REVIEW: Springfield Chamber Players, SCP Oboe Quartet

52 Sumner, Springfield, MA 
https://www.springfieldsymphonymusicians.com/
May 17, 2026 
by Michael J. Moran 

The “SCP Oboe Quartet” closed the Springfield Chamber Players’ second season at 52 Sumner with a typically stimulating and entertaining program of six chamber music selections, mixing old and new, familiar and less known repertoire. The acoustics of this former church are clear, warm, and spacious.

The quartet’s members are: Marsha Harbison, retiring Assistant Concertmaster of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra; SSO oboist and English horn player Karen Hosmer; SSO violist Dani Rimoni; and SSO cellist Boris Kogan. The concert, in honor of the late Dr. William Harbison, Marsha’s husband and an avid supporter of the SCP, drew a sizable and enthusiastic crowd. 

The concert opened with an elegant performance of German Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann’s four-movement “Trio Sonata in a Minor.” Next came a century-and-a-half leap forward to the best-known work on the program, Mozart’s cheerful three-movement 1781 “Oboe Quartet in F Major.” The ensemble gave it a sprightly turn, with Hosmer displaying greater virtuosity in the first and last movements than the oboe’s design allowed in Telemann’s time. 

The strings then turned in lively readings of two movements from Beethoven’s early (1797) six-movement “Serenade in D Major, Op. 8:” a charming opening (and closing) march; and an affectionate Polish dance. This was followed by a moving account of Brett L. Wery’s dramatic 8-minute “Passage of Orpheus for English Horn and String Trio.” Depicting Orpheus’s rescue and loss of his lover Eurydice in the underworld, it features soulful work by Hosmer (who is also Wery’s wife) portraying Eurydice alone on the English horn, a slightly larger and darker version of the oboe. 

The concert continued with a bracing rendition of French composer Jean Francaix’s jazzy 1971 “Quartet for English Horn and String Trio.” The three movements exuded alternately bustling and quiet corners of daily life in contemporary Paris. The afternoon ended with a novelty by George Gershwin, “Promenade: Walking the Dog,” in which Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire walk a dog on board a luxury liner in the 1937 film “Shall We Dance?” The ensemble took it for an aptly jaunty spin. 
  
Engaging comments before each piece by Harbison or Hosmer made up for the lack of program notes, and the Players commendably save paper by making a program list and performer bios easily accessible via QR code. 

REVIEW: Springfield Chamber Players, Sonic Pulse

Springfield Chamber Players, Springfield, MA
www.springfieldsymphonymusicians.com
November 23, 2025
by Michael J. Moran

Never has a more diverse array of percussion instruments likely filled the stage of 52 Sumner, this ensemble’s home, than at today’s concert. The afternoon’s four performers, led by Nathan Lassell, Springfield Symphony Orchestra Principal Percussionist, have equally diverse backgrounds. While all teach and play in orchestras, their musical experience ranges from jazz and film to video games. 

The seven pieces on their program showcased the surprisingly wide variety of the percussion repertoire. The concert began with James Romig’s 2003 composition “The Frame Problem,” in which a trio plays a theme in different meters and at shifting dynamic levels on woods, metals, and drums as solos, duets, and a closing trio. The title suggests that artificial intelligence cannot grasp, or “frame,” this theme a

Photo by Angela Park

s accurately as the human mind. Lassell, Doug Perry, and David West played it with color and verve.

Lassell next soloed on Eric Guinavan’s 2020 “Hypernova,” with a small kit of vibratone, gongs, and drums, plus electronic playback, capturing the title’s reference to a stellar explosion in outer space with eerie, explosive energy. The full foursome followed with a rambunctious take on Clark Hubbard’s 2024 “Stardust” for two vibraphonists and two drummers, which Hubbard calls “a blend of rock, metal, funk” and which for Lassell evokes the band Metallica.

