Category: Chamber Music

Meet Matilda Hofman & Left Coast Chamber Ensemble

Post author By Lolly Lewis
Post date October 24, 2026

Since 1992, San Francisco’s LEFT COAST CHAMBER ENSEMBLE has beguiled local audiences with exceptional performances and extraordinary programming. Their unique structure—LCCE is a collective of some of the Bay Area’s most admired musicians—allows them to present a broad range of repertoire in varied instrumentation. LCCE is committed to shining a light on emerging composers and the music of our time as well as presenting thrilling performances of the traditional chamber music we all love.

AMN was delighted when the opportunity arose to collaborate with Left Coast in creating a special event that brings community musicians together with adventurous composers in a live performance as part of LCCE’s annual festival.

AMN’s Lolly Lewis spoke with Left Coast Artistic Director Matilda Hofman about the project and about her vision of music that creates an authentic connection with the community.

Left Coast is committed to working with emerging composers and presenting high-quality performances of new and experimental works. Why is this so central to your mission?

It’s so exciting to be part of the process of a new work coming to life. In this concert the musicians will be even more involved in the creative process, as two of the works include improvisation. Hesam Abedini will be creating Crossing 3 with the musicians in real time, through the rehearsal and performance process, while Brittany Green’s score offers a lot of creative choices to the performers.

Music is never finished, it’s constantly changing. As performers, we can look to the future in bringing new voices to life, at the same time as we bring our deep personal instincts to bear on the music of the past, and strive to make it new again. This living continuum of musical evolution is where LCCE is at home. Working with the music of today and the composers of tomorrow enhances our vision of what excellence is and how classical music is genuinely part of the community, not isolated from it.

I love that Left Coast is never just one thing. Some of your ensemble members are renowned Early Music specialists, and others are orchestra musicians in some of the Bay Area’s top ensembles. How do you program for a “consortium” with its wide range of interests and instruments?

LCCE can perform in many different instrumental combinations, which opens a wealth of sound worlds and musical possibilities. Composers are able to write for combinations which don’t typically get as much attention. We perform new works alongside music from the past, which creates fresh perspectives for both the old and new music.

Because our programming calls on such an unusual variety of instrumentation, we can create opportunities for our artists who have busy schedules with other ensembles to participate in extraordinary chamber music with reliable partners they know and have affinity with. That way the musical level stays very high and we can create programming in a nimble and responsive way.

LCCE has an ongoing relationship with talented new composers through your composition contest program. I know it must be life-changing for these young composers to hear their own music played with such respect and sincerity by fine professional artists. But how does it affect those artists to play the music of talented young composers who are still in a formative phase?

One thing we do at LCCE is to really go into depth with every piece we work on and perform. We love to work with composers and create a space where they can develop their voices. We work to give every piece we perform the time it deserves: the musicians really absorb the music over time.

In the upcoming concert, how do you imagine the interaction with community musicians in the context of new music will inform and amplify the musical meaning of the works? Tell us something about what you anticipate for this collaboration.

Both Brittany and Hesam are established early career composers. Trey is an emerging composer who is a real talent to look out for. It is so exciting to be part of the process of music coming into being for young composers and to work with composers over time. It is great to have a musical relationship which can evolve and grow.

MAPS will be, among other things, a sonic journey through the beautiful Maybeck-designed church (First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Berkeley). It will be a thought-provoking musical exploration of the nature of borders and boundaries.

Two of the works involve improvisation: the performers also become part of the creative process of the work. We hope the interaction of the community musicians and the creative impulse of these wonderful composers will spark a stronger connection with new music in all their lives.

Plus, this is not your typical full-length concert: it will be about one hour of music followed by coffee and refreshments—perfect for a Saturday morning. We hope everyone onstage and in the audience will genuinely feel part of a special one-of-a-kind music experience and we hope to see you there!

AMN hopes so too. Thank you, Matilda, and thanks to LCCE!

