Music from Angel Fire

05/25/2026

Hello Everyone and Happy Musical Monday!

In honor of Memorial Day we wanted to share with you music that was composed for those lost in war. We chose a piece entitled, "In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy" by American composer William Grant Still.

William Grant Still Jr. born May 11, 1895 in Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas was an American composer and conductor and the first African American to conduct a professional symphony orchestra in the United States. Still was brought up by his mother and grandmother, and studied medicine at Wilberforce University, Ohio, before turning to music. He first studied composition at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, then under George Whitefield Chadwick at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He is noted to have composed nearly two hundred works. He was the first American composer to have an opera produced by the New York City Opera. He is known primarily for his first symphony, Afro-American Symphony composed in 1930, which, for a few decades was the most widely performed symphony composed by an American.

The brief orchestral work, "In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy", was the most successful of a group of works on patriotic themes commissioned by the League of Composers during the Second World War.
This piece was composed by Still as a solemn, deeply moving ode honoring the often-overlooked sacrifices of Black soldiers who fought for a country that denied them full equality.

Here is a link to the piece
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMncAWgnyJM

We hope you Enjoy!

05/18/2026

Hello Everyone and Happy Musical Monday!

Today we wanted use this time announce that our 2026 Music From Angel Fire Composer in-residence is none other than composer and pianist, Michael Stephen Brown.

Michael is no stranger to Music From Angel Fire as he participated in the 2023 festival where he stunned audiences with he exquisite and meticulous piano performances.

As a teaser to what you may hear at this year's festival here is a links to his performance of his composition:

Four Lakes For Children (2024)
I. Lake Alan
II. Lake Spencer
III. Lake Christina
IV. Lake Katrina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8csmEc9_Pv0&list=RD8csmEc9_Pv0&start_radio=1

If you would like to learn more about Michael follow the link below to his website where you can read his bio as well view his compositions and albums.
https://michaelbrownmusic.com/about

05/11/2026

Hello Everyone and Happy Musical Monday!

In honor of yesterday being mother's day we wanted to share music from a composer who also happens to be a mother. We chose none other than Clara Schumann.

Clara Schumann (1819–1896) was a German pianist, composer, and teacher, recognized as one of the most distinguished virtuosos of the Romantic era. A child prodigy trained by her father, Friedrich Wieck, she maintained a 61-year concert career and married composer Robert Schumann. Clara not only maintained a very successful touring career, she composed many exceptional works all while raising many children for a big part of her life alone following Robert Schumann's death. In total she had eight children four of which died before her.

Here is her Piano Trio in G minor op.17 performed by the Atos trio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JyeWA1ZD8g&list=RD9JyeWA1ZD8g&start_radio=1
We hope you enjoy!

05/04/2026

Hello Everyone and Happy Musical Monday! Today we are going to keep it short and simple. In honor of today being the unofficial international Star Wars day, May the Fourth, we wanted to share some music from the movie. Here is three hours of music spanning the entire franchise including all the movies and some of the spin off series. We hope you enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WGj1bLS-yg&list=RD9WGj1bLS-yg&start_radio=1

04/30/2026

Last chance! 🎟️
Today is the final day to grab Buy One, Get One tickets for our 43rd Season: America 250: Echoes of Liberty.

Don’t miss this opportunity to experience an unforgettable season of music at a special value.

Secure your seats now:
👉

04/27/2026

Hello Everyone and Happy Musical Monday!
Today we wanted to share with you The Dolphins Quartet's winning performance at the Chesapeake Music International Chamber Music Competition.

The competition finals took place April 11, 2026 at which The Dolphins Quartet took the Leman Gold Prize along with the Audience Choice Prize.

They performed the following pieces:

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 10, Op. 74 “Harp”
I. Poco Adagio - Allegro

Antonin Dvořák
String Quartet No. 10, Op. 51 “Slavonic”
III. Romanza. Andante con moto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quartet No. 16, K. 428
IV. Allegro Vivace

The Dolphins
Angel Fire Quartet
I. Moonlight Broom
II. Dolphin’s Van

Charles Ives
String Quartet No. 2
III. The Call of the Mountains (Adagio – Andante – Adagio)

Below is the link to the video of the entire day of performances. The Dolphins take the stage at around 5:37 into the video if you only want to see their performance, but we do encourage all of you to check out all the other ensembles as well as they are also excellent.
https://chesapeakemusic.org/livestream/

He hope you enjoy!

04/23/2026

The Dolphins will be joining us once again for our festival August 13th-16th! You can still get Buy One Get One Tickets until April 30th! Go to https://musicfromangelfire.org/tickets/ to purchase tickets.

The Dolphins Quartet won this year's Gold Prize, worth $10,000 USD plus a return performance at the upcoming 41st Annual Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition.

04/23/2026

Introducing the artist for the Music from Angel Fire 2026 Chamber Music Festival.

04/20/2026

Hello Everyone and Happy Musical Monday!
Today we would like to share with you, "Symphonie Fantastique", by Hector Berlioz(1803–1869).

Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, conductor and critic. He was born in 1803 in Isère, France. His father was a medical doctor near Grenoble. Berlioz was expected to follow his father’s career path, so his musical talent was largely overlooked. He was given some instruction on guitar and flute, but his training was less than rigorous. Berlioz attended medical school briefly in Paris before deciding he wanted to pursue music as a career, mainly composition. This would lead to him to enroll, in 1826, in music classes that prepared him for the composition program at the Paris Conservatory.

The Symphonie Fantastique is a piece of programme music, which is a type of instrumental music that attempts to musically render an extramusical narrative or description of some aspect of world. Symphonie Fantastique tells the story of a gifted artist who, in the depths of hopelessness and despair because of his unrequited love for a woman, has poisoned himself with o***m. The symphony tells the story of the artist's drug-fuelled hallucinations, beginning with a ball and a scene in a field and ending with a march to the scaffold and a satanic dream. The artist's passion is represented by an elusive theme which Berlioz called the idée fixe. Idée fixe is a term used during that time to describe a fixation. Berlioz gained the inspiration to compose the work after attending a performance Shakespeare's Hamlet at which he fell in love with one of the performers. He would then begin sending letters to her professing his love, all which were unanswered. When the work was completed and premiered he sent an invitation to her which she also ignored. She would however hear the Symphonie Fantastique at a later performance. It was after this performance that she began to appreciate his conviction for her. She would later meet with Berlioz and began a romance that led to them to getting married.

Here is a link to the original program notes written by Berlioz for the premier. http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/fantas.htm

Here is wonderful performance of the work by The Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HgqPpjIH5c

We Hope You Enjoy!

04/15/2026