Chamber Music at Peabody: An Overview

Every student at the Peabody Conservatory is eligible to play chamber music. The heart of the chamber music program, and the bulk of its activity, consists of chamber groups rehearsing on their own, receiving coachings from Peabody's distinguished faculty, participating in masterclasses and performing in chamber music departmental concerts. In addition, students can choose from a variety of chamber music electives, which provide the opportunity to examine repertoire and ensemble issues in seminar settings. For especially motivated and outstanding groups, opportunities to perform both inside and outside the Peabody community abound. In addition, students have the opportunity to hear some of the finest chamber ensembles in the world, in concerts both at Peabody and in the Baltimore/Washington area.

In addition to study in the areas of string, wind, brass and piano chamber music, Peabody boasts extensive programs in guitar ensemble, vocal chamber music, piano ensemble, percussion chamber music and saxophone ensemble. Baroque and Renaissance chamber music is studied, as well.

Masterclasses

Chamber music masterclasses are presented at Peabody throughout each year. These classes are given by distinguished guest artists, as well as by Peabody's outstanding chamber music faculty. In the past two years, artists giving classes have included:

• The Tokyo String Quartet
• The Brentano String Quartet
• Members of the Takacs and Vermeer Quartets
• Leon Fleisher
• Pamela Frank
• Mikael Kopelman
• Benjamin Pasternack
• Mark Steinberg

Chamber Music Electives

Chamber music electives currently offered at Peabody include:

• The Chamber Music Seminar. This class consists of groups selected from the chamber music program each semester, that come to together to study an area of the chamber repertoire in weekly seminar settings. Groups play for each other and discuss interpretive and instrumental issues, in addition to examining the broader contexts of individual works. Recent Seminars have examined Music of the Early 20th Century, Russian Chamber Music, and the Chamber Music of Beethoven.

• Instrumental Chamber Music. This class is designed primarily for the group study of the sonata literature, but larger ensembles sometimes participate, as well. Works from all styles and periods are explored in a seminar setting.

• New Chamber Music. In this class, student ensembles are matched with student composers. Instrumentalists and composers work together to produce a new piece by the end of the semester. Each piece is then rehearsed thoroughly and receives a performance at the end of the semester. This class gives instrumentalists a hand in the creative process and, therefore, insight into interpretive issues, as well as giving composers an in-depth look at the issues performers face when attempting to play their music.
  

• Vocal Chamber Music. This class brings together singers and instrumentalists to explore the vast chamber music literature that includes voice, from the Baroque to the 21st Century. Ensembles can include all orchestral instruments, organ, harpsichord, piano, guitar and percussion. This course is offered as an elective and is taught by Phyllis Bryn-Julson and John Shirley-Quirk.
  

Additional chamber music electives are always being developed, as the chamber music program at Peabody grows.

The GPD in Chamber Music

The Graduate Performance Diploma in Chamber Music is a loosely constructed program for graduate students who would like to focus on the performance of chamber music.  The Chamber Music GPD is essentially the same as the regular performance GPD, with the exception that the two recitals must consist primarily of chamber music repertoire.  Sonatas may comprise part, but not all, of the recital programs.  Students in the Chamber Music GPD program are strongly encouraged to take chamber music-related electives, such as the Chamber Music Seminar, Vocal Chamber Music, Instrumental Chamber Music and New Chamber Music. 

Applicants must take a regular audition for the faculty of the applicant’s major instrument and be accepted to a major teacher’s studio.  There are no further audition requirements for the Chamber Music GPD.

For more information about the Chamber Music GPD, you can contact Director of Chamber Music, Michael Kannen.

Chamber Music Faculty

The list of Peabody faculty who coach chamber music includes:

Strings
Richard Field
Pamela Frank
Herbert Greenberg
Paul Johnson
Michael Kannen
Maria Lambros
Violaine Melancon
Courtney Orlando
Amit Peled
Alison Wells
Jeffrey Weisner

Winds
Phillip Kolker
Gary Louie
Jane Marvine
Katherine Needleman
Edward Palanker

Brass
Joe Burgstaller
David Fetter
Edward Hoffman
Steven Kellner
Philip Munds
James Olin
Denise Tryon
Larry Williams

Piano
Marian Hahn
Katherine Jacobson
Seth Knopp
Yong Hi Moon
Benjamin Pasternack
Jeffrey Sharkey
Alexander Shtarkman

Guitar
Raymond Chester
Julian Gray

If you would like more information about Chamber Music at Peabody, please feel free to email the Director of Chamber Music, Michael Kannen, at: michael.kannen@gmail.com.