With a concert series based in the western suburbs of Chicago combining the mixed ensemble traditions of the flute and cello, Naperville Chamber Players engages guest artists from across the artistic spectrum in dynamic collaborations.
Artistic Directors Marie Bennett and Dorothy Deen have both been performing professionally as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestral musicians in the Chicagoland area for almost two decades. They are also sought-after teacher and clinicians.
Classical chamber music is often associated with a string quartet. However, in a mixed ensemble (one that combines woodwind and string instruments), the musical experience is far more colorful. We musicians call this timbre, the color of musical sound. String quartets blend together homogenously, but a cello and flute, for example, create a combination distinctive in texture and tone, melding the sounds of one instrument that’s bowed with another that needs to breathe.
This combination of woodwind and strings has captured our audiences and inspired us to explore how our instruments interplay both with each other and with a diverse roster of other musical influences. We launched the Naperville Chamber Players in 2007 on the campus of North Central College. Since then, our dynamic recital collaborations – with pianists, a harpist, a guitarist, a flamenco dancer and a vocalist – have each represented a unique sonic journey.