Chamber Music

How the program works

Chamber music is the small-group side of Porter’s ensembles: two to eight players, one on a part, no conductor. Groups form in the first two weeks of each term and rehearse on their own for at least two hours a week. Each group gets a 50-minute coaching session every week with a faculty member or teaching artist. This fall there are eleven groups and 46 players:

• two string quartets and a piano trio,
• a woodwind quintet and a saxophone quartet,
• a brass quintet (which the visiting Lantern Brass Quintet coaches in November),
• a percussion ensemble of six, which is the reason the Band Room has earplugs,
• a guitar trio, a flute choir, a vocal sextet and a mixed group of clarinet, cello and accordion with music arranged by its own members.

Strings are thin on a polytechnic campus, so violinists, violists and cellists are recruited hard and also make up the core of the Porter Falls Chamber Orchestra. That is a string orchestra of students, faculty and community players, rehearsed for one project a term. This year it joins the University Choir on March 21.

Coordinator and coaches

The program is coordinated by Priya Winslow, professor of practice in instrumental performance, who sorts the groups and matches coaches. Coaches this year include Anton Yoon (winds), Ravi Mbeki (brass and percussion), Elena Reinholt (voices) and two community teaching artists: Naomi Kraus (violin and viola) and Lars Hegg (guitar). Rehearsal rooms are booked through the same system as the practice rooms. Chamber groups get the larger rooms with grand pianos from 6 to 10 p.m. on weeknights.

Credit

Register for MUS 1650 Chamber Music, 0 or 1 credit, repeatable. It counts toward the music minor. You can be in a chamber group and a large ensemble at the same time, and about two-thirds of members are. Students writing for their own groups can take MUS 3500 Composition, and the spring showcase includes a set of new student pieces.

Recitals this season

The recitals are free and need no ticket. The gallery holds about 90 folding chairs, and after that people stand among the art, which the gallery staff tolerate cheerfully. See the exhibitions that will be on the walls. Groups also play receptions, the Chancellor’s holiday open house and, on request, community events. Musicians are paid $75 each per gig through the department, and booking requests go to the department office.

How to join

Fill out the chamber music interest form in MyPorter, listing your instrument, your experience and anyone you already want to play with, then play a short placement hearing in the first week of term (January 25–28, 2027 for spring). Bring 2–3 minutes of anything. Pre-formed groups are welcome and are kept together. Singles are placed by Winslow, who has a good record of making a quartet out of four strangers from four different colleges. Community string players interested in the Chamber Orchestra can email the department. Adults in town who are looking for a wind band should also see the Porter Falls Community Band. All requirements are on ensemble auditions.