Class Offerings
Music Tours
CHAMBER MUSIC
The center of the ChamberWorks philosophy is chamber music. Students begin each day in their chamber groups. Groups are then assigned a chamber music coach to facilitate rehearsals and offer guidance and professional assistance. Students learn skills such as leadership, rehearsal techniques, body movement, and breathing. Chamber fosters the musicians' abilities to work in groups, compromise, and deliver and accept constructive criticism.
ChamberWorks occasionally travels the road, performing out of state and out of country. To date students have toured New York City, Boston, and London. These boutique tours--small in size and planned custom by Dr. Pyle-- provide once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Some of our past highlights have included:
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Fine instruments loaned by the Royal Academy of Music from their private collection
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Private chamber coaching from world-class violinist at Boston Conservatory
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Performances at Carnegie Hall, the historic Steinway Hall, Faneuil Hall Marketplace
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Interacting with Stradivari, Amati, and Guarneri violins in London
CORE CLASSES
ChamberWorks is designed to produce well-rounded musicians and provide our students with the competitive edge. As part of ChamberWorks all students are required to participate in core classes.
MUSIC Theory
Students are placed into the appropriate level of Music Theory instruction.
Music Theory I: standard notation, clefs, major/minor scales, time signatures, ear-training, and diatonic harmony
Music Theory II: Roman numeral analysis, formal analysis, ear-training, chromatic harmonies, figured bass, modes and modal mixture, set theory
Topics in Music History
This course varies yearly and focuses on varies issues and topics that are important in music history. Topics have included historical feuds, absurd musical compositions, representations of animals in music, the history of different musical eras, among others.
CHAMBER Orchestra
ChamberWorks has three orchestras that perform without a conductor. Students take on the leadership roles as an extension of the chamber music model. The orchestras are coached by ChamberWorks faculty. Everyone will be challenged regardless of which ensemble they are placed into.
ChamberWorks Players
Director: Kevin Lopez
Performs intermediate string repertoire from Brian Balmages, Adrian Gordon, Richard Meyer, Merle Isaacs, and Chris Thomas
ChamberWorks Soloists
Director: Shabria Ray
Performs chamber music pieces adapted for string orchestra, sometimes including works performed by professional orchestras. Sample past repertoire includes: Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite, Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky/ arr. Robert G. Patterson, Waltz no. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich/arr. Paul Lavender.
ChamberWorks Virtuosi
director: Marcus R. Pyle
Performs standard orchestral repertoire that would be appropriate for a professional chamber or symphony orchestra. Sample past repertoire includes: Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony, op. 110a, Hindemith's Five Pieces op. 44, Respighi's Suite in G major for Organ and Strings, Barber's Adagio for Strings, symphonies by Felix Mendelssohn, Modes by Dorothy Rudd Moore.
SPECIAL INTEREST CLASSES
We give the students a chance to specialize a portion of their time at ChamberWorks, by choosing Special Interest classes. The courses change yearly. A sample of past courses include:
PERFORMANCE SUCCESS
COMPOSITION
PHYSICS OF SOUND
Film Music
Transcription and Arranging
Historical Performance
Jazz improvisation
Coding for musicians
career development
college advisement
Music & The Mind
conducting
world music