Chandler Concert
A Huge Privilege

I could not sleep for several hours after the concert at Chandler Music Hall this past weekend because I was too electrified by the intense beauty and power of the Chiara Quartet's performance. It was beyond any ordinary privilege to be in that acoustically rich hall for that exceptional concert.

In that concert, we heard a bold interpretation of a Beethoven string quartet, a world premiere of a breathtaking work by Vermont composer Erik Nielsen—written for the centennial of our great music hall—and the magnificent Schubert Quintet, Opus 163. All were memorably performed by the Chiara Quartet, four individuals of immense talent and musical emotion.

When the Nielsen piece ended, I wanted to reach out and grab that last transcendent note of the composition and pull it back into the hall. I didn't want the piece to be over, it was so beautiful. I had to force myself to remember to breathe throughout the piece's exquisite second movement. Many of us in the audience had tears in our eyes from its profound beauty.

The second half of the concert, which featured the Schubert quintet, provided the most engaging performance of that great lyrical piece of music that I have ever heard. I played a CD of the same Schubert quintet the next day, and although it featured no one less than Yo-Yo Ma, it just couldn't come close to the sweeping resonance and command of those gifted, live instrumentalists on the stage in front of us Saturday night.

Many people have individually shepherded Chandler though the years to this exceptionally high level of quality at our hall's 100th birthday, and they deserve our endless gratitude. We know many of them as friends and neighbors, and although their names are too numerous to mention here, the list most assuredly includes the very dedicated current Chandler President Janet Watton and director Rebecca McMeekin. How blessed we are!

Marjorie Ryerson

Randolph