Listening in!
a new chamber music series in West Chester, PA
Our Fundraising Campaign is Live!
Want to help make our April concerts a reality? Consider donating to our fundraising campaign on Fractured Atlas! Donations are tax deductible.
Upcoming events:
April 19, 6pm: Chamber music concert “Music for the Earth”
Where: West Chester Friends Meeting House, 425 North High Street
What: Chamber Music Concert centered around Nature
Tickets: FREE (suggested donation: $20)
April 20, 4pm: Family concert “Sing a Story”
Where: West Chester Friends Meeting House
What: family friendly concert for children aged 2-12 and their parents
Tickets: FREE (donations are welcome)
Who are we?
Listening In! is and initiative by West Chester residents Karen Dekker and Heidi Lee. A violinist and music history professor, they are dedicated to bringing world-class musicians and diverse repertoire in special venues in the borough of West Chester. Their mission is to bring people together and connect the community, while providing a source of inspiration and enjoyment in two separate, free-of-charge concerts:
one daytime performance for families with children between 2 and 12 years old
one evening performance for the general public
The evening performance will be presented at 6pm, and we invite our audience to enjoy a short reception after the performance with a glass of wine and chat with the performers, while still having time to enjoy the many dining options West Chester has to offer right down the street of the concert venue. The concerts will be free of charge, with an optional suggested donation, so that anyone interested can come and join us.
The First Concert: “Music for the Earth”
April 19, 6pm @ West Chester Friends Meeting house
The first iteration of our project will be held at the West Chester Quaker Meeting House on High Street. We are very grateful to the West Chester Quaker Meeting House for offering to host the inaugural concerts of this series.
The theme of this first musical program will be centered around Earth Day, with an exploration of the "musical ground" in 17th- and 18th-century works, performed on baroque instruments. A “ground" is a repeating musical phrase in the bass line, providing an opportunity for the upper voices to improvise variations in the melody on top. It’s a wonderful metaphor for nature and the earth in the way it repeats itself in its core through seasons and life cycles, while providing a plethora of beautiful variations in growth, experiences and epochs along with it.
The Family Concert: “Sing a Story”
April 20, 4pm @ West Chester Friends Meeting House
The family concert titled “Sing a Story” is a concert curated for families with children from 2-12 years old. Come along on an interactive journey featuring an exciting story, a showcase of what musical instruments can do and singing and dancing along with the artists. The meeting house is a perfect place for families to witness the instruments from different angles (the seating is set up surrounding the artist, making it possible to have everyone make a few moves to explore the space and sounds!)
The concert is designed for young people to have fun, hear beautiful music, and move around - there is no expectation for anyone to sit still and be quiet!
The performance venue:
West Chester Friends Meeting - 425 N. High Street, West Chester, PA 19380
Fundraiser
As our concerts are free of charge, we are trying to raise the funds needed to pay the performers in a crowdfunding campaign. The goal focuses solely on raising funds for the musicians fees for rehearsals and concerts, and travel costs. As organizers, we (Karen and Heidi) are dedicated to making this dream a reality and we will not be paid for our work.
If you are interested in donating to our campaign, or know of someone who would be, please find it here:
https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/west-chester-borough-music-project/campaigns/6187
The Musicians:
Jeffrey Thompson, tenor
Karen Dekker, baroque violin
Mark Rimple, lute
Eve Miller, cello
After receiving his diploma in vocal performance in 2001 at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, tenor Jeffrey Thompson received first prize in the international baroque singing competition in Chimay, Belgium, under the jurisdiction of William Christie. In 2002, he was selected to participate in the first edition of Jardin des Voix opening many doors for him, including numerous performance with Les Arts Florissants including a DVD performance of Rameau’s motet In Convertendo, Handel’s Acis And Galatea, motets of Étienne Moulinié at the Palace of Versailles and a recording of Charpentier’s Messe Des Morts for Virgin Classis.
Since that time, he has taken numerous operatic roles including Cavalli’s Eliogabalo and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte under the direction of Rene Jacobs in Bruxelles, the title role in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie in Budapest, Grerty’s Le Magnifique, Monsigny’s Le Roi et Le Fermier, Philidor’s Les Femmes Vengées in New York and the royal opera in Versailles with Opera Lafayette (all three recorded for cd with Naxos ), the title role in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux in Sydney, the title role in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie at the state opera in Budapest and the title role in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria in New York, South Korea, Palermo and Versailles.
Notable recordings throughout his career have included discs devoted to Henry Lawes and the devotional songs of Henry Purcell with Ensemble La Rêveuse, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesus Nostri with Ricercar Consort, the Te Deum’s of Charpentier and Lully and the funeral music by Henry Purcell with Vincent Dumestre and Le Poème Harmonique, and a solo cd entitled An Englishman’s Ballad with gambist Philippe Pierrot and theorbist Daniel Zapico including music by Henry Purcell, Jeremiah Clarke, John Blow and English folk ballads.