Perry then fashioned an alternately delicate and rollicking vibraphone improvisation, backed with imagination by Lassell on an assortment of smaller instruments. Axel Clarke’s trio “Roe-Sham-Beau” is based on a West African rhythm, which, in Lassell’s words and in his animated reading with West and Makana Medeiros on woods, drums, and vibraphones, made for “a cool conversation.”

For the last two pieces, the performers moved off stage directly in front of the audience. The dramatic high point of the program was a virtuosic rendition by Medeiros on bongo drum and French-language vocals of Georges Aperghis’ riveting 1978 theatrical monologue “Le Corps a Corps” (“Body to Body”).

The joyful closing number was a “Kpanlogo,” a traditional Ghanaian dance rhythm, featuring the quartet playing exuberantly on barrel drums, an energized audience singing along, and one brave concertgoer joining the ensemble, at West’s invitation, on a fifth drum, blending right in.  

The success of this stunning concert, heard in warm and clear acoustics, was perhaps most evident in the record number of engaged attendees who lingered to speak with the accessible musicians afterwards.

REVIEW: Springfield Chamber Players, "All about the Bass"

Springfield Chamber Players,
Springfield, MA
https://www.springfieldsymphonymusicians.com/
October 26, 2025
by Michael J. Moran

Today’s concert opened this ensemble’s second season at its comfortable venue, 52 Sumner, at 52 Sumner Avenue in Springfield, with warm acoustics and ample free parking. The aptly titled program featured Alexander Svensen, Assistant Principal bassist of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, who also plays bass in the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and elsewhere across the northeastern United States.   

The concert began with three waltzes for “solo double bass” (another name for the bass, as Svensen quipped, because it’s “twice as good” as other instruments) by Italian composer and bass player Domenico Dragonetti. Nicknamed “Il Drago,” his virtuosity so impressed his contemporaries, including Beethoven, that the bass soon became more prominent in many orchestral scores. Svensen played these waltzes with an easy swing, drawing on his jazz background.   

Next came Scotia Aerin Switzer’s 2014 “Five Miniatures for Solo Bassoon,” arranged for bass by Svensen and Switzer. The low-lying sonority of these quirky pieces translates well to the bass, and Svensen tossed off their technical challenges with aplomb.

Introducing Johann Sebastian Bach’s 1720 second suite for solo cello, Svensen noted that in its higher “singing bel canto voice,” the bass can sound very much like a cello, while also retaining the deep resonant power of its lower tones. An imposing “Prelude” was followed by five short movements in French dance tempos: a stately “Allemande,” a fleet “Courante,” a ravishing “Sarabande,” in which time almost stopped, two graceful “Minuets,” and a lively “Gigue."

Svensen was next joined by violinist Romina Kostare, also an SSO and HSO member, in seven of the “44 Duos for Two Violins,” written by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok in 1933 as teaching exercises for children. Kostare’s nimble violin contrasted sharply with Svensen’s hefty bass in these appealingly varied selections, all based on eastern European folk tunes.

Photo by Angela Park

The program ended with Russian composer Alexander Muravyev’s 2014 “Alice in Wonderland – Suite for Double Bass Solo.” Alternating chipper narration by Patrick Berry of six scenes from Lewis Carroll’s book with Svensen’s playful accounts of Muravyev’s colorful depictions, the piece was played in memory of local arts impresario Mark Auerbach, without whom Svensen said “the Springfield Chamber Players would not exist.” Images of a smiling Auerbach and of John Tenniel’s original book illustrations were projected behind the stage.

This entertaining and enlightening program by the charismatic Svensen and friends sets a high standard for this resourceful ensemble’s new season

REVIEW: Springfield Chamber Players, "Broadway With Strings Attached"

52 Sumner, Springfield, MA

www.springfieldsymphonymusicians.com

April 26, 2025

by Lisa Covi

To echo a question from Cabaret, "What good is sitting alone in your room?"