To learn more about this collaboration and to apply to participate, go to https://amateurmusic.org/info/workshop/leftcoast2027/.

APPLICATION DEADLINE OCT 31!

Chamber Music Community

Meet Katrina Wreede, CMC Chamber Music Coordinator

Post author By Lolly Lewis
Post date July 22, 2026

Since coming to Community Music Center, Katrina (Katie) Wreede has been working to create “joyful, student-centered music experiences to develop skills and solid musicianship so anyone can discover their own unique musical voice.”

She finds that working with adult amateur musicians is both challenging and rewarding. Challenging, because as mature music-lovers, they have developed sophisticated assessments of what they most admire in the artists they listen to, and often feel the disappointment that they aren’t up to the task of playing that way. That self-judgement is just baked in, and can get in the way of the joy and fulfillment that chamber music offers us. But this same discernment brings incredible satisfaction when players “find their groove” together, and meet in a realm of mutual musical support; they have a common goal of discovery, exploring the essence of a composition, and they transcend their personal limitations to become something new—together.

How did your relationship with Community Music Center develop, and how did you end up focusing on chamber music?

I started at CMC about 20 years ago with a one-year composer in residence grant. I was embedded with a YMP (Young Musicians Program) ensemble each week, and we collaborated on a piece they performed at the final concert called “A Mini Burrito Kind of Thing.” After the grant was completed, I was asked to stay on as regular YMP faculty and just never left. Over that time, I’ve taken on additional teaching and coordinator roles like Young Musicians Program Coordinator, Chamber Music Coordinator and Director of Camp CMC, all of which bring great satisfaction because of the people I get to work with, and the joy of watching people learn and create something that would never have existed but for them being themselves in that moment.

As a coach working with adult chamber musicians, what concepts are most important for you to share with your students?

My two priorities when coaching adult musicians are to collaborate with them to create a supportive learning situation together and to help each individual improve their technique and listening skills so everyone leaves a coaching session happy to have spent time together and feeling like a better musician than when they arrived. Adult musicians can bring years and years of experience and knowledge to a chamber group or they may have just started lessons as a new hobby and are wanting to try it with other people. It’s important to me that each group is balanced so that people are comfortable making mistakes and feel appropriately challenged in a fun, achievable way. At the end of a quarter, everyone should feel ready to put some music out into the world at one of our recitals, playing alongside their new friends.

As CMC’s Chamber Music Program Coordinator, what have you seen as the reason why students choose to study chamber music at CMC and how does the faculty help them move to the next level with their music?

The CMC Chamber Music Program offers different ensembles for different skill levels and a coaching faculty who have wide experience with diverse instrumentation, chamber repertoire and ability levels. Players come back quarter after quarter because they find satisfaction in the support and guidance they receive from their coach, the friends they make and the variety of times and locations available. The faculty members are all long-time professional chamber musicians themselves, and they know the musical and personal ins-and-outs of making chamber music work.

Speaking of long-time professional chamber musicians, I know you are that! Would you speak to your own experiences playing chamber music, and how that translates into being a mentor?

For me, chamber music is the ultimate way to make music with other people. It can be an intense kind of joyous self-discovery, a wonderful social outlet and a challenge to play your very best because other people are counting on you. This holds true for every level of playing, and I love introducing people to their first chamber experience as well as making space for players who already know what’s what and just want to have a regular place to meet others, get some new ideas and make great music.

Tell us how the program works. As a prospective student, how will I find my group?

It’s a very hands-on process. CMC’s Adult Chamber Music program provides weekly coaching for everyone, from first-time players to highly experienced instrumentalists in trios through sextets, in two locations in San Francisco. Ensembles are formed based on skill level, musical tastes, instrumentation and schedules. I work with every incoming student to get the best placement and match people with their best partners. Several weeks before each quarter, an email goes out to the entire chamber email list (join the list here). It describes the 15 or so ensembles available for the quarter, with times, locations, specific instrument openings, anticipated levels and coach’s name (coach bios are available at www.sfcmc.org). It’s a first-come, first-placed system with a little nudging to get it exactly right. Groups are distributed across the Richmond District Branch and the Mission Branch for each quarter. Piano spots are in high demand, but there are opportunities for 4-hand piano, too.

