Violinist and artistic director of INNERchamber, Andrew Chung, takes great delight in collaborating with his ‘chamber mates’ - fellow members of the Factory Arts String Quartet, when plumbing the virtually bottomless wellspring of chamber music repertoire. INNERchamber is the name given to a series of 6 concerts held on Sunday evenings from October to April. If not for a change of heart and career direction, friends, students and music enthusiasts would be poorer, culturally speaking.

 

Chamber music is described as a kind of musical conversation performed in an intimate setting. Since the middle ages, it has been a popular form showcasing a small group of musicians, each taking a separate part. To this form, Andrew has added a ‘twist’ by combining visual arts, dance, voice and even less conventional pairings to expand the experience for the concertgoer.

 

I sat down with Andrew to learn about his beginnings and the upcoming fourth season of INNERchamber and his vision for it.

 

KK: Was the violin your first instrument?

 

AC: I took piano and violin until I was in high school. Then I sort of unceremoniously dropped the violin for a number of years and went into engineering. At university, I finished engineering and then came back to violin.

 

KK: Did going back to the violin feel foreign to you, or was it refreshing to have been away from it?

 

AC: It was a relief in a way, and felt very natural because I started it so early in my youth. Engineering was more of an uphill battle. I could learn the skills but I didn’t feel particularly gifted.

 

KK: What grade or level were you at when you dropped violin?

 

AC: In an R.C.M. [Royal Concervatory of Music] maybe a grade nine level. That was at age twelve and I stopped until age 19. There was no one playing [in the area], no youth orchestra like there is now. No concerts to see here, so a lot has happened [since then].

 

KK: Well, you are making it happen now with these concerts at Factory163.

 

AC: Yes, it’s very much on my mind - what I want the musical landscape to be for my kids. [Andrew’s children are both learning music - Lucy piano and Sebastian piano and violin.]

 

KK: So was INNERchamber your “baby”? Something you started?

 

AC: Yes, I met with John David Sterne who at that time (2010) was the executive director of the Stratford Symphony. We knew each other well and he knew that I was interested in chamber music. Her said ‘I think it’s time we start something’ and he has been in the music world since forever and has sage-like wisdom. He said ‘there is a factory, a creative arts space. I think we should have a look at it. I’m curious to see what you think.’ So I did and said ‘this is wonderful.’

 

So I had it in my head to gather a core group of musicians who resided in or had close ties to Stratford, because I was doing most of my work out of town and I thought, well, for me to have the opportunity to play chamber music - my list of things I wanted to play and be invited to play in a large centre where they don’t really know me would take far too long. [laughs]

 

So I thought, let’s start up something here. We can tackle some repertoire that we’re really passionate about and introduce it to an audience who’s interests will grow as we grow. We wanted to do something that at it’s core was classical chamber music offered to seasoned concertgoers but add something off the beaten track - either an element to add to the genre or bringing in a different kind of instrument or other artistic disciplines.

 

KK: So this is the ‘twist’ you describe on the website.

 

AC: This is the twist! The merging of arts disciplines. In the first season, Scott Wentworth read poetry that his partner Marion Adler selected and that was such a magical kick off to what we do. In the same season, there was a screening of Zorro. [The Mark of Zorro (1920) with Douglas Fairbanks. As it was silent, music was arranged and performed by Graham Hargrove and others. The film is 90 minutes long.]

 

KK: That is a lot of space to fill!

 

AC: Oh my gosh, yes. And it was so funny and uh, just amazing. And again ‘off the beaten track’. Nobody would have seen that combination of instruments or that level of hilarity.

 

We talked about the definition of chamber music, which led to a discussion about the performance space in terms of intimacy and the adjustments needed. Fellow INNERChamber musician Ben Bolt Martin informed me that “Factory163 is a very clean acoustic which allows for very intimate playing. It really encourages exploration of the quieter colours in performance.”

 

KK: Did I read that (local artist) Jack Winn is going to paint along with a musical performance?

 

AC: Yes, Jack Winn is going to paint! He will paint in real time and try to complete his work by the end of the composition.

 

KK: Have you talked to him about how to approach this? Is there a plan?

 

AC: [silence] There’s not really a plan [laughs]. When I spoke to him in his studio and saw his work, I thought, this will be interesting. And Jack has a musical background. He was principal bass for Orchestra London for twenty years or so.

 

KK: I see on February 23rd you have a tribute to Justin Bieber! Is that right?

 

AC: [laughs] Not quite! [Heinrich Biber was the most important composer for violin of the 17th century]

 

KK: That would be really risky.

 

AC: It would be! [laughs] Anything to get people in the door, right? No, we thought being a big Bieber town, we would focus on another Biber.

 

KK: Thanks. I look forward to this new season.

 

The engineering world may have missed out on an important contributor. The rest of us are much richer for it. Ben Bolt Martin says it best. “Andrew is a very impressive individual with strong ideas both musically and personally and has a powerful drive to make things happen. His musicianship very much reflects his personality, full of strong ideas very clearly expressed. He is never shy about putting everything he has into what he does.”

 

Concerts by the Factory Arts String Quartet, Factory Arts Ensemble, and special artistic guests run from October to April. For a complete list of dates and ticket info, go to www.innerchamber.ca.