On the Edge: A Live Performance by the Worcester Chamber Music Society

with Tracy Kraus, Krista Buckland Reisner, Rohan Gregory, Peter Sulski, and David Russell

Thursday, February 1, 2024, 7:00pm ET - 8:30pm ET

This program will be held in person at Antiquarian Hall, located at 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester. Click the link below to purchase tickets. Doors open at 6:30pm.

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Bookending the beginning of the 20th century and all that was to come, pieces by Amy Beach and Claude Debussy illustrate the influences American and French composers had on each other and seem almost to anticipate the upheaval the world would experience.

The evening will include an opportunity to view original scores by Ms. Beach and other women composers, part of the American Antiquarian Society’s collection. A wine and dessert reception will follow the concert.

Program
Amy Beach
Theme and Variations for flute and strings, Op. 80

Claude Debussy
String Quartet in G minor

Tracy Kraus, flute. Kraus has performed throughout Europe and the United States and participated in the Aspen and Tanglewood festivals. Her love of the Northern California coast led her to her current orchestral tenure with the Mendocino Music Festival. In 1982 Kraus founded the Abbot Chamber Players and quickly discovered her passion for the genre and organization management. Kraus is a co-founder and Executive Director of the Worcester Chamber Music Society and has led the group through a significant stage of growth and success. She is a graduate of Clark University and the Boston Conservatory and studied with flute masters Louis Moyse, Trevor Wye, Leone Buyse, and Geoffrey Gilbert.

Krista Buckland Reisner, violin. Reisner's love of chamber music led her to join WCMS 14 years ago, after playing in the QX string quartet for many years prior with fellow WCMSers Peter Sulski and Rohan Gregory. Her commitment to bringing this art form to the Worcester community also included taking on administrative roles within WCMS as the organization grew. These included acting as General Manager and managing the Summer Festival and Music Camp for six years. In addition to maintaining her active chamber music and orchestra life, Reisner’s musical interests include exploring other musical styles and instruments, including jazz improv, Swedish nykleharpa, and piano. She also holds an MBA from Babson College and currently heads up the Project Management Office at Takeoff Technologies, an industrial automation start-up serving the e-commerce grocery space.

Rohan Gregory, violin. Gregory is a violinist who has cultivated a wide-ranging expertise in chamber music, new music and world music. He has played with the Apple Hill Chamber Players, the Ancora Ensemble and award-winning Boccherini Ensemble and was also a founding member for ten years of the Arden String Quartet, performing new music concerts in New York, Boston, Amsterdam and St. Petersburg, Russia. He has recorded on for Centaur records. Locally, Gregory is a member of the Lyric Opera Company and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He coaches chamber music for the Walnut Hill School, teaches at the College of the Holy Cross, and spends his summers coaching at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber music in New Hampshire, at Music at Port Milford in Ontario, Canada, and at WCMS’s ChamberFest Music Camp.

Peter Sulski, viola/violin. Sulski has performed in over 30 countries as a member of the Apple Hill Chamber Players, London Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, Cyprus Chamber Orchestra, and Al Kamandjati Baroque Ensemble (Palestine). He returned to his native Worcester in 2002, after holding the position of Head of Strings of the Edward Said National Palestinian Conservatory. Sulski is a co-founder and member of the Worcester Chamber Music Society. He is an educator with the society’s Neighborhood Strings, a free program for disadvantaged youth. He is also the founder of Chapel Royal Concerts in Brighton, England, now entering its 25th season, presenting over 40 concerts annually.

David Russell, cello. Russell maintains a vigorous schedule both as soloist and as collaborator in the U.S. and Europe. He was appointed to the teaching faculty of Wellesley College in 2005 and currently serves as Director of Chamber Music. He is a regular performer with several Boston-area ensembles such as Emmanuel Music and Cantata Singers and Ensemble and served as Principal Cello with Opera Boston from 2005-2011. He teaches at the Cello Seminar, a summer program for study of contemporary cello music associated with Music from Salem and developed by Rhonda Rider. He has recorded for the BMOPSound, Albany Records, New World Records, Centaur Records and Composers Recordings labels.