Musical Menu: Dinner In Leipzig
The Colorado Valley Chamber Players 2nd Concert is July 25
Once upon a time, there was a famous dinner in Leipzig.
The guest list included none other than three of the greatest composers of the Romantic era: Russia’s Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Norway’s Edvard Grieg, and Germany’s own Johannes Brahms. It was New Year’s Day, 1888, around the same time that–half a world away in La Grange, Texas–the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas was consecrating the newly completed red-brick St. James Episcopal Church.
One hundred and thirtyeight years later, on Saturday, July 25, that historic sanctuary will host the Colorado Valley Chamber Players’ second concert of their inaugural season: Dinner in Leipzig, a program inspired by that remarkable gathering of musical giants.
Although Brahms and Tchaikovsky had long been skeptical—even openly dismissive— of each other’s music, the evening proved unexpectedly convivial. History records that the meal included an unusual accompaniment: a tray of strawberry jam, cigars, coffee, and generous amounts of champagne and wine. Whether it was the excellent company or the flowing champagne, the dinner ended in warmth and friendship rather than rivalry.
Miles Gillette-Bockhorn, a Fayetteville native and Artistic Director of the Colorado Valley Chamber Players, thrilled audiences during the ensemble’s inaugural concert with flutist Isabelle Jamois at St. James earlier this year. His artistry combines remarkable technical command with expressive warmth. Joining him is Dr. Matt Lammers, first violinist of Houston’s awardwinning Axiom Quartet. A recipient of the prestigious Itzhak Perlman Fellowship, Lammers earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he now serves as Lecturer of Violin and Chamber Music. Equally at home performing Baroque works on period instruments with Mercury Chamber Orchestra and contemporary repertoire with the Grammy-nominated Kinetic Ensemble, he is recognized as one of Texas’s most accomplished violinists.
Leipzig itself provides an important backdrop to this story. Few cities have exerted such influence on European culture. It was home to philosophers including Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, and Friedrich Nietzsche, while Johann Wolfgang von Goethe studied there as a young man. Musically, the city’s legacy is extraordinary: Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert and Clara Schumann, Richard Wagner, and Johannes Brahms all left their mark on Leipzig’s rich artistic tradition.
Dinner in Leipzig offers more than a concert. It is an opportunity to step into one of history’s great musical centers and hear the works that helped define the 19th century, performed by exceptional artists in the intimate acoustics of one of Central Texas’s most beautiful historic churches.
Bring your children or grandchildren. Live chamber music has a way of capturing attention that recordings simply cannot, and there is no substitute for experiencing great musicians communicating directly with an audience.
Dinner in Leipzig will be presented on Saturday, July 25, at 3 p.m. at St. James Episcopal Church in La Grange, appropriately on the Feast of St. James Day, for whom the church is named.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children under 16 and may be purchased at www. cvchamberplayers.org.
The Colorado Valley Chamber Players is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing world-class chamber music to the heart of Central Texas. Don’t miss this unique musical afternoon
Dr. Matt Lammers, Grammynominated violinist will headline “Dinner in Leipzig,” the second concert of the new Colorado Valley Chamber Players.