Ritz Chamber Players
The Ritz Chamber Players, the nation’s first chamber music ensemble series comprised solely of accomplished musicians spanning the African diaspora, brings a fresh, new energy to the classical music genre. The Ritz Chamber Players include some of the world’s most accomplished musicians. They have performed with the most prestigious musical organizations such as the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and London Symphony.
Its highly successful début concert at New York’s Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall in 2004 was marked by a standing room only crowd, with critics proclaiming the group’s performance “extraordinary” and “vital and fresh.” The group made its international radio début on the BBC World Service and WYNC New York with a concert broadcast to more than 40 countries in 2005, and its first national television appearance on the 37th Annual NAACP Image Awards in 2006. The Ritz Chamber Players has been guests of the highly-praised National Public Radio and the Tavis Smiley Shows and is a regular performer at the Madison and Amelia Island Chamber Music Festivals.
Founded in 2002 by Artistic Director and Clarinetist Terrance Patterson, the Ritz Chamber Players presents a subscription series at the Times-Union Center for the Performance Arts in Jacksonville, Florida and at Atlanta’s Kennesaw State University. The Ritz Chamber Players performs chamber works from the standard classical repertoire in many combinations, as well as highlighting the works of contemporary African-American composers. The Ritz Chamber Players have recently performed in residencies at the University of Washington and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, as well as concerts at the Miami Festival, Montclair’s Peak Performances Series, Baltimore’s Shriver Hall and a special presentation at the Juilliard School, where they will be Artists-in-Residence for the 2009-2010 season. The Ritz Chamber Players seek to increase the visibility of African-American classical composers and heighten public awareness of the African-American musician contributions within the classical music genre.