A native of Rochester, New York, Mr. Thompson recently relocated back to the United States but continues to performance record internationally.
Hear Jeffrey in a performance of "Greensleeves" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a07PqP3jOWY
Dutch violinist Karen Dekker grew up surrounded by music. Dedicated to all performance practices that music might call for, Karen performs regularly as a soloist, orchestral player and chamber musician with various ensembles on both baroque and modern violin throughout the United States and Europe.
In recent performances, Karen has appeared as a soloist with Orchestra of Saint Luke’s at MassMoCa, Juilliard’s baroque ensemble J415 in a tour of New Zealand, and the American Classical Orchestra at New York’s Lincoln Center. Karen gave chamber music performances in William Christie’s gardens in Thiré, France and toured Europe with Les Arts Florissants and The Knights Chamber Orchestra. Karen can be heard on recordings with the Smithsonian Chamber Players of Mahler, Debussy and Busoni, Tchaikovsky with Orchestra of Saint Luke’s and Pablo Heras-Casado, and several releases of Haydn and Mozart with the Händel and Haydn Society, as well as in Alexandre Desplat’s film score for “Little Women”. Upcoming engagements include performances with Tempesta di Mare in Philadelphia and Zerbst (Germany), the Carmel Bach Festival in Carmel-by-the-Sea (CA) and many other appearances in the US and beyond.
Karen regularly performs with ensembles such as New York Baroque Incorporated, Orchestra of Saint Luke’s, American Classical Orchestra, The Knights, Händel and Haydn Society, Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra and several other ensembles and is a member of Philadelphia’s Night Music Ensemble. She holds degrees from Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam, Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School. Karen is based in the Philadelphia area where she lives with her husband and three young children.
Mark Rimple has garnered critical notice for his interpretation of early music from national newspapers and journals including the Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Early Music America, and Early Music (UK).
He is a founding member of the vocal-instrumental ensemble TREFOIL and appears frequently with viola da gambist Mary Springfels' ensemble Severall Friends (Santa Fe, NM). He has appeared with The Folger Consort, The Newberry Consort, Piffaro, the Renaissance Band, The Nota Bene Viol Consort, The King’s Noyse, Les Delices and Blue Heron, Ex Umbris (at the Clinton White House), New York’s Ensemble for Early Music, Mélomanie, Pomerium, Tempesta di Mare, Network for New Music, Seven Times Salt, The Brandywine Singers, Cygnus Ensemble and the GEMS production of The Play of Daniel. His CD of solo Italian lute music for three different instruments (Tre Liuti, available on CDBaby, ITunes, etc.) received highly favorable reviews.
Mark principally plays medieval and Renaissance lute, archlute, gittern, citole, psaltery, cittern, and viol. In early 2023, he will make a recording of solo works for archlute and classical guitar (playing without nails) featuring works by Bach (BWV 1004 and 998) on archlute, and guitar repertoire by Villa Lobos, Tansman, Mompou, and Turina Before his early music career, he was an accomplished classical guitarist, specializing in new music. Mark has recorded early and new music as countertenor and lutenist with the Newberry Consort, Trefoil, Seven Times Salt, and Cygnus Ensemble and has performed with The Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra and Curtis Orchestra (on mandolin), The Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra (lute), Network for New Music (lute, guitar, mandolin) and The Philadelphia Classical Symphony (guitar).
Mark is a Professor of Music Theory and Composition at The Wells School of Music at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
Eve Miller is a freelance cellist, recording artist, composer, and music educator. She received her bachelor’s degree in cello performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in Music History from Temple University, studying cello with David Teie, Stephen Kates and Jeffrey Solow, and baroque cello and viola da gamba with Ann Marie Morgan. Eve is currently principal cellist of Philadelphia’s Bach Collegium and is a member of the city’s leading baroque orchestra, Tempesta di Mare, having formerly served as its principal cellist.
As a member of La Rocinante baroque ensemble, she helped to found Festival Internacional de Música Barroca de Barichara in Colombia. Eve has also performed, recorded, and toured as a rock cellist in bands such as Rachel’s, Matt Pond PA, and Lewis & Clarke.
Eve has recorded and performed as a guest artist with The Swivel Chairs, Trolleyvox, Mazarin, Mission of Burma, Low, Arcwelder, Rosu Lup, and Swearing at Motorists, and frequently performs as a session cellist for rock and alternative artists. Eve composes music for film and theater, notably for the American Friends Service Committee’s 90th anniversary documentary Spirited Engagement, and has collaborated with the SITI Company of New York on several theater pieces.
Contact us
Questions, concerns or comments? We would love to hear from you!!!