Artful Sounds Concert - Event Review

An evening of art, wine, and music!

The first installment of the Artful Sounds Concert series, a collaboration event between Brea Gallery, Curtis Theatre and Orchestra Collective of Orange County, kicked off last Saturday inside the Gallery. Joining the sensory joys of food, music, and visual art, the Artful Sounds had an intimate attendance of 30 guests, hosted during the 32nd Annual CPSA Juried Exhibition with an hour long chamber music performance by “QuintEssential”.

Champagne provided to guests upon arrival.

Beginning at 5 p.m., guests were greeted with champagne and a spread from Alicia’s Cookery, a popular small Brea business. A literal and visual feast, the menu included a fruit and cheese platter, bruschetta, Tandoori chicken skewers, as well as, antipasti and crudite platters. Sweet treats included macarons, small cakes, lemon bars and cookies, and rainbow sprinkle cookies .. the rainbow colors, taking inspiration from the pieces in the 32nd Annual Colored Pencil Society of America Juried Exhibition providing the backdrop for the night.

Catering provided by Alicia’s Catering, Brea.

Guests were invited to view the exhibition and enjoy an open wine and beer bar before the musical performance began at 5:30 pm. Featuring over 95 artists domestic and international, the 32nd Annual CPSA Juried Exhibition proudly displays the talent and range of colored pencil as a fine art medium. Now in its third week of exhibiting, this show continues to amaze and inspire guests.

Decorations provided by Authentik Home, Fullerton.

Preshow mingle in gallery exhibition space.

Chairs lined the center room of the Gallery around the musicians to ensure no bad view of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet performance. Once guests were seated, Gallery Director Katie Chidester welcomed guests to this brand new event and introduced David Rentz, Music Director and Conductor of the Orchestra Collective, serving as the evening’s MC.

Gallery Director Katie Chidester welcoming guests to event.

Music Director David Rentz giving opening words.

After introducing the show programming and performers, Rentz reminded audience members to hold their applause until the end of each performance, with a total of 14 on the event roster for the hour. In addition to Mozart, compositions by Rebecca Clarke, Robert Davidson, Tom Flaherty, performing cello for the evening, and duos for violins by Bela Bartok were also performed.

The “QuintEssential” begins their musical performance for Artful Sounds audience.

The Gallery, built over 40 years ago with little to no dampening, reverberated in each sweet chord. Guests and performers noted the amazing clarity of sound, with the acoustics favoring the lower registers uncommon in many performance spaces. Led without a conductor, the “QuintEssential” was intimate and felt spontaneous and fluid. Audience members shared their enthusiasm over the concert and evening, capping the night with a post-show mingle, an opportunity to chat with the musicians and Gallery gift shop sale.

The second installment of Artful Sounds is scheduled for Saturday, November 16 from 5-7 PM. The Brea Gallery will be hosting 99 Voices in Pastel, a collaboration exhibition with the Pastel Society of the West Coast, and Orchestra Collective of Orange County will be back to perform a cello quartet. Be sure to get your tickets through the Curtis Theatre Box Office!

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Meet the Musicians of “QuintEssential”

Tom Flaherty

Tom Flaherty earned degrees at Brandeis University, S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook, and the University of Southern California, where he studied with Martin Boykan, Bülent Arel, and Frederick Lesemann and cello with Timothy Eddy and Bernard Greenhouse.

A recent recording of his Airdancing for piano, toy piano, and electronics was nominated for a Grammy in 2015. His composition has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Music Center, the Pasadena Arts Council, the Massachusetts Council for the Arts and Humanities, the Delius Society, the University of Southern California, "Meet the Composer," and Yaddo.

His music has been performed throughout Europe and North America by such new music ensembles as Dinosaur Annex in Boston, Speculum Musicae and Odyssey Chamber Players in New York, Earplay and Volti in San Francisco, Concorde in Dublin (Ireland), Gallery Players in Toronto (Canada), Mojave Trio, XTET and Brightwork new music in Los Angeles; and by such performers as soprano Lucy Shelton; cellists Maggie Parkins and Roger Lebow; violinists Sarah Thornblade and Rachel Huang; organist William Peterson, and pianists Genevieve Feiwen Lee, Nadia Shpachenko, Susan Svrek, Vicki Ray, Aron Kallay, and Karl and Margaret Kohn.
Published by G. Schirmer, Inc. and American Composers Editions, his compositions have been recorded on the Albany, Bridge, Capstone, Klavier, Reference, and SEAMUS labels.

