Grass Valley: Frisson is the feeling and experience of physical reactions such as shivers, tingling skin, and goosebumps. The Frisson experience can be found at the InConcert Sierra “Third Sunday Series” on Sunday, March 19.
“Frisson” is the name of an ensemble of emerging classical music stars who are recent award-winning graduates from top music schools like Juilliard, Curtis and Yale. Led by artistic director and virtuoso oboist, Thomas Gallant, the musicians were chosen through auditions in New York City and tour across the United States. Performing rarely-performed powerhouse masterworks, Frisson’s ten members form different combinations of instruments in a variety of chamber works that feature piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and/or French horn.
The program introduces works that audiences don’t hear often but wish they could, such as Martinu’s “Nonet for strings and winds” that is an exhilarating rollercoaster ride of emotions, followed by August Walter’s stunning “Octet for Wind and Strings” that makes a mere eight people sound deceptively like a symphony orchestra. Other works include Roussel’s “Divertissement for Wind Quintet and Piano” and the masterpiece Schumann’s “Piano Quartet Op. 47.”
“In just a few seasons, the Frisson ensemble has skyrocketed to become a leading classical music group, performing at such prestigious venues as the Marlboro and Ravinia Festivals, as well as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York City,” said Gallant.’ Oboist Thomas Gallant is one of the world’s few virtuoso solo performers on this instrument and he has been praised by The New Yorker magazine as ‘a player who unites technical mastery with intentness, charm and wit.”
“There is a 20-minute pre-concert forum that begins at 1:15pm, prior to the performance.
“After researching the magnificent and rarely-heard works, I’m really excited to interview members of Frisson. It takes courage and much thought to create a program like this and I know the audience is going to love hearing works that I think would be considered traditional favorites if they could be performed more often and by master musicians such as Frisson. It’s a fantastic program with many nuances and unseen connections,” said Ken Hardin, ICS Artistic Director.
InConcert Sierra is a Nevada County nonprofit organization that presents concerts featuring the world’s leading and emerging classical musicians and produces its own Sierra Master Chorale and InConcert Sierra Orchestra concerts, as well as robust educational programs for all ages. Since its inception in 1946, ICS continues to contribute to a vibrant arts and culture scene in the region.
For more information, call 530-273-3990 or please visit www.inconcertsierra.org.
What: InConcert Sierra presents Frisson
When: 2pm, Sunday, March 19, 2023; 1:15 pre-concert forum
Where: Seventh-day Adventist Church, 12889 Osborne Hill Road, Grass Valley
Tickets: $48 general available online at inconcertsierra.org or call 530-273-3990 Youth (5-17) free with adult