After looking at these openings, contact me and I will fine tune your placement in order to approve your registration, which you can complete through the CMC registrar at your preferred branch. Coaches and students work together to plan the repertoire for the quarter, and players are encouraged to make suggestions. Each quarter, there are opportunities for a recital performance that’s open to the public. Some players switch ensembles or take a quarter or more off. Some stay together for many quarters to work on more difficult repertoire.

CMC’s adult chamber music program is an excellent way to reconnect with the music you love, enjoy meeting and playing with other passionate musicians or even learn to play with other people for the very first time.

Chamber Music Community Talking about Music

Music for the Love of It

Post author By Guest Blogger
Post date November 1, 2022

Below is a guest contribution by violinist Joel Epstein, author of the new book Music for the Love of It: Episodes in Amateur Music-Making.

The illustration above is a cartoon by James Gilray from the late 18th century called “A Little Music, or the Delights of Harmony.” It illustrates one of the recurring themes of the book—that, while in society women may have been subordinate, in the music salon they were more than equals.

As an amateur violinist, I feel—and, I think, most of us feel—that I am carrying on a great tradition reaching back hundreds of years. A few things inspired me to explore that tradition, an exploration which eventually culminated in my book Music for the Love of It: Episodes in Amateur Music-Making.

The first thing that tickled my interest was the dedication on the title page of the Brahms string quartets opus 51: “To Theodor Billroth.” The name was vaguely familiar but I wasn’t sure who Theodor Billroth was. A quick check of Wikipedia revealed that he was a leading physician, an amateur violist, and an intimate friend of Brahms. In a used bookstore I found a collection of Billroth’s and Brahms’s correspondence, which provided a fascinating insight into the composer’s creative mind and the key role the amateur violist played.

The second thing was Cobbett’s Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music. This two-volume tome from 1929 I also found in a used bookshop. It is far more than an encyclopedia—it is one man’s personal encomium to the wonders of chamber music. The world of chamber music, Cobbett wrote, “…was an art for which I had a definite affinity. It is not an exaggeration to say that there opened out before me an enchanted world into which I longed to gain an entrance.” The encyclopedia was, like all encyclopedias, erudite, comprehensive, and written by leading experts in the field; on the other hand, it was filled with Cobbett’s own expressions, very personal and very eloquent, of his love for the glories of chamber music.

One thing led to another, and I found myself delving into other episodes of amateur music-making in history: the pivotal role of women in promoting amateur music in America; the brass band movement in Britain, which began as an attempt by moralists and by industrialists to use music to reform retrobates and to quell labor unrest in the coal mines and textile mills of Britain, and ended up as a mass musical movement that swept the country; the romance of Russian Jews of the early 20^th century with the violin. In the end, it all started to fit together into a coherent story about the very tradition that we all feel to be our joyful duty to sustain.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of AMN.

Chamber Music Jazz and Beyond - Non-Classical Music Vocal and Choral Music Workshops

The magic of singing together

Post author By Lolly Lewis
Post date October 5, 2022

Anyone who has sung in a vocal group or a chorus knows the feeling: something is just special when we sing together. There’s a marvelous sense of reaching out, of connecting with other voices to make a sound that is more than just our single notes, a sound that merges and grows, with multiple melodies blending into a harmonious whole. Whether it’s a circle of friends singing folk music in our living room or professional singers in a concert ensemble, it’s that elemental joining of voices that, for me, brings emotion to the fore.

We’re so in luck to have Dashon Burton back with us on October 16 to lead a master class on ensemble singing. Dashon is an acclaimed soloist who is equally practiced in singing with others: He is part of Roomful of Teeth and Kaleidoscope, two of the top vocal groups working today!

