Inspired by a shared passion for chamber music, the members of the Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble began performing as a group in 1990. Hailed as the 'premier ensemble of the finger lakes region', they continue their association with the Lodi Historical Society, now in its fifteenth year, with a series of three chamber concerts in their beautiful venue. They also perform t
heir traditional Mother’s Day concert and a Recital Series at the Ithaca Unitarian Church and present a popular Salon Series at the home of ensemble members Roberta Crawford and Michael Salmirs.
heir traditional Mother’s Day concert and a Recital Series at the Ithaca Unitarian Church and present a popular Salon Series at the home of ensemble members Roberta Crawford and Michael Salmirs.Presenting contemporary chamber repertoire and encouraging the composition of new works is an integral part of our mission. Since 2000 we’ve held two new music competitions, drawing entries from throughout the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
In 2003, we initiated our commissioning project with the piano quintet, “Voodoo Trances, Spectral Dances”. This work, written by New York composer, Marek Harris, premiered to a wildly enthusiastic crowd. In May 2004, we followed up with another premiere: Harris’s Duo-Sonata for Two Violins, commissioned by the Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble and friends in honor of the marriage of FLCE members Patricia Sunwoo and David Brickman.
In October 2006 we premiered David Liptak’s Quintet for Piano and String Quartet — the result of a joint commission undertaken in collaboration with the Cassatt Quartet and made possible through a generous contribution. The Ensemble is also excited by the prospect of commissioning another new work which we’ll premiere for our twentieth season celebration.
“…the TLC that went into the realization of this masterwork was apparent in every bar. All of the players…had a large repertory of sounds at their fingertips to create such startling contrasts. … the overall feeling I took from this performance was one of being swept up in a powerful current of magnificent music. The middle section of the third movement was as heart-meltingly beautiful as anything I could hope to hear, and the fugal coda of the finale generated so much heat, it could singe your hair if you sat too close." —the Ithaca Times in a review of Brahms’s Piano Quintet
photo: David Perlman