Arts Entertain out
A Musical Conversation
•
A November concert features the
Chilingirian String Quartet.
CMSD's final
concert of the season
will feature pianist
Richard Goode.
CMSD presents Trio Fontenay
next March.
The award-winning Brentano
String Quartet will conduct edu-
cational enrichment programs for
CMSD in October and February.
Clarinetist Richard
Stoltzman, pictured,
joins pianist
Lukas Foss in
a December concert.
Its ensembles have moved from the living room to the concert hall, but
Chamber Music Society of Detroit still promises its audiences an intimate musical experience.
BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News
IT
hen Karl Haas founded Chamber
Music Society of Detroit (CMSD) in
1944, he was practically a "one-man
band." When Dr. Zalman "Tiny"
Konikow took over from Haas 25 years later, the
"band" got a bit bigger.
They were real pioneers of Detroit's musical his-
tory, who struggled by themselves at first, then
gained the support of the community to help turn
the struggling group iuto a world-class organization,
achieving national acclaim for its concerts.
The Chamber Music Society, the 10th oldest of
such organizations in America, has one of the largest
subscription bases of any in the nation, flourishing
and thriving under its current leader, Lois R. Beznos
of Franklin, who became president six years ago, the
third Jewish president since the group's inception.
In the meantime, other chamber music groups in
the Detroit area, such as Lyric Chamber Ensemble,
have faltered and folded. In addition to programs
sponsored by CMSD, metro Detroiters currently can
chamber
Music
society
of Detroit
enjoy chamber music every summer during the
Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and during the
regular season at performances presented by
University Musical Society in Ann Arbor and
Cranbrook Music Guild in Bloomfield Hills.
CMSD will open its 57th season Saturday, Sept.
16, with a performance by the Tokyo String Quartet
at the Seligman Performing Arts Center on the cam-
pus of Country Day School in Beverly Hills. Seven
more concerts will follow through May 19, six at
Seligman and one at Detroit's Orchestra Hall, both
acoustically excellent venues.
.
The Beginnings
What began as an informal gathering of mainly
Jewish people — many from Eastern Europe —
who got together to hear fine music has evolved
into a well-organized, financially sound society
dedicated to the enrichment of Detroit area music
lovers through the presentation of high-quality
performances. Members attribute this accomplish-
ment to the leadership of Beznos.
The group has come a long way since the mid-
TOKYO STRING QUARTET
8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16
Seligman Performing
Arts Center
PAMELA FRANK (VIOLIN)
AND CLAUDE FRANK (PIANO)
8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5
Seligman Performing
Arts Center
CHILINGIRIAN STRING
QUARTET
8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11
Seligman Performing Arts
Center
RICHARD STOLTZMAN
(CLARINET) AND LUKAS
Foss (PLAN())
8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2
1940s and the fledgling days of Haas, the legendary
world-recognized musical educator who is remem-
bered by Detroiters for his nationally syndicated
broadcasts on radio station WJR, and lectures at the
Detroit Public Library and on stage before concerts .
He later took these same talents to stations and con
cert halls in the New York area.
"We all loved music passionately, so we supported
Haas in those days, subscribed to the chamber's con-
certs and donated as much money as we could," reflec
Batya Berlin of Bloomfield Hills, a 45-year member of
the group, who now serves on the board of directors.
"I've always maintained," she quipped, "that going
to concerts is the best way to get high without having
hangover." She and her husband, Allen, a retired phys
cian, attend all of the current concerts.
"In the Haas days, the music lovers, many of their
from the old country, started gathering in each other:
homes to hear small musical groups to carry out their
European musical traditions," Beznos explains. "A
strong Jewish culture usually meant a strong music
culture, and they wanted to take advantage of that cu
ture in their new country.
"Those who brought musical instruments with the
Seligman Performing
Arts Center
BRENTANO STRING
QUARTET
8 p.m. Saturday,
Feb. 3, 2001
Seligman Performing,
Arts Center
TRIO FONTENAY
8 p.m. Saturday,
March 10, 2001
Seligman Performing
Arts Center
ORPHEUS CHAMBER
ORCHESTRA WITH
BRANFORD MARSALIS,
SAXOPHONE
,