Review by Barry Plaxen
JEFFERSONVILLE, NY (July 13, 2015) – Lucky us.
The Music Festival season in Sullivan County has begun, and our opportunity to 
hear world class chamber music will be around for two months.
Weekend of Chamber Music (WCM), now in its 22nd year of existence, began the season in neighboring Honesdale on July 11, 2015 and on July 12 offered two concerts with the WCM Wind Quintet; one was at the Callicoon Farmers’ Market in the morning, and another at 3:00 p.m. “On the Lawn” at the Jeffersonville Presbyterian Church, which I happily attended.
While the audience sat on the lawn in the shade, Judith Pearce (flute), Matt Sullivan (oboe), Pascal Archer (clarinet), Adam Schommer (French horn) and Gina Cuffari (bassoon) performed on the back porch of the “rectory.”
The music began with an auspiciously outstanding work by one of Papa and Wolfgang’s contemporaries, Francesco Antonio Rosetti, né Franz Anton Rosler, “Quintet in E flat Major.” Nothing in the work “reminded” me of Haydn or Mozart other than its classical-style 
language. Bright, happy, and light, it is an extremely well-composed work, totally involving and thoroughly pleasing. I was quite taken with it.
Each artist was given a chance to shine in the second set of duets, trios, etc.,: “Dances and Duos from the 18th-20th Centuries”, a compilation of delightful works including one by Paquito d’Rivera.
Other selections included the exquisite French horn solo prologue from Benjamin Britten’s “Serenade, Op.31”, which Schommer beautifully, and “special-effect-ively” performed about 20-30 feet away from us all, that led smoothly (segued) into a movement from Jacques Ibert’s "Cinq Pièces en Trio," which was followed with a work by the very prolific Festival Co-Artistic Director Andrew Waggoner, recently a prizewinner in the 2015 Lydian String Quartet’s competition: “Three Songs”, his adaptations of Bob Dylan songs for wind ensemble, composed in Waggoner’s contemporary style: mostly complex, often dramatic and always wonderfully intense.
One of my personal favorites, Jacque Ibert’s light, airy and often humorous “Trois Pièces Brèves” closed the program performed by all five of the superb WCM musicians.
The WCM season runs through July 25, with two “Music Talks” programs in North 
Branch and Bethel (July 16 and 23) with WCM’s 2015 composer-in-residence John Corigliano, three major concerts in Jeffersonville July 18 & 25 and in Loch Sheldrake July 19, and a free open rehearsal that includes a performance by the 2015 “Festival Immersion Fellows” (local students) on July 24.
For a complete schedule and program listings, visit www.wcmconcerts.org
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