Cynthia Fogg

Cynthia Fogg has performed extensively on the violin and viola in the United States and Europe. She has played with a variety of organizations on the west and east coasts, including the Pasadena Symphony and Monday Evening Concerts, and has appeared as a guest violist with the acclaimed Kronos and Alexander String Quartets.

Ms. Fogg is currently a member of the Quartet Euphoria, and she and her husband, cellist/composer Tom Flaherty perform together as the duo Celliola, often premiering and recording new solo and duo repertoire. Ms. Fogg has recorded chamber music for Naxos, Opus One, Cambria, Klavier, Innova, and SEAMUS, as well as soundtracks for motion pictures and television, including X-Files and Matrix. She has performed with various artists including Tony Bennet and K.D. Laing. She holds degrees from Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Southern California, and has extensive experience in teaching methods such as Suzuki and Kato Hava’s New Approach. Her teachers include Dorothy Delay, Leo Panesevich, and Milton Thomas. Ms. Fogg formerly taught at Longy School of Music, Wheaton College, and Pasadena City College. She currently teaches at Pomona College, Pasadena Conservatory of Music and the Claremont Community School of Music.

Leslie Schroerlucke

Leslie Schroerlucke earned a B.M. in Clarinet Performance and the Performer’s Certificate form the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Stanley Hasty. She holds a M.M. in Clarinet Performance from Florida State University and Master’s in Music Education from Boston University. Leslie is a former clarinetist with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of James Judd. She has performed at several international music festivals such as the Spoleto Festival, Puccini Festival and as a soloist in Brazil and former Yugoslavia. Leslie is currently Principal Clarinetist with the Orchestra Collective of Orange County. She is an adjunct faculty member at UC Riverside, Chaffey Junior College and serves on the faculty of the Claremont Community School of Music. She recently retired after 20 years as band director at Chaparral Middle School in Diamond Bar CA, where she taught over 5,000 students. For five years, Leslie served as a lead VAPA teacher for the Walnut Valley Unified School District and wrote several grants resulting in ongoing arts programs for elementary age students. Leslie is the Director of Students and Affiliates for the Assisi Performing Arts Festival, a summer vocal and instrumental multi-generational festival held annually for two weeks in Assisi Italy. Leslie is also a certified sound healing practitioner. Her podcast, The Sound of Healing explores the therapeutic power of music and sound through conversations with musicians, artists, sound healers and others.

Dr. Rachel Vetter Huang

Violinist Dr. Rachel Vetter Huang has performed locally and abroad with several chamber ensembles: the Gold Coast Trio, the Mei Duo, Duo209, Trio Lykos and Quartet Euphoria. Holding degrees from Harvard University and SUNY StonyBrook, Dr. Huang has been a recipient of grants for performance from both the NEA and the NEH. With her husband, pianist Hao Huang, she has co-authored original research into the performance practice of Billie Holiday. She teaches at Scripps College and the Claremont Community School of Music. She has the privilege of sharing with her students the legacies of three great teachers with whom she studied; Ivan Galamian, Dorothy DeLay and Robert Koff, all of them both late and lamented.

Linda Tajima

Linda Tajima has held several positions at the Claremont Community School of Music including, but not limited to, being String Chair, Ensemble Coordinator, and Co-Recital Coordinator. One of Ms. Tajima’s greatest passions involve developing special programs for students. The Summer Ensemble Institutes, first held at Cal Poly and continuing at Scripps College (1998-2003) introduced many students to chamber music. As a result of her teaching instrumental music in the Pasadena Unified School District for five years, Ms. Tajima developed and served as Program Coordinator of the After-School Program for the Claremont Unified School District (1994-2004). There she organized instrumental classes at all of the elementary schools for grades 4-8, serving about 400 students annually. Each year, 10-15 of her students participate in two evaluations (NFMC’s Junior Music Festival and MTAC’s Certificate of Merit) and receive high marks. Several have performed at MTAC conventions and JMF Gold Cup/Superior Recitals. Ms. Tajima holds a Bachelor of Arts and CA teaching Credential. She did graduate work in Musicology at California State University, Los Angeles. Ms. Tajima studied the Suzuki method with many notable teachers including Shanon Hawes, Elizabeth Mills,William Starr, Louise Behrend,Dr. Shin’ichi Suzuki, and others.and violin intates and in Europe. She has played with a variety of organizations on both the east and west coasts, including the Pasadena Symphony and Monday Evening Concerts, and has appeared as guest violist with the acclaimed Kronos and Alexander string quartets.

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Don’t miss the next Artful Sounds, November 16th at 5pm.

32nd Annual Colored Pencil Society of America

On view now through September 15, 2024

Open Wed - Sun from 12 - 5 PM