Making Beautiful Music Together
The South Beach Chamber Ensemble Launches New Season

By Ana Trujilo

	Thomas Moore, Michael Andrews and Michael Linville of the South Beach Chamber Ensemble

People loved the concerts.

“There's a need for this chamber music,” says Andrews. To feed this need the SBCE started playing more concerts and applying for grants from the city of Miami Beach, which they received in 1999 and continue to receive today.

The group incorporated in 2001 and has been expanding ever since. In addition to the support from the city of Miami Beach, they now receive grants from Miami-Dade County and The Florida Arts Board.

“We appreciate all the support of these various governmental agencies,” says Andrews.

The musical selections the group performs are as diverse as Miami itself. SBCE selects pieces from composers that have their roots in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

“We like to do music from North and South America,” Andrews says. “We like to highlight music from other cultures.”

In September of this year, the group did a concert at the Bass Museum called “Music in Motion: Miami to Rio” which highlighted the works of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959).

SBCE recently returned from Rio de Janeiro where the “Music in Motion: Miami to Rio” tour originally launched in August. They played at the Villa-Lobos Museum, a trip that was made possible by the grants they receive.

“It was really an honor for us to be playing at the Villa-Lobos Museum,” says Andrews.

They are already funded to return to Brazil soon to perform but the next time around they will be performing in Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires, Argentina in addition to Rio de Janeiro where they will perform music from Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.

The group will also be highlighting music from South Africa in their upcoming January concert.

In some cases, some of the players go way back with each other. Andrews met violinist Thomas Moore as a student at the University of Wisconsin where Moore was a professor and Andrews his student.

The members that make up the South Beach Chamber Ensemble are experienced in the realm of music.

Andrews, a cellist, has played with the Filarmonica de Caracas in Venezuela, Naples Philharmonic, Southwest Florida Philharmonic and the Symphony of the Americas. In addition to playing in Venezuela, he taught at the orchestra's conservatory.

Thomas Moore, violinist for the SBCE, is experienced as a soloist, concert master and chamber musician. He's played in the Pro Arte String Quartet and was concertmaster of the Florida Philharmonic.

The pianist, Michael Linville has played with the San Francisco Symphony, The New World Symphony, The Breckenridge Chamber Orchestra, National Repertory Orchestra, The Honolulu Symphony and Pasadena Symphony. He also did a stint with the Florida Philharmonic.

Laura Wilcox, violist, is a founding member of the ArtSouth Ensemble. She has played all over Canada, Europe and the United States, being a principal violist for both the Florida Grand Opera and the Miami City Ballet Orchestra.

The SBCE launched its “Music in Beautiful Spaces” 2005-2006 Season on October 16 at the Bass Museum. The concert featured the music of Haydn, Dvorak and Barber.

The “Music in Beautiful Spaces” series consists of five concerts, continuing Sunday January 22, 2006, at 4 p.m. at Miami Art Central (5960 SW 57 th Ave, South Miami).

On Thursday March 9, at 7:30 p.m., the group will return to Bass Museum (2121 Park Avenue) and perform the works of Hummel and Faure.

They will wrap up the series on Sunday May 7, at 4 p.m. at Miami Art Central.

“People may have preconceived notions that [chamber music] is boring or old or stuffy but we think this music is very vibrant and alive,” Andrews says. “We talk to the audience…and people come away with a whole new understanding of chamber music.”