The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: The Oakwood Chamber Players will perform playful works by Elisenda Fabregas, Malcolm Arnold and Robert Schumann this Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

By Jacob Stockinger

The Oakwood Chamber Players (below) continue the concert season theme of “Play” with playful whimsy in a concert entitled Fairy Tales and Other Stories, on this Saturday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 17, at 1:30 p.m.

The concerts will both be held at the Oakwood Center for Arts and Education, 6209 Mineral Point Road, on Madison‘s far west side.

Tickets can be purchased with cash or personal checks at the door. They are $20 for general admission, $15 for seniors and $5 for students. Visit www.oakwoodchamberplayers.com for more information.

This concert features the chamber ensemble’s talented pianist Vincent Fuh (below top) who will perform solo selections from “Scenes from Childhood” By Robert Schumann (below bottom, in 1850). This piece captures a wide range of expressivity and shifts in energy illuminated by the composer‘s musical imagination. (You can hear “Scenes From Childhood” performed by Martha Argerich in a YouTube video at the bottom.)

The program will also include “Voces di mi Terra” (Voices of My Land) by the compelling Catalan/American composer Elisenda Fabregas (below), written for flute, cello and piano.

The Quintet for violin, viola, flute, horn and bassoon by British composer Malcolm Arnold is a clever and varied composition that shows an upbeat and playful approach to a non-traditional combination of instruments.

Robert Schumann’s Fairy Tales, Op. 132, for clarinet, viola and piano will give the audience a glimpse into a dream world of music that is sometimes uplifting and sometimes mysterious.

This is the third of five concerts in the Oakwood Chamber Players 2015-2016 season series titled “Play.” Remaining concerts include Children’s Games on March 5 and 6; and Summer Splash on May 14 and 15.

The Oakwood Chamber Players is a group of Madison-area professional musicians who have rehearsed and performed at Oakwood Village for over 30 years.

The Oakwood Chamber Players are a professional music ensemble proudly supported by Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries and the Oakwood Foundation.