by Staff
A local law firm has a special gift for music lovers this holiday season.
Dale, Bald, Showalter & Mercier, P.A is underwriting the debut CD by the Ritz Chamber Players, said Terrance Patterson, clarinetist and founder of Ritz Chamber Music Society.
The compilation disc by “the nation’s only all-black, full-season, classical chamber ensemble is the law firm’s gift to acquaint music lovers with the world-class quality of this exceptional chamber group and to broaden the chamber music audience both in and out of Jacksonville,” said Howard Dale, lead partner of the firm.
“The music tastes of the attorneys in our firm run the gamut from country and western, blue grass, rock and roll, soul, R & B, gospel to classical, but we all can agree on the exceptional quality and value of the chamber music offered by this extraordinarily gifted group of musicians. I personally was not a huge fan of chamber music until I took Terrance’s invitation and heard and saw them perform in person,” said Dale, “and that quickly changed. Chamber music, as performed by the Ritz Chamber Players, has a freshness and an intimacy and warmth that keeps the audience involved in the music.
“A typical concert of the Ritz Chamber Players includes an interesting mix of classical works and multicultural, contemporary pieces. Our firm is especially pleased with the commitment of the Ritz Chamber Players to provide free performances in our public schools, such as the Middle School for the Arts and UNF, and with other non profit social service agencies in the community.”
Dale serves as voluntary general counsel to the Ritz Chamber Music Society, Inc., the local non-profit sponsor of the Ritz Chamber Players, which is chaired by Cyrus M. “Russ” Jollivette, group vice president of public affairs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida.
“If the world hasn’t seen and heard the Ritz Chamber Players at the concert hall, this CD is our way of taking the concert hall to them and inviting them to come to a concert and experience in person what they may have been missing,” added Dale.
The release of the CD coincides with the start of the group’s third season, which opens Jan. 17 at 8 p.m. at the T-U Center.
Dale was first introduced to Patterson in the 1980s when Patterson gave a free, one-person concert downtown. Dale was impressed by the performance of the young clarinetist, who was studying at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University and was headed, within days, for Yugoslavia to compete with the world’s best clarinetists.
Over a decade later, Patterson called Dale to help him realize the dream of the Ritz Chamber Music Society, Inc. and the Ritz Chamber Players, which are now starting their third full year of concerts in Jacksonville.
Dale, Bald, Showalter & Mercier, P.A., a law firm with emphasis on corporate and business, real estate, zoning and land use, eminent domain, personal injury, commercial litigation and estate planning, guardianship and probate law, joined other committed individual volunteers and private-sector companies that are lending their support to the Ritz Chamber Music Society, including Husk, Jennings, Galloway and Robinson Advertising and Public Relations and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, the group’s marquee corporate sponsor.
“If our lives and our community are to continue to be enriched by the live performances of traditional and multicultural chamber music by world class musicians, other companies need to follow Howard’s example and commitment to the Ritz Chamber Players,” said Jollivette. “It’s one reason why Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida is pleased and proud to support Terrance Patterson and his group.”
The CD will be distributed to those buying two or more season tickets for the 2003-04 Ritz Chamber Players concert season. The compilation will also be made available without charge to public schools, libraries and music programs. The CD jacket cover will feature a painting of the group by Jacksonville artist mactruc and a profile of each of the musicians.
The Ritz Chamber Players has performed in Atlanta, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, and Tallahassee, and recently made their New York City debut in a Nov. 16 concert at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.
The group will return to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall June 26.
Season tickets are available at the T-U Center Box Office. Those interested in the CD can contact Ritz Chamber Music Society at 472-4270. For more, see the group’s website at www.ritzchamberplayers.org.