Fensgate Chamber Players

ENSEMBLES

The Fensgate Chamber Players represent all the families of musical instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, piano and harp. We can configure ourselves into ensembles of various size and instrumental makeup. The right ensemble for your celebration will be indicated by the nature of your event, your musical interests, the number of guests, performance space, literature you request and moods you’d like to achieve.

Music Director Brian Clague will provide a complementary consultation to recommend the ensemble which would likely best serve your musical and budgetary needs.

The most popular configuration in classical chamber music is the String Quartet (two violins/viola/cello.) It is the centerpiece of the chamber music literature, and provides a beautifully balanced and complete sonority. Several classic trio combinations exist, each with its own charm and specific literature. In wedding ceremonies, it can be particularly effective to add a trumpet to the string sound. Others prefer the brighter and lighter timbre of the flute.

The great composers have written music especially for the tonal properties of each of these classic combinations.

String Trios (two violins/cello or violin/viola/cello)
String Quartet (two violins/viola/cello)
Trumpet and Strings
Flute Trio (flute/violin/cello)
Flute Quartet (flute/violin/viola/cello)
Duos (violin/cello, flute/cello, violin/flute, flute/harp)
Piano Duo (piano with any instrument)
Piano Trio (piano/violin/cello)

Fensgate Chamber Players

Musicians

Brian Clague,
Music Director, violin/viola

Brian Clague began performing professionally at age 15. Raised in the Midwest, he did his undergraduate work at Montana State and University of New Mexico, and then studied with noted pedagogues Kato Havas in London and George Neikrug in Boston.
Brian has toured throughout the US, Europe and Japan. In recital, he has appeared as both violinist and pianist at the Warsaw Mozart Festival and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. He has frequently recorded, including Boston public television productions at WGBH, movie scores, and backups on major releases.
Brian is an avid chamber music player, and is the Music Director of Fensgate Chamber Players. As a chamber player he has also appeared throughout New England and elsewhere with many groups, including the Olmsted Ensemble, Copley Chamber Players, Art of Music Chamber Players and Ensemble St. Germain. Brian is also a very active chamber music coach, and loves passing along this beautiful art form to young people.
As an orchestra player Brian has appeared in all the major concert venues throughout New England, with the Boston Philharmonic, Portland Symphony, Civic Symphony of Boston, Boston Academy of Music, New Hampshire Symphony, Worcester Symphony, Granite State Symphony, Plymouth Philharmonic, New Bedford Symphony, Cape Symphony and Orchestra of Indian Hill.
Brian loves coaching chamber music, which he does primarily at the Lexington Chamber Music Center. He also enjoys studio teaching, which he does mostly at his home or online.
Brian has often played for major headliners such as The Who, The Eagles, The Beach Boys, Andrea Bocelli, Smokey Robinson, Donna Summer, Josh Groban, Jethro Tull, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme, Peter Cetera, Mannheim Steamroller, and the Trans Siberian Orchestra.
In addition to his string and piano work, Brian has a significant professional background as a choral conductor. His sense of tempo, ensemble and musical timing provide strong, reliable leadership to the Fensgate Chamber Players.

Mary Carfagna, cello

Cellist Mary Carfagna, who studied with George Neikrug and Ronda Ryder, has appeared as a classical soloist with the North Shore Philharmonic, Trinity College Concert Series and the Elizabeth Carpenter Concert Series. She has recorded with the blues/rock band Code Blues, songwriter Karl Sharicz and with pianist Barry Gould in the gospel trio album “Selah”. She also recorded music for the 2009 documentary “A Saint in My Garden”.
Mary began performing non-classical solo cello in central Massachusetts after being asked to play several “cello only” venues in 2004. Wanting to enhance her repertoire, she started creating her own arrangements of “popular” tunes. She is now on a quest to find the perfect electric cello to supplement her acoustic instrument. Mary currently also plays with folk band Riverbend, Thayer Symphony Orchestra and classical trio Mas Musica.

Greg Gettel, trumpet

Greg Gettel received a Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory in 1995, and a Master’s Degree (Honors) from the New England Conservatory in 1998. His primary teachers include Byron Pearson, Timothy Morrison, and Charles Schlueter. He has attended the Aspen Music Festival and has been coached by members of the Empire, Atlantic, and American Brass Quintets. Greg has given recitals at Trinity Church in Copley Square and at King’s Chapel, and has performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory, Emerson Majestic Theater, and Harvard’s Sanders Theater. Greg has appeared with the Boston Philharmonic, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Back Bay Chorale, New Hampshire Symphony, Reagle Players, Sigma Brass Quintet, Paramount Brass Quintet, Boston Chamber Ensemble, Indian Hill Chamber Orchestra, Triptych, Emmanuel Music, and the contemporary ensemble, Auros. He has been heard on WGBH on Live Performances with the New England Conservatory Honors Brass Quintet and on the radio program From the Top.

Greg has toured South Africa and Zimbabwe as a soloist with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and has performed with them in Ely Cathedral in Cambridge, England and under the baton of John Rutter. He is a founding member of the Forte Brass Quintet, which has toured Vermont public schools twice in the past two years. As an educator, Greg is on the faculty of Phillips Academy in Exeter, and the South Shore Conservatory of Music where he is coordinator of the outreach program - Arts Partners, trumpet instructor, and chamber music coach.

Affiliates

Lord Thompson Manor

The very best of the best. Beautiful venue, impeccably managed. Masterful event planning and coordination. Loving attention to detail by every level of the staff.

http://www.lordthompsonmanor.com