Marine Barracks Annex, Washington, DC -- The Marine Chamber Music Series continues at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 3 with a program featuring selections both old and new. Coordinated by horn player Master Sgt. Douglas Quinzi, the performance will take place in John Philip Sousa Band Hall, online and in person at the Marine Barracks Annex in southeast Washington, D.C.
“With this program, I wanted to showcase exciting new music, displaying chamber music’s tradition of collaboration and creativity continuing to this very performance," Quinzi said. “I love chamber music. I love listening to it, I love playing it, I love seeing it performed. It brings the audience in close, and with every successive note, chord, or melody, a story is told in a brand new way, even if a piece has been performed a hundred times before.”
The program for the March 3 chamber concert presents a mix of classic compositions and exciting new pieces.
The March 3 chamber concert will open with an arrangement of Teresa Carreño’s Un bal en rêve, Opus 26, created by former Marine Band tubist, Thomas Holtz. Translating to “A ball in dreams,” Carreño sweetly ferries the listener between “the sleep” and “the dream.” After an introduction organized around a ragtime tune, “the sleep” begins with beautifully serene harmonies and a hint of “Happy Birthday.”
Unconventionally excellent, “Get it!” by Gene Kosinski is equal parts bassoon showpiece and late-night jam session, and Joan Perez-Villegas’s Sólo el misterioso is a vibrant and colorful work enjoying its North American premiere. In the past few years, the Marine Band has performed a few exciting new works by Viet Cuong, and this concert includes the highly inventive Wax and Wire. It is equally exciting to present another premiere, Luna, by fellow Marine Band member, Master Sgt. Ryan McGeorge, a beautiful, meditative piece to close the first half of the concert.
After an intermission, the Chamber Orchestra will close the program with Johannes Brahms’s “Trio in E-flat, Opus 40.” This monumental yet immensely personal work demands solo mastery from each performer while also requiring constant cooperation in support of each other. When it was produced, the uncommon pairing of violin with horn, rather than with viola or cello, was revolutionary. Asked about the selection, Quinzi said “I wanted to offer a masterwork of horn chamber music, not only widely known to modern horn players but also truly groundbreaking in its day.” Brahms was a talented horn player who preferred the darker, more covered sound of the valveless waldhorn, even after the development of the more versatile valved horn.
Directions
The concert is free and open to the public; no tickets are required. The Marine Barracks Annex is located at 1053 7th Street SE in Washington, DC, and free parking is available in the gated lot beneath the bridge on 7th Street. Please allow extra time for ID checks and security at the gate.