Music Among Friends

Enjoy the glorious spectrum of chamber music involving string and wind players from the Yale Medical Symphony Orchestra...from the iconic Schubert Octet to The Beatles! This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Blackstone Library in dedication to Edward Maloney.

About the Performers:

The YMSO chamber players carry on a rich tradition of the link between music and medicine. They are all members of the Yale Medical Symphony Orchestra, a unique volunteer orchestra made up of doctors, medical students, researchers, and other healthcare workers in the Yale community. It has brought a beloved concert series to greater New Haven since its founding in 2008. 

After a recent successful season, a few members, unhappy about a summer hiatus, decided to form a chamber ensemble. Chamber music involves smaller groups with no conductor, and is more collaborative, as each member plays a role in shaping the music. 

While most chamber music consists of quartets or trios, there is repertoire for octets, allowing for the combination of winds with strings.  When eight people play together, there is the potential for beautiful synergy of musical ideas, but balancing eight voices and personalities can be daunting. This is especially true when blending wind instruments with strings.

However, as healthcare workers, we are no strangers to challenges, and we could think of no better musical challenge than the Schubert Octet. The octet is arranged for the classic string quartet (2 violins, viola, and cello), plus double bass, then additionally bassoon, horn, and clarinet as the winds.  This combination of voices allows for unique timbres and colors that are scarcely found in other chamber repertoire, as Schubert gives each instrument a chance to shine. 

For this program we have also chosen to break down our octet into smaller ensembles to showcase the classic string quartet as well as the rich sounds of the wind trio of clarinet, horn and bassoon. This way the audience can appreciate the magnificence of the larger mixed chamber ensemble but aLao experience the sonorities when the winds and strings play separately.

We therefore hope to demonstrate the unique, vast  and beautiful sounds chamber music can deliver. 

Richard Zhu - violin

Abigail Soloway - violin

Yariel Luna - viola

Linnea Weiss - cello

Ruthmabel Boytz - bass

Joseph Vinetz - clarinet 

Emily Fine - horn 

Adrienne Gallagher - bassoon 

Registration is required to attend this IN-PERSON event.