A pizza parlor is an unlikely place to start a chamber music ensemble, but that’s part of the story of the Convergence Chamber Players, a trio of local artists who give their debut performance tonight in Everett.
Two of the musicians – French horn player Cindy L. Deane and clarinetist Deborah Colyn – were discussing plans to start a chamber group over pizza. They needed a pianist, and nearby diner Donald Vollema overheard the conversation.
Vollema, a pianist with Pacific Northwest Ballet, among other arts groups, introduced himself, Deane checked out his credentials and – voila! – Convergence Chamber Players was born.
The ensemble gives a concert at 7:30 tonight at the Hartley Mansion in Everett. The program of four works showcases all the instruments in works by C.M. von Weber, Gilbert Vinter, Carl Reinecke and Frederic Duvernoy.
A portion of the ticket sales, which are $5 and $10 at the door, will go to the music scholarship fund at the Gene Nastri Community School of the Arts in Mukilteo. That’s where Colyn and Deane, who are on the music faculty at the school, first hooked up.
“I knew Debbie from teaching at Gene Nastri,” Deane said. “We have been trying to put something together for a while. I met Don at a pizza parlor. He happened to overhear our conversation that I was looking for an accompanist.”
The musicians, all Snohomish County residents, have been rehearsing together for a couple of months, with their personalities and musical ideas and backgrounds converging into an ensemble.
Convergence was born.
Deane is a freelance musician who performs with a number of musical groups in the Seattle area, including the Cascade Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic and the Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra.
Vollema has been a piano accompanist with the Pacific Northwest Ballet since 1991 and is a freelance accompanist at the University of Washington
Colyn has performed with such groups as the Everett Symphony, Federal Way Philharmonic, Seattle Choral Company, Seattle Creative Orchestra, Village Theatre and Civic Light Opera, and teaches privately and in public schools.
Classical guitar: Guitarist Mary Lord, a faculty member of the Gene Nastri School, gives a recital Saturday night in Everett.
She will perform selections from recent CDs of her transcriptions for guitar, including “An American Christmas,” which is a collection of rare Shaker songs, plus a selection of guitar classics from Spain and Latin America.
Lord, who teaches privately, at Gene Nastri and through the parks and recreation departments of Everett and Lynnwood, studied guitar and renaissance lute in Munich and at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Saturday’s concert is at the Hartley Mansion.
Mary Lord
Where to hear it
Convergence Chamber Players: 7:30 tonight, Hartley Mansion, 2320 Rucker Ave., Everett. Tickets, $5-$10, at the door, or call 425-290-9500, 425-308-5503.
Mary Lord: 7 p.m. Saturday, Hartley Mansion, 2320 Rucker Ave., Everett, Tickets, $7-$10, at the door or call 425-290-9500, 425-308-5503.
Where to hear it
Convergence Chamber Players: 7:30 tonight, Hartley Mansion, 2320 Rucker Ave., Everett. Tickets, $5-$10, at the door, or call 425-290-9500, 425-308-5503.
Mary Lord: 7 p.m. Saturday, Hartley Mansion, 2320 Rucker Ave., Everett, Tickets, $7-$10, at the door or call 425-290-9500, 425-308-5503.
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