…is what you might be asking yourself when you come to our concerts. “Sure, it’s a beautiful instrument,” you’re likely also telling yourself, “but there are so many other great instruments out there. Why is the viola so prominent?” These are all really good points, especially the one about the viola being a beautiful instrument. The reasons for the huge surplus of chamber music with viola go far beyond the fact that the director of the series is a violist (though it doesn’t hurt). The viola has traditionally served an important but overlooked role in the orchestra. It provides some of the inner harmony in the music, which is an…

On October 1, 2019 (with an encore presentation on October 7), Spectrum Chamber Music Society will present the world premiere of Till MacIvor Meyn’s new string quartet, Flights of Fancy, which he composed specifically for our series. The piece will be performed by Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra violinists Michael Shih and Molly Baer, violist Dan Sigale, and cellist Keira Fullerton. In preparation for the premiere, I sat down with the composer to talk about his piece, how coming up with a creative title affects the way he composes music, and what he gets out of working interactively with the musicians he writes for.   Dan Sigale: Tell us about your new piece, Flights…

As Spectrum begins our 34th season of presenting incredible chamber music performances given by musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and friends, I have a number of exciting things to share with you! The first thing is what you are looking at now: Our new and improved website. In addition to having a new, dynamic format, the site includes a “Director’s Notes” blog that features all the exciting things that are coming to Spectrum. Since we don’t usually finalize the program until a few weeks before each performance (find out why here), this is the place to find out what we’ve added as we add them. The blog will…

Fall 2019 Featuring the World Premiere of Till MacIvor Meyn’s Flights of Fancy for String Quartet Tuesday, October 1st, 7:30pm —Spectrum East Monday, October 7th, 7:00pm—Spectrum Downtown Winter 2020 Monday, February 10th, 7:30pm—Spectrum East Monday, February 17th, 7:00pm—Spectrum Downtown Spring 2020 Featuring the Spectrum Premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale Tuesday, May 11th, 7:30pm—Spectrum East Monday, June 1, 7:00pm—Spectrum Downtown Join us after each performance for a post-concert reception!