BENICIA CHAMBER PLAYERS
Photography by Rory Earnshaw
Friday, October 17, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Community Congregational Church, UCC
1305 West 2nd Street Benicia, CA
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Saturday, October 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Piedmont Center for the Arts
801 Magnolia Avenue Piedmont, CA
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Join the Benicia Chamber Players as we kick off our 2025–2026 season with a playful, thought-provoking program that asks: how do composers stay rooted in tradition while creating something entirely new?
In Carrots and Counterpoint, three composers from different eras explore that question in bold, unexpected ways through the string quartet. Florence Price blends American folksongs and African spirituals with classical technique in her Five Folksongs in Counterpoint. Schubert’s Rosamunde Quartet fuses his love of song and chamber music, reworking melodies from earlier vocal pieces, including music from the play Rosamunde. Inspired by Cézanne’s quote, “The day will come when a single, freshly observed carrot will start a revolution,” Gabriella Smith’s Carrot Revolution reimagines the string quartet with wild textures and fresh perspective.
Come for the counterpoint, stay for the carrots.
Program:
Florence Price - Five Folksongs in Counterpoint
Franz Schubert - String Quartet No. 13 in a minor, Op. 29, No. 1, D. 804, "Rosamunde"
Gabriella Smith - Carrot Revolution
Performers:
Alicia Choi, violin
Patrick Galvin, violin
Luis Eduardo Bellorín, viola
Brady Anderson, cello
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About
Founded in 2006, the Benicia Chamber Players’ mission is to provide a classical chamber music concert series to underserved East Bay areas including Benicia, Pleasanton and Vallejo. Our aim is to cultivate a community of local and other world-class professional musicians with a love of playing chamber music who are dedicated to sharing that love with audiences.
We are a member of Intersection for the Arts. Intersection for the Arts is a historic nonprofit that provides people working in the arts and culture with fiscal sponsorship and resources to grow.