Artists and Audience Connect:

The Belvedere Series’ Third Season

by Ingrid Keller

Founder and Artistic Director

There’s a unique pleasure in hosting at our own home, where the space lends itself to the electric connection between artists and guests. Musicians, patrons, artists, music-lovers, and people who have never heard this music before all have the chance to socialize, snack, and enjoy a beverage (or two). It’s special.

Grand concerts in acoustically perfect spaces

We also host grand concerts at St. Stephen’s Cathedral and at the Louis F. Ryan Recital Hall, which artists love for being one of the most acoustically dynamic music venues in Richmond.

We use these larger venues because I want to program more than a trio or a quartet, and there's so much chamber music that requires more than four people to play. Our season opener also allows many more Richmond music-lovers to join us than our Marburg living room allows at present. 

Our season opener featuring Mozart and Dvořák will take place at the Ryan Recital Hall. These musical compositions are major crowd-pleasers: I describe Mozart's opening lines of the viola quintet like a glass of champagne—light and crisp, where the energy can’t contain itself. Meanwhile, Dvořák knew how to write incredibly accessible music. It’s like pop music, but classical. I've never met anyone that doesn't immediately love the Dvořák piano quintet programmed in this first concert of the season.

More than just a concert

The thing about these grand venues—about all of our events—is that the experience of going to a concert starts the second you get out of your car. Imagine with me: 

You step out of your vehicle and walk toward the event. The day’s noise gives way to simpler sounds: Your feet stepping along a paved walk, the sounds of conversation as you approach the Marburg House or St. Stephen’s, perhaps the sound of musical instruments being tuned, or musicians’ laughter. 

As you enter the venue, you experience the warmth of neighbors and the aesthetics of the new space. It’s not that you have fully stepped away from the mundane, but that everyone is a little brighter for being there, together. 

You hear a world-class musician just steps away from you introduce what they’ll play and why that piece holds meaning for others and for them. 

What happens next is difficult to record in words–in fact, that difficulty is why we all travel to a Belvedere event: to put language down for a moment, to let go of the words that both help and confine us, so that our senses can be fully engaged. 

Everyone’s experience in a chamber music performance differs. For some, the mundane may be imbued with new meaning; for others, pain may be heightened or alleviated. You may hear a note of music as if for the first time. Some will experience a familiar piece as the embrace of an old friend; others will encounter emotional landscapes that may feel foreign.

Why we play

Guests might not be aware of what a Belvedere event, or a chamber music gig performed anywhere, can mean for a musician. 

You, the audience, are often moved by these concerts—and it can be a surprise to guests that artists, too, are affected by these chamber concerts. 

I am biased, of course. I’m one of the artists who prefer to perform in a chamber setting. I certainly can’t speak for artists other than myself, but I started the Series out of a strong desire to develop a more personal connection to the community, and to dive deep into the amazing repertoire of chamber music together. There was a nagging sense of loneliness, lack of agency and sometimes creativity I felt as a pianist on large stages, even when those stages were illustrious. There was a serious disconnect I felt with the audience, and also when I was in the audience. I craved the company of a friend onstage, an artist or two with whom I could develop trust and fully engage with the music. The chamber music repertoire holds some of the most remarkable compositions in existence—jewels where each composer can tell their deepest secrets and be their most honest self.

I hope guests might remember: Classical musicians do what often feels impossible. Making a living as a musician is the hardest thing in the world. My closest friend from college days, now an impressively successful business consultant and music devotee herself, said to me once: “No one makes a life in music because they choose to.” It is too hard. We do it because we must, and for the humble hope that we may create and experience beauty in a world that desperately needs it. 

I will write more in the future about how a chamber music series like ours fits into the larger tapestry of the musical profession in the United States and abroad. (Keep an eye out for our Series Perspective in early Fall.) 

But for now, my point is: If you’re in Richmond and love music—especially live music—a Belvedere event should be on your calendar.

The Season Program: Iconic masterworks and contemporary interpretations

After our season opener, we have two salon concerts. The first is with Martin Katz and William Ferguson. Will Ferguson is a celebrated tenor; Martin Katz has been one of my idols since I spent a week coaching with him at a SongFest in Cleveland. This was when he had come out with his book The Complete Collaborator: The Pianist as Partner. I sheepishly went up to him and asked him to sign my copy after a brilliant concert he had played with tenor Lawrence Brownlee. Katz looked at me and said, “Ingrid, you don’t actually need this book.” Katz is a living legend, and I’m thrilled he wants to play in our living room, where that same book is neatly tucked in our bookshelf.

The next salon is the Midnight Twilight concert, which will rock people to their core. The composers featured in this program share an austerity and eeriness associated with those parts of the world where summer nights never truly get dark. That liminality is palpable in this music by Sibelius, Grieg, Vasks, and Shostakovich. Of course, Shostakovich’s work also holds dark, sparkling satire.

Then the powerful violinist, Nicholas DiEugenio, will perform Bach in a religious setting, at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Richmond. Bach, of course, was a devout Lutheran, and there is much reverence in his music. While these pieces on offer aren’t religious per se, Bach’s spirituality is ever-present. DiEugenio’s performance is such a feat, a true marathon: He will play the complete solo violin works of J.S. Bach. 

February brings our Valentine’s theme, only it’s not cringe! There are no harsh reds, pinks, or frilliness to be found—this program holds passion, pain, and lavishness. It’s a tremendous amount of lush, exotic French music. Emily Fons, a fabulous mezzo-soprano, is new to the Series and will bring together a scintillating program for us of Hahn, Fauré, Poulenc, and ending with Edith Piaf. Ambroise Aubrun will be our violinist for the Franck Sonata, a pillar of violin repertoire. 

The Birnbaum Trio plays at the Marburg in March. This is a jazz trio making huge waves for its album Preludes, a re-envisioning of ten J.S. Bach keyboard preludes. Adam Birnbaum and I were classmates in our formative years in Boston at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and he reached out to me while launching this project. Last November, I went to Mezzrow, a tiny jazz club in the Village, to hear the album release. I was blown away—and knew the Trio had to come play for the Series. I can’t wait for you to experience the Trio’s work.

April features intense contemplation. At the Marburg, guests will hear Kati Agócs’ work Queen of Hearts, a “mix of flowing, impassioned writing and unsettled, troubled textures [that] speak quite strongly.” Also part of this program is Messiaen’s astounding Quartet for the End of Time—arguably the most important piece of chamber music written in the 20th century. 

Spencer Myer then will present us with all twenty-four Debussy Préludes in May, each of which has an evocative, poetic title written at its end. These treasures are just the pinnacle of impressionism.  

Finally, we will host the Attacca Quartet, which needs no introduction and is genuinely the best of our younger generation of musicians. This Quartet is amazing, and it champions all genres of music. They will play Haydn, Mendelssohn, and “Three Essays,” Caroline Shaw’s piece from Attacca’s Grammy-award-winning album Evergreen.

Join us for the opportunity to connect with new friends, experience the music we love so much, and engage with world-class artists.