May 18, 2025
Kellett Chapel, Peachtree Church
Atlanta, Georgia – USA
Atlanta Chamber Players: Helen Hwaya Kim & Lauren Roth, violins; Catherine Lynn, viola; Brad Ritchie, cello; Elizabeth Pridgen, piano. Strelitzia Trio: Lucas Liu, violin; Ryan Pi, vello; Melvin Xu, piano.
Anton ARENSKY: Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32
Nicky SOHN: Home on the Range
Nicky SOHN: Time’s DialogueRobert SCHUMANN: Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44
Mark Gresham | 26 MAY 2025
On the afternoon of Sunday, May 18, the Atlanta Chamber Players concluded their 2024–25 season with a performance at Kellett Chapel in Atlanta, showcasing both the ensemble’s musical prowess and its commitment to contemporary music. The concert featured works by Anton Arensky, Robert Schumann, and two compositions by Nicky Sohn, winner of the 2024 Rapido!® Take Seven national composition contest founded by the Atlanta Chamber Players & The Antinori Foundation in 2009 to promote new chamber music compositions.
The program opened with a young guest ensemble, the Strelitzia Trio from Franklin Pond Chamber Music, a training program for exceptional young musicians. The group (violinist Lucas Liu, cellist Ryan Pi, and pianist Melvin Xu) performed the final two movements of Arensky’s Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32. Their appearance offered a glimpse into the effectiveness of Franklin Pond’s educational mission.
Strelitza Trio from Franklin Pond Chamber Music, l-r: Lucas Lu, Ryan Pi, and Melvin Xu. (credit: Chris Helton)
The remainder of the program was performed by the Atlanta Chamber Players, beginning with Home on the Range, a reimagining of the American folk song by Korean-born composer Nicky Sohn (b. 1992) and winner of the Rapido! Take Seven contest.
Composer Kicky Sohn. (credit: Chris Helton)
In addressing the audience, Sohn noted that she had been familiar with the tune her entire life. When she was a child, her mother sang it to her, but with Korean words, but it was only in her search for a suitable American folk melody to use in her Rapido! Take Seven contest entry that she discovered it was an American song.
Sohn writes in her program notes: “This revelation prompted me to reflect on the remarkable ability of folk tunes to transcend cultural boundaries, creating a sense of familiarity and nostalgia across the globe.”
Scored for piano quartet, Home on the Range was performed by violinist Helen Hwaya Kim, violist Catherine Lynn, cellist Brad Ritchie, and pianist Elizabeth Pridgen, who navigated well the music’s interplay. Sohn’s treatment retained fragments of the original melody while transforming its nostalgic tone into something far more layered. At times warm and lyrical, at others rhythmically sharp-edged and harmonically restless, the work blended folk familiarity with the sophistication of contemporary jazz harmonies.
Violinist Lauren Roth joined the ensemble for another Sohn composition, a piano quintet entitled Time’s Dialogue. The work explores themes of memory and temporality through a series of overlapping motifs and shifting textures. Sohn’s writing here is more abstract yet far from alienating, and it received an engaging performance.
After intermission, the five musicians returned for Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44, a cornerstone of 19th-century chamber music. Written in 1842, the quintet remains one of Schumann’s most accessible and popular works.
Happily, what we got from Atlanta Chamber Players in this instance was a surprisingly sunny, optimistic Schumann, much to benefit of the music. The opening “Allegro brillante” was played with vigor, warmth, and luminosity. The funeral-march second movement was given a measured, restrained reading, but not gloomy. These were followed by a sprightly scherzo and a well-shaped final “Allegro ma non troppo,” where themes from earlier movements returned in inventive counterpoint, for a satisfying conclusion. I like this approach to Schumann.
Throughout, the Atlanta Chamber Players maintained a cohesive ensemble sound, with notable individual moments enhancing the performance’s expressive range.
The concert not only reaffirmed the group’s dedication to classical repertoire but also highlighted its continuing investment in contemporary voices and an advocacy of young, emerging performers. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Atlanta Chamber Players: atlantachamberplayers.com
- Rapido!® 14-Day Composition Contest: atlantachamberplayers.com/new-music-initiatives/rapido
- Franklin Pond Chamber Music: franklinpond.org
Read more by Mark Gresham.
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