With the desire to bring quality classical music to Stillwater, a small group of devotees organized a concert featuring violinist Joshua Bell, bass player Edgar Meyer and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
That was 10 years ago; 33 concerts later, the group is still at it.
An estimated 10,000 music lovers have attended at least one of the performances in the St. Croix Concert Series, which has gained its following in part because of the diversity of international pianists, guitar duos, folk trios and vocal quartets that have appeared. The series continues on Friday when Australian didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton performs with the Rubens Quartet at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater.
Over the years, the lineup has included cellist Zuill Bailey, the Assad Brothers (a classical guitar duo), the Russian folk Trio Voronezh and the South American chamber music ensemble Camerata Bariloche. The 2010-11 season will continue Feb. 18 with the International Contemporary Ensemble, which was hailed by the New York Times as "one of the most adventurous and accomplished groups in new music." The final concert of the year will feature the Prazak Quartet on March 18.
"We can't compete with the Minnesota Orchestra, but what we lack in size, we make up for in uniqueness," said Spike Carlsen, who handles publicity for the series. "We bring in people you can't see anywhere else."
The series began with just two concerts a year, but has been expanded to four in recent years. Much of that is due to scores of volunteers who have done much of the heavy lifting to pull off the series. That includes everything from fundraising to lining up junior high school students to serve as ushers. In 2001, the board sprang into action to notify 695 ticket holders when the Juilliard String Quartet had to reschedule only a week before its concert.
"Three of us divided up the ticket sales list and personally phoned everyone," said Executive Director Mary Carlson.
As a small organization with a limited budget, it's always a challenge to carry out the series' mission, which is to bring in world-class classical chamber music to the St. Croix Valley and provide affordable concerts.
