The Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society will present a concert featuring faculty from the Southern Illinois University School of Music and guest artists on April 21 in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall at SIU Carbondale.
The event is significant as it brings together musicians from both SIU and other institutions, highlighting a mix of contemporary works and classic chamber music. The program aims to engage the community while supporting music education for students.
Performers include Michael Barta and Ching-Yi Lin on violins, Andrew Braddock and Rossana Cauti on violas, and William Cernota and Wei Liu Denton on cellos. Faculty performers from SIU are Barta, who is a professor of violin and chamber music; Cauti, an assistant professor of practice and director of the SIU String Orchestra; and Cernota, an assistant lecturer. Lin is a professor at Western Kentucky University; Braddock is also with Western Kentucky University’s String Academy; Denton performs with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra.
The concert will open with “To See the Summer Sky” by Helen Grime. This piece for violin and viola will be performed by Lin along with viola accompaniment. “Helen Grime’s writing is both refined and expressive,” said Cauti. “This piece invites the listener into a sound world that is intimate and evocative, where the dialogue between violin and viola becomes a narrative of shifting moods and textures.”
In the second half, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70” will be performed by all six musicians. Describing this work, Cauti said: “Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence is one of the most beloved works in the chamber repertoire. It brings together warmth, brilliance, and extraordinary energy, allowing each performer to contribute equally to a dynamic and cohesive musical experience.”
Cauti also said that this concert reflects their mission to foster artistic collaboration within southern Illinois: “Our goal is to bring high-level chamber music performances to the community while supporting the next generation of musicians,” she said. “This concert exemplifies the collaborative spirit of SIU’s faculty and guest artists, offering a program that is both intellectually engaging and deeply expressive.”
The Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society supports regional concerts like this one while providing scholarships for outstanding students pursuing music studies at SIU Carbondale.
