Yes, Real Live Music!
Welcome to Barefoot Chamber Concerts. We present short (mostly 60-75 minutes with no intermission) programs of really good chamber music in an informal setting. Concerts are mostly on Friday nights and mostly start at 6.30, but check the time and venue, because they can occasionally alter from concert to concert. Covid policies will change, too, keep an eye on the website: for now, some measure of social distancing is likely, but you can move chairs around to fit your group. However, we believe that if you don’t try to do something, it probably won’t happen. Live music is what gets us up in the morning, and it’s clearly something a lot of you enjoy too, so let the games begin in whatever form!
There may eventually be snax! Traditionally, in the past, we’ve had wine, bread and olives in the concerts so you can nibble and sip while you listen, it makes the event more of a conversation. For now, snax are just not possible, but we’re determined to continue the tradition as soon as it seems a good idea, subject to whatever the health authorities recommend. Stay tuned!
We’re a gate series: the staff time is all donated; the players just get whatever you pay at the door minus the cost of the hall! In the past we’ve relied on ticket sales to pay for everything, this model mostly worked, and we loved the idea. However, see the shiny new Donate Button down at the bottom of the left hand column? Let us explain.
We have identified two specific additional needs: funds for keyboard rental and moving, and funds for (very occasional) travel for visiting musicians. The first need is obvious, since keyboard-based groups have to make a considerable financial sacrifice to get the instrument on stage and tuned (there’s a lot in Mozart’s father’s correspondence about this particular musician’s nightmare). Your donations will even that particular playing field! Last year’s harpsichord moving fund reached $469, which was just great! Happy harpsichordists make for great concerts.
The second need is less obvious, since Barefoot has always presented local musicians as a matter of policy, and you’ve clearly noticