Unitarian Chamber Music Series - Background
A new source for live chamber music in Lawrence is off and running. It's mission is to offer to the community high quality chamber music at moderate cost in an intimate setting. The Unitarian Chamber Music Series. Its first season (2009-2010) opened with the Spencer Consort, a group including KU faculty and students who performed 18th Century music on period instruments. This was followed by the William Baker Festival Singers of Kansas City and the KU Saxophone Quartet 1 in February. The series continued with Allegresse, another KU faculty and student ensemble, and the Crimson String Quartet composed of KU undergraduate and graduate students.
The Chamber Music Series has two venues: Founders' Hall, which used to be the Pleasant Valley School and was renovated in 1961. The Fellowship's origins in Lawrence go back to the city's founding: Unitarians occupied the first church built in town. A recently completed addition to the one room schoolhouse provides a larger hall, still intimate and also with excellent acoustics.