Pacifica Chamber Ensemble Bows in Unitarian

The musicians perform beautifully as individuals and together in their group debut

By Margo Kline, Noozhawk Contributor | Published on 09.22.2009

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Already possessing an embarrassment of musical riches, our community received more largesse Sunday afternoon with the debut of the Pacifica Chamber Ensemble at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara.

The fine new group consists of pianist Allen Bishop, flautist Suzanne Duffy, violinist Claude-Lise LaFranque and cellist Ervin Klinkon, each a well-established and highly regarded artist. Bishop, a professor at the Pacifica Graduate Institute, had the happy impulse to form the group, and the result is a harmonic convergence.

The pews in the Unitarian sanctuary were filled for the program, which offered works by Franz Josef Haydn, Antonin Dvorak, Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It would be difficult to find more agreeable company on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

First on the program was Haydn’s Flute Trio in D Major, Hob. XV:16, featuring piano and cello supporting Duffy as she explored Haydn’s three-movement work spotlighting the flute. The second movement, andante piu tosto allegretto, was particularly beautiful in its interplay of the three voices.

That was followed by Romantic Pieces, Opus 75 by Dvorak, its three parts exploring some of the happy Czech composer’s most lyrical impulses, with Bishop accompanying violinist LaFranque. The music was composed before Dvorak entered his “American” phase, and the two performers skillfully explored the composer’s Bohemian sensibilities.

Haydn’s London Trio No. 3 in G Major, Hob: IV:2 closed out the first half of the program, with Duffy, LaFranque and Klinkon in fine form.

The second half began with Bach’s delightful Partita in A Minor for Solo Flute, BWV 1013. Duffy has long since demonstrated her talent with local appearances with Opera Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra. This Bach is in four movements, each of them a Baroque dance, and her playing was superbly light and lilting.

The scheduled program ended with Mozart’s Piano Trio in G Major, KV 564, with Bishop, LaFranque and Klinkon. This is a “late” work from Mozart’s foreshortened life, and was played brilliantly.

An encore followed, the Dance of the Blessed Spirits by Christoph Willibald Gluck.

It was altogether fitting for an afternoon spent in such exalted musical company, referencing both the composers and the musicians.

Welcome to a vigorous new serious music group. It will be instructive to see what the Pacifica Chamber Ensemble has to offer the next time. And kudos to the Unitarian Society, which continues to bring excellent concerts to Santa Barbara on a monthly basis.

— Margo Kline covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributor.

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