ARTIST PROFILE

The Seattle Chamber Players

BIOGRAPHY

Hailed for its daring and intelligent programming with uncompromising artistic and spirited performances, the Seattle Chamber Players enjoys a growing international reputation. For fourteen years, SCP's four core members-Laura DeLuca, clarinet, David Sabee, cello, Mikhail Shmidt, violin, and Paul Taub, flute-have been passionately dedicated to introducing a wide range of composers whose styles and influences broaden the language of contemporary chamber music. In January 2004 the ensemble's work was recognized with the ASCAP/Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming.

DeLuca, Sabee and Shmidt are key members of the Seattle Symphony, and Taub is a Professor of Music at Cornish College of the Arts. In 2002, Dr. Elena Dubinets joined the ensemble as Artistic Advisor after guiding the group through its first international festival, Icebreaker: Voices from a New Russia. Musicologist Dubinets, currently Music Research Coordinator for the Seattle Symphony, has been a tremendous asset for the ensemble with her leadership in research and programming.

SCP's history is marked by its commitment to the music of our time. From its commissioning of works by Seattle's leading composers to collaborations with the most prominent American and international creative artists, the ensemble is in the vanguard of the contemporary music world. Past projects have included commissions from Uri Caine, Wayne Horvitz, Laura Kaminsky, Vladimir Martynov, Amy Rubin, Reza Vali, Alexandr Vustin and many others. The list of composers whose music was introduced to Seattle audiences by SCP includes Fraghiz Ali-Zadeh, Aaron Jay Kernis, Valentin Silvestrov, Peteris Vasks and John Zorn. SCP's two international festivals-Icebreaker I: Voices from New Russia (2002) and Icebreaker II: Baltic Voices (2004)-brought dozens of international guests to Seattle and contributed to the ensemble's growing stature. Icebreaker III, music from the countries of the Caucasus Mountains, is planned for 2006.

The ensemble has twice traveled to Eastern Europe, appearing in Moscow's Cold Alternativa and Moscow Autumn Festivals, the St. Petersburg Sound Waves Festival, and at the Estonian Concert Hall in Tallinn. On each tour, SCP brought the latest in American contemporary music to new audiences, as well as playing Russian works commissioned by the ensemble. A tour of Costa Rica, El Salvador and Ecuador is planned for spring, 2005.