Chamber Music for Body and Soul III

Several leading regional musical organizations will collaborate in a unique chamber music concert taking place at the Roland Hayes concert hall on the campus of UTC on October 9, 2015. This traditional concert format (beginning with a pre-concert lecture at 7:00 pm, followed by a 7:30 concert) will celebrate and advocate for music in therapeutic environments, and features musicians from the UTC Department of Music, the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Association (CSO), the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra (HSO), and Music Therapy Gateway In Communications, Inc (MTGIC). The musicians will combine their talents in a concert designed to educate and entertain the audience on the positive therapeutic outcomes for motor, speech, and cognitive challenges by utilizing music as a conduit to the brain. The event is supported by a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission to MTGIC as part of their 2015-16 Arts Build Communities grant cycle.

The colossal Piano Quartet in G minor by Johannes Brahms features pianist and MTGIC Executive Director Dr. Martha Summa-Chadwick along with principal players from the CSO String Quintet on the first half of the concert. Brahms was neuro-typical (unlike his mentor Robert Schumann, who was likely bipolar), but it is very probable that the influence from his mentor inspired Brahms in the considerable swing of emotions shown throughout the four-movement work. The hugely virtuosic “Gypsy Rondo” final movement will also demonstrate how effective music is in encouraging the body to move to the music, as most audience members will be unable to refrain from tapping a finger or toe along with the beat.

The second half of the concert focuses on a delightful group of lighter works originally featured on Broadway stage and screen. UTC voice professor Dr. Rebecca St. Goar and HSO concertmaster Mark Reneau will join Summa-Chadwick in a variety of compositions by George Gershwin, along with additional works by Weill, Korngold, Kander, and Arlen. Gershwin’s life was tragically cut short at the age of 38 from a malignant brain tumor, but the resonance created from his fabulous music also shows how naturally the body moves to a rhythmic drive.

This event is free of charge and open to the public. Organizations interested in learning more about biomedical music via MTGIC’s free concert or lecture series can contact Martha Summa-Chadwick at www.mtgic.org or at her personal website, www.marthasumma.com.