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The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society, the non-profit, all-volunteer organization founded in 1973 to present exceptional classical musicians in Mill Valley at affordable ticket prices, continues its 2018-19 season with a performance by the St. Lawrence String Quartet featuring Geoff Nuttall and Owen Dalby on violin, Lesley Robertson on viola, Christopher Costanza on cello, joined by acclaimed clarinet virtuoso Todd Palmer. Immediately after the concert the audience is invited to stay for a reception to meet Bay Area composer Jonathan Berger and the performers.

The performance, the latest in the organization’s 46th season of Marin Chamber Performances concert series, is set for Sunday, February 17 at Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church

Established in Toronto in 1989, the St. Lawrence String Quartet quickly earned acclaim at top international chamber music competitions and was soon playing hundreds of concerts per year worldwide. They established an ongoing residency at Spoleto Festival USA, made prize-winning recordings for EMI of music by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Golijov, earning two Grammy nominations and a host of other prizes before being appointed ensemble-in-residence at Stanford University in 1999.

At Stanford, the SLSQ is at the forefront of intellectual life on campus, directing the music department’s chamber music program, and frequently collaborates with other departments including the Schools of Law, Medicine, Business and Education. The Quartet performs regularly at Stanford Live, hosts an annual chamber music seminar, and runs the Emerging String Quartet Program through which they mentor the next generation of young quartets. In the words of Alex Ross of The New Yorker: “The St. Lawrence are remarkable not simply for the quality of their music making, exalted as it is, but for the joy they take in the act of connection.”

Three time Grammy-nominated clarinetist Todd Palmer has appeared as soloist, recitalist, chamber music collaborator, educator, arranger, and presenter in a variety of musical endeavors around the world. He has collaborated with many of the world’s finest string ensembles and has also shared the stage with sopranos Kathleen Battle, Renée Fleming, Elizabeth Futral, Heidi Grant Murphy, and Dawn Upshaw, as well as many notable instrumentalists.

Jonathan Berger is an American composer whose symphonic, chamber, vocal, and electroacoustic works are performed throughout the world. Thrice commissioned by The National Endowment for the Arts, Berger has also received major commissions from the Mellon and Rockefeller foundations, Chamber Music America, and numerous chamber music societies and ensembles. The winner of the 2016 Rome Prize and the 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship, Berger is the Denning Family Provostial Professor in Music at Stanford University.

The February 17th concert is the inaugural program of the BAY AREA MUSIC CONSORTIUM (BAMC), a partnership between four distinct organizations dedicated to presenting the finest in chamber music experiences: Berkeley Chamber Performances, Gold Coast Chamber Players (Lafayette), Mill Valley Chamber Music Society, and Noe Valley Chamber Music (San Francisco). With the synergy of combined resources, collective planning and a shared artistic vision, the BAMC is able to present outstanding ensembles performing uniquely designed programs that enrich each of the individual member communities.

MV Chamber Music Society’s 2018-19 season continues Fauré Quartet on March 24, 2019. As usual, the organization will cap its season by showcasing the talents of five emerging classical musicians at the annual Marin Music Chest “Young Artists’ Concert” on May 19, 2019.
   
The 411: The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society presents a concert the St. Lawrence String Quartet joined by acclaimed clarinet virtuoso Todd Palmer. on Sunday, February 17 at Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church, 410 Sycamore Ave. at 5 p.m. Single tickets are $35 general and FREE for youth, teen and college music students. Students 15 years old or younger must be accompanied by an adult. Season subscriptions options include $120 per person for all five concerts or a mini-subscription for $90 for three concerts. All subscribers receive a complimentary ticket to the annual Marin Music Chest Young Artists Concert in May 2019. MORE INFO & TIX