Top-Flight Chamber Music is Here in Fayette County
It’s here, established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization within weeks and now clearly thriving after its first two successful concerts in May and July. The Colorado Valley Chamber Players (CVCP) look forward to the third concert of their inaugural season on Saturday, October 3rd, which will feature critically acclaimed organ/ piano duo Pipe and Key at First Presbyterian Church in La Grange. The Colorado Valley Chamber Players— conceived and brought to life by Fayetteville native and Artistic Director Miles Gillette-Bockhorn, an alumnus of Rice University’s prestigious Shepherd School of Music—is no longer an ambitious concept on the drawing board. With official IRS tax-exempt status now secured, the organization possesses a strong institutional foundation. But the true triumph lies in how the group has solidified its core: Gillette-Bockhorn has successfully established a permanent, elite pool of professional musicians to anchor the concert series.
This is not merely a revolving door of guest artists for individual concerts, but a carefully curated ensemble of masters. This season’s musicians hold advanced degrees from some of America’s finest conservatories—including Rice and Juilliard—and have had wildly successful concert touring careers. Musicians of this caliber—such as violinist Matt Lammers of the American Prize-winning Axiom Quartet and renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Dunn-Rachleff—command international attention, and Gillette-Bockhorn has gathered them to form the bedrock of this Fayette County-based chamber music society.
The power of this selected pool shines brilliantly in showcases like the upcoming Pipe and Key concert. Featuring the award-winning pianist Yvonne Chen and dazzlingly virtuosic organist Yuri McCoy, the program leverages McCoy’s daring orchestral transcriptions on the organ and Chen’s fierce pianistic bravura to recreate massive symphonic walls of sound in an intimate setting.
Reflecting on how rapidly the organization has crystallized into reality, Gillette-Bockhorn notes, “It is genuinely astounding how fast this all came together—from the immediate, warm embrace of the local community to the sheer eagerness of these incredible musicians to dive in and build something extraordinary with us.”
Audiences in Fayette County no longer need to travel to Houston or Austin to experience top-tier chamber music; a world-class permanent talent pool has been hand-selected and established right here at home. With formal 501(c)(3) status locked in and a formidable foundation of virtuosic talent taking root, the Colorado Valley Chamber Players have arrived. The groundwork is complete, and a magnificent new era for innovative classical performance in Central Texas has begun. Pipe and Key will be featured in concert on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in La Grange. The spellbinding sounds of these two keyboard instruments will create the impact of a full orchestra, right in our backyard. Music of Liszt, Mozart, Tsfasman and the beloved “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin will be featured. Tickets are required, but free of charge this time only due to the generous underwriting of Joanne Gillette and Dr. Edward Moss. Tickets can be purchased at www.cvchamberplayers. org/events.