The Bermuda Chamber Music Festival: French Connection

From the first note, the performance by the Bermuda Chamber musicians felt extraordinary and sensationally special.

The quality of sound was simply magnificent and it never diminished. The acoustic clarity was enhanced by the perfect synergy of the instruments and the architectural features of St Paul’s Church.

Whether it was a duet, trio or quintet, the strings, piano and oboe came forward in rich warm tones without any discernible distortion.

The level of musicianship, virtuosic flair and impeccable execution was exhilarating to watch. The dynamics throughout the repertoire were fully realised and were a spectacular feature of this concert — appropriately titled French Connection.

St Paul’s Church is unrivalled in affording any audience member a genuine intimacy with the performance, regardless of where one sat in the church.

No matter what your preference in music, this was a performance for any music lover and, as a jazz fanatic, I make this assertion with absolute conviction.

Director and cellist Isaiah Pennington was more pointed: “St Paul’s as a venue works well for a couple of reasons – they have fantastic acoustics and a fine piano. While the quality of the instruments is important, it’s about how you are able to capture the essence of the music, what kind of colours are you trying to bring out of a particular passage in the music – what emotions are behind those notes.”

French Connection featured 19th-century composers De Grandval, Saint-Saëns, Chopin and Dubois.

These composers led musical innovations which marked creative departures from the Teutonic sensibilities that were dominant and pervasive in the European music of the day.

It was an evolution in music that was noticeably lyrical and elegant with underpinnings anchored in intellectual intent. These four composers also interacted in the same Parisian circles with Camille Saint-Saëns as the common friend to all.

There was a complimentary and balanced musical dynamic between Heather Macdonald’s oboe, Isaiah Pennington’s cello and Oliver Grant’s piano-playing with Trio de salon.

Over all the pieces there was inherent drama, melodies rendered with an ethereal smoothness and crisp articulation in the passages, regardless of tempo.

Ann Marshall was equally as formidable as Grant on the piano. Dubois’ Piano Quintet in F Major closed the French Connection performance with Narek Darbinyan (violin) and Dan Turcanu (viola) rounding out the quintet.

Cellist Pennington summed up the concert succinctly: “The whole reason we’re still playing music written essentially 400 years ago is because it is still living and breathing.”

French Connection was a performance of mesmerizing virtuosity, music replete with rich and full emotional colours, vibrant sonic textures and elegant and impeccable execution.

With the Some Enchanted Evening repertoire, the musical pendulum swung fully in the opposite direction and at the top of its arc were the German-Austrian composers Mozart, Schumann and Brahms.

Mozart’s Sonata for Piano and Violin is considered his coup de grâce, where his composing evolves – embracing more weighty and complex themes.

Violinist Sandra Bouisson and pianist Oliver Gant navigated the two movements with a splendid balanced voicing that was movingly dramatic, melodic and harmonically engaging.

The piano was especially captivating as there was a crisp interaction with Bouisson’s violin – not merely a muted accompaniment.

Robert Schumann was a major creative force in Romantic music. Although Fantasiestücke was based on the writing of E.T.A. Hoffmann, it also reflected Schumann’s emotional turmoil in three movements.

Originally written for the clarinet, Pennington’s cello mined every emotional intention of the compositions as the titles described – from expressive tenderness to an inferno of passion.

The piece is inherently difficult and taxing as the music’s complexity increases throughout the score. The playing of the cellist and pianist remained flawless and exquisite.

Pennington queued up Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F Minor, noting its “rhythmic vitality” over its four movements. This composition is regarded as the pinnacle of his chamber music.

As it was performed, the poignant and moving passages in the Brahms were so well articulated. This was immediately attributable in equal measure to compositional brilliance, the excellence of the musicians and the register of the instruments – especially the cello.

Ann Marshall’s piano playing was volcanic with the searing lava of melodic nuance flowing behind the strings. At times I struggled with the intensity of Brahms’ piece as some of the passages were not readily accessible to my uninformed ear.

“What makes chamber music so exciting is there is so much liberty for interpretation behind each individual part and then, there is the collective of all the musicians playing and this is what makes the audience experience so exciting,” said Isaiah Pennington.

“Exhilarating” tops an ample list of positive superlatives for the French Connection and Some Enchanted Evening concerts.

If the 2026 Bermuda Chamber Music Festival is a harbinger of music to come in 2027, then I implore you — and without hesitation – to mark your calendar because it should not be missed.