RFA Hosts Chamber Music from Amsterdam
Driven by their love of chamber music, musicians from Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will perform together as Camerata RCO at the Lancaster Elementary School Theater on Sunday, May 3. The show, hosted by the Rappahannock Foundation for the Arts (RFA), begins at 4:00 p.m. at 191 School Street, Kilmarnock. Doors open at 3:00.
At 3:30, advanced students from the String Orchestra for Northern Neck Youth—the SONNY String Quartet—will perform in the theater lobby to welcome patrons and offer a heartfelt thank you for the RFA’s support. These young musicians study through a string‑instruction program launched by the Northumberland Rappahannock Concert Association, and the RFA is delighted to showcase their talent as part of this special event.
Admission is by season subscription or a single ticket purchase of $45. Tickets can be purchased at rappahannockfoundation.org, by calling 804-438-5555, or at the door. Students under 18 are free, but must reserve a seat by emailing Donna McGrath at admin@rfaonstage.com or calling 804-438-5555.
Praised by the New York Times for their “warm, glowing performance,” Camerata RCO performs music in multiple formations from duet to small chamber orchestra, with a focus on the Classical and Romantic repertoire for winds and strings, and active relationships with living composers.
Performing for the Kilmarnock concert will be: Annebeth Webb, violin; Johan van Iersel, cello; Vilém Kijonka, viola; Fons Verspaandonk, horn; Arno Piters, clarinet; and Ramon van Engelenhoven, piano.
Camerata RCO has enjoyed tremendous success in the Netherlands and abroad and performs around 50 concerts a season internationally in music capitals such as Amsterdam, Vienna, Tokyo, Seoul, Madrid, Rome, and New York.
“Performances like this remind us just how lucky we are. To have an ensemble from one of the world’s great orchestras here in our town—it’s truly remarkable,” says RFA board president Jamie Tucker. “We know moments like this don’t happen in a vacuum. Our region has a deep love of great music—thanks in no small part to the Northern Neck Orchestra and its wonderfully loyal patrons. We’re glad to be part of that same circle of support, bringing world‑class performances to our community.”
Camerata RCO appears regularly on radio and television broadcasts. Their ever-expanding discography on Gutman Records includes recordings of works by Corelli, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Mahler, and Ravel. Their latest album, released in 2021, features Bruckner 7th Symphony in arrangement for chamber ensemble, conducted by Olivier Patey.
Recent highlights include a special benefit concert directed by New York Philharmonic music director and former Concertgebouw concertmaster Jaap Van Zweden. Camerata RCO has toured North America multiple times in recent seasons, performing works by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann, as well as Dutch composer Tristan Keuris and RCO composer-in-residence Detlev Glanert.
The concert will open with Mozart’s Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, a piece composed in 1786 and later nicknamed “Kegelstatt” in a nod to Mozart’s fondness for nine-pin bowling (kegelspiel in German). The trio (K. 498)—known for its elegance and conversational spirit—was first played in the home of a friend and student, with Mozart on the viola.
Next will come Johannes Brahms’ Horn trio, Op. 40, in E-flat Major for horn, violin and piano, his 1865 tribute to nature and memorial to his mother, who had died earlier in the year. Inspired by his walks in the Black Forest, Brahms incorporated the valveless Waldhorn, the forest horn he had learned as a child. The third movement recalls a German folk song his mother sang to him.
After an intermission, the Camerata will perform Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, arranged by Henk de Vlieger. Composed in 1884 for the London Philharmonic Society, the Symphony is widely considered “among the greatest and purest examples of this art form since Beethoven.” It marked Dvořák’s rising international stature amid his deepening engagement with the turbulent Czech national movement.
The RFA season is sponsored by Chesapeake Bank and Chesapeake Wealth Management. Series Sponsor: Susan G. Moenssens, Attorney at Law, Lighthouse Real Estate, Inc. Program Sponsors: Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury, Sebra Corporation, Tri-Star Supermarket, and Two Rivers Communications. Support from the National Endowment for the Arts helps to make this and other RFA productions possible.