chamber Players spotlighted the clarinet in a wonderfully adventurous program"
- Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post, February 2001
"The Colorado Chamber Players delivered a ...big and rich orchestral accompaniment to La Boheme"
- Glenn Giffin, Denver Post, September 23, 2000
"The Colorado Chamber Players give assured intense performances of these excellent pieces"
-Gramophone Review, February 1998
"...Exceptional sensitivity and beauty of tone... the program ended with a spirited performance of Schulhoff's String Quartet"
-Elizabeth Kahn, The Raleigh(N. Carolina)Independent Weekly, July 1995
"Chamber group excels in heartfelt concert...I'm not sure which was more impressive- the music or the motivation of the performers- in the CCP's presentation"
-Jeff Bradley, Denver Post, June 1995
"You and your quartet left an unforgettable impression upon us all. You are consummate musicians... I never realized Denver was so lucky to have such talent right here!"
-C. Brown, Denver audience member, January 1996
"This is a gorgeous performance, bouncing with life and oozing color, in superb recorded sound. (Schulhoff's 1st Quartet) The Colorado Chamber Players give a rich, forceful performance that emphasizes the emotional heat of Ullmann's Third Quartet. ...This disc is a winner"
-James H. North, Fanfare Magazine, January 1998
