This season demands a heroic effort from all of us to preserve and foster the memorable musical performances for which The Queen’s Chamber Band has become justifiably famous. In spite of dwindling financial support from government and private sources alike, we offer a season bursting with the excitement of virtuoso performances by musicians bound together by their love of music-making and affectionate regard for each other.

If you value our commitment to creating musical events of the highest order, please take an active role in supporting us this season. Buy a series ticket! Your tax-deductible gift, at whatever level, will help us as we seek support from public agencies and private foundations. Seeking a fresh approach while cutting costs, we have moved our series down to an historical site with a long history of supporting artistic endeavors: St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery.

Acoustically live, wheel-chair accessible and convenient to public transportation, St. Mark’s deserves some of the credit for the revitalization of its surrounding neighborhood. The Poetry Project, Danscape Project and Richard Foreman’s avant-garde theater all enjoy residencies there. The church site dates back to 1651 when Petrus Stuyvesant, governor of New Amsterdam, purchased land for a “bowery” or farm from the Dutch West India Company. By 1660 his family had built a chapel occupying the present day site of St. Mark’s Church. Stuyvesant’s remains, buried in 1678, rest in a vault under the chapel. Stuyvesant’s great-grandson donated the property to the Episcopal Church in 1793, stipulating that a new chapel be erected. In 1795 the cornerstone of the present day St. Mark’s Church was laid. Alexander Hamilton provided legal aid in incorporating it as the first Episcopal Parish independent of Trinity Church in the United States. To experience our committed musical performances in the special aura that suffuses St. Mark's space, please join us for our concert series next season.

To reach us for any reason whatsoever, please e-mail us at: info@harpsichord.org.

Composer Joseph Fennimore contributed the following quote, found while reading the journals of Denton Welch:

"....Have you ever tho't that a large harpsichord played by a master or mistress is like a large very beautiful cat unsheathing its claws, pawing the air, mouthing, miawlling, waving ostrich-plume tail, gnashing white needle teeth? This cat would be smoke-grey with sinews of toughest leather under the distasteful velvet depths of the fur; and its eyes would be wolfish topazes or burnt sugar. It would be stretching and plucking and striking, calling up some spirit that had never been wakened before." -Oct. 26, 1946

NOTES ON UPCOMING SEASON

We're planning a varied and exciting season beginning with a solo recital on Sunday, September 12 at St. Mark's Church In-the-Bowery (3 PM) by our HarpsiLeader Elaine.
Please save these dates as well:
Sunday, October 31, 3 PM: Adelphi University (The QCB Plays Bach's Brandenburg #5, The Vampire Cantata & more!)
Sunday, November 28, 3 PM: St. Mark's Church In-the-Bowery (The Queen's Chamber Trio Plays Haydn))
Saturday, February 19, 8 PM: First Moravian Church ( Nickolai Sheikov & Elaine Comparone Play Music for 1 & 2 Harpsichords)
Saturday, March 26, 8 PM: First Moravian Church (Bach 326th Birthday Celebration)
Sunday, June 5, 3 PM: St. Mark's Church In-the-Bowery (New Music for the Band)

(Artists, Dates & Programs Subject to Change. Watch this Website for Confirmations & Changes!)