Dove of Peace Lutheran Church kicks off 2018 with an all-Mozart concert featuring a quartet of musicians from True Concord Voices & Orchestra and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.
The St. Michaelโs Piano Quartet โ pianist Alexander Tentser, violinist Anna Gendler, violist Melissa Hamilton and cellist Theodore Buchholz โ will perform a trio of Mozartโs works including his delightful Piano Quartet No. 2 in E flat Major.
The event kicks off the churchโs 14th annual concert season, a series of concerts that raise money to benefit local nonprofit organizations.
The charitable aspect of the event is one of the big reasons we love this series. Here are three more:
- Compelling programs: Eric Holtan, the churchโs music director and the founder/director of True Concord, curates a series that is consistently interesting. Thereโs usually a theme or underlying idea that ties the music together, and the works represent a nice balance of well-known pieces and newer or less familiar.
- Friends in musical places: Holtanโs address book is filled with the whoโs who of Tucson music makers, from vocalists to violinists, and many of them find their way onto his stage. Take the Jan. 1 concert: It features in-demand pianist/conductor and Pima College instructor Tentser, a consummate musician; his wife, TSO violinist Gendler; and a pair of remarkable young TSO musicians Buchholz and Hamilton. Frankly, weโre a little spoiled with this series, and that is entirely a good thing.
- And speaking of good things: The wonderful Dove of Peace congregation foots the bill for the concert series and doesnโt ask for a dime in return. But they do pass the plate, so to speak, to raise money for community organizations that help the less fortunate. The New Yearโs Day concert benefits Interfaith Community Services, which serves the needs of Pima County seniors, people with disabilities and those in financial crisis.
The Dove of Peace concert series has four events through May.