I can’t wait to get Dashon’s perspective on the singing of two groups in our master class: the Drew School Singers who will sing the luminous 16th century madrigal O Occhi Manza Mia by Orlando di Lasso, and the women’s choir Conspiracy of Venus who will sing A Place Called Home by rock goddess PJ Harvey.

I caught up with Conspiracy of Venus founder and leader Joyce McBride to chat about the group and about her musical path writing and arranging choral music. Music is so much about connecting, about blending our minds and sounds into one. It’s what we aspire to in life as well as in music, don’t you think?

Enjoy the interview and then join us for Dashon Burton’s vocal chamber music master class workshop on October 16!

AMN mentors Chamber Music Jazz and Beyond - Non-Classical Music Workshops

Destiny Muhammad and the Jazz Conversation

Post author By Lolly Lewis
Post date September 6, 2022

“There’re still conversations in … music that are still alive. And so in this new millennium, what do I have to say as a participant in all those conversations?”

– Destiny Muhammad

AMN Founder Lolly Lewis sat down with Destiny over Zoom to discuss the possibilities of AMN’s new workshop format, about Destiny’s devotion to the jazz tradition, and much more.

Lolly Lewis: I’m so excited about our workshop. You know, it’s been a year since you did that wonderful online workshop for AMN talking about the roots of jazz harp. And how great that you’re coming back with your trio to kick off our new series. This is going to be an opportunity for people to play with a professional ensemble in the comfort of home: you will be playing live at the wonderful theater at Drew School, and our participants will be at home with their instruments playing along with you. It’s going to be a new and innovative workshop model that we’re very excited about.

Destiny Muhammad: As am I! It’s definitely very innovative. And, you know, it’s going to be exciting for all of the participants who will have that opportunity to play and to actually interact with us, with Q&A happening during that time as well.

LL: People are very inspired by your devotion to the jazz tradition and the fundamentals of this music. That you really have a passion to convey and to bring people along with the joy that you find in music. I think that’s just so infectious and people really respond to it.

DM: I keep going back to the fundamentals. I can’t speak for everyone else but for me, the fundamentals have always been my launchpad. And when I have those and I feel them, not just in my hands but circulating throughout my DNA, then I feel like I can go anywhere with the music. And so I love the fundamentals. I just keep coming back to those ABCs of jazz.

LL: I think a lot of people who aspire to learn to improvise might feel like oh, I just have to jump off this cliff and do something that’s out of my comfort zone. But what you’ve just said has really sort of turned the light on for me, because if we get into [the fundamentals] we’re not jumping off anything; we’re going from a place of simplicity. And then it can grow and develop and that’s where the skill comes from.

DM: That’s why, even after 30 years of being a musician, I keep going back to the listening. I still need to listen, and then apply it to my instrument. I really encourage folks to really listen.

And I remember being a shorty in the music and hearing the word conversation said to me over and over again, and I didn’t really get it. And then it started to click… I liken it to European classical music where you’ve got chamber music, and you’ve got a cellist and maybe a violist and a violinist and everybody has to be strong in their understanding of the music. And then they come together and they’ve all been studying a particular song or suite of music. But everybody’s strong enough where they’re playing and listening, and their portion of the conversation is shared. And so [in the trio], we’ve all been independently what they call shedding. And then we come together with our own understanding of the music so we can bring that conversation. What is it that I have to say, in [Miles Davis’s] All Blues on my instrument? I’m feeling like I have something to contribute. What do I have to say as a participant in those conversations?

And so that’s what I see when I’m listening to each player. Each one is bringing all of their life experience. This is the thing that I want to share with the participants: bring all your life experience, whatever that is. Here’s the music. Miles wrote it, but what do you have to say?

LL: And that conversation is going to be so fun for people, not only to learn from you, but to really feel like they’re part of the ensemble and that they’re welcomed into that music experience.

DM: It would be wonderful to see you there in the virtual house!!P

Listen to the whole interview and join us on September 18th!