 

An enthusiastic crowd answered the siren call of musical theater to experience a unique program of favorites and hidden gems at 52 Sumner, Springfield. 

Mark Auerbach, a performer, journalist and PR consultant for the Springfield Chamber Players (formerly called MOSSO) along with Marty Kluger (narrator, vocalist and conductor) compiled selections from 21 Broadway musicals for string quartet and voices.

Each selection related to orchestral strings: "Fiddler on the Roof," characters who are string players ("A Little Night Music"), or Thomas Jefferson's courtship by "Violin" ("1776").

 

The virtuosity of Beth Welty, Delores Thayer, Yoonhee Ko and Ronald Gorevic transformed their instruments into harmonious and atonal passages that furnished both setting and Greek chorus to the gifted singers. Spencer Reese and Sara Vincelett Dredge delivered expressive vocal interpretations that made even the most familiar ballads such as “Send in the Clowns” or “The Impossible Dream” unique characterizations. Orchestral passages showcased breadth and depth in “The Band's Visit” Israeli bleatings, “Oklahoma” broad square dance twangs and “On The Town” New York's romp of fleet week.

Although the 52 Sumner venue provides fine acoustics, comfortable seating and cash bar, the stage layout seemed a bit awkward with Kluger conducting the quartet occasionally from the center of the stage between the other vocalists and the strings seated on the far left.

The informal tone struck a pleasant chord with the humor in the narration, the named t-shirt costume, surprisingly choreographed dance and finale sing-along.

The Springfield Chamber Players are a valuable cultural resource which provided a convenient and pleasant opportunity to enjoy a well-crafted Pops program.

Review: Springfield Chamber Players: "Johnny Appleseed & other Fun Stories"

First Church of Christ, Longmeadow, MA

www.springfieldsymphonymusicians.com

May 12, 2024

by Lisa Covi

What is a happier childhood memory than a parent curling up with a picture book and being read to in your bed? Mother's Day in Longmeadow amplified that experience by gathering children of all ages at First Church of Christ to listen to three stories set to music (and a symphonic dance) performed by Springfield Chamber Players (formerly MOSSO). The composer and author of one of the selections were also on hand.

I don't ever think I will read or hear Munro Leaf's “Ferdinand, The Bull” again without recalling Marsha Harbison's braying violin playing Alan Rideout's arrangement for this story. Harbison introduced the tale, originally banned by fascists during the Spanish Civil War, as her favorite story. Martin Kluger's melodic voice narrated the tale – it was clear he is a vocalist and actor in addition to his other role as principal tympanist of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.

Clifton Noble photo by John Crispin

Boris Kogan on cello and Clifton J. Noble, Jr. on piano next performed Camille Sain-Saeen's
“The Swan” from his larger work, “Carnival of the Animals.” The delicacy of this movement inspired Anna Pavlova's trademark interpretative ballet. The piano evoked the surface of the water upon which the cello's swan passes across.

The centerpiece of the afternoon was Clifton J. Noble Jr's arrangement for “Johnny Appleseed: The Legend and the Truth.” The children's choir of the First Church sang catchy interludes to Jane Yolen's story of the Longmeadow native's journey to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Kara Noble narrated and introduced Yolen, who was present at the concert. The audience learned that Johnny Appleseed himself attended church in this very building. Michael Nix on banjo and Ellen Redman on flute joined the other musicians deftly enhancing the tale with original score and echos of American melodies.

The lively and euphonious afternoon drew active local families. Especially enjoyable were the projection of the text of the first piece and illustrations for all during the musical performance. Occasional imbalance of amplification made it sometimes difficult to hear the narration of the latter pieces.

The enthusiasm of the youth performers matched the professional musicians' dexterity. The opportunity for children to participate in the concert made a more impactful introduction to professional chamber music than my experience attending Prokofiev's “Peter and the Wolf.”

MOSSO's series continues with an outdoor concert in Longmeadow on June 13th at 6pm at the Maple Avenue Adult Center.