Last year, conductor Louis Vajda found an unmet need in Madison\u2019s vibrant chamber music scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething was missing in Madison and at the UW,\u201d said Vadja, a second-year doctoral candidate in wind conducting at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And he knew what it was: \u201cA mixed chamber ensemble of students and community members that goes into community spaces off campus.\u201d<\/p>\n
In summer 2025, Vajda, along with cofounders Amanda Givens (who recently graduated with her masters in flute performance from UW) and Josh Baker (a doctoral student at UW in saxophone performance), formed the Madison Chamber Players. Its mission: to create broadly accessible performances with a focus on innovative works by living and emerging composers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The group sits somewhere between a community and professional ensemble with a quality of play closer to the latter. For students at UW-Madison, it provides off-campus performance opportunities. And for community members, it offers a musical outlet for players who cannot commit to a more intense rehearsal schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When programming concerts, the group uses a modular, project-based model. Roughly 40 members form into smaller ensembles (trios, octets, etc.) that rehearse only in the weeks leading up to a performance. The resulting concerts are varied and eclectic in the best of ways, juxtaposing ensembles one normally would not find on the same concert program.<\/p>\n
At concerts, all members sit in the audience and come to the stage only when it is their turn to perform, giving Madison Chamber Players performances an especially communal feel. This is a winning equation, and the ensemble draws people to its concerts that a university-centered ensemble would never see.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people go to a concert, they don\u2019t want to just have the lights turn off and have two hours of music happen to them and go home,\u201d Vajda said. \u201cThey want to be part of that creative spontaneous experience, part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ensemble had a successful inaugural concert at Muso<\/a> in August 2025 and a second in November at the Hamel Music Center on campus. The latter included the Midwest premiere of Conni Ellisor\u2019s stunning work for brass and percussion, \u201cWind from the Mountain.\u201d The group has three performances planned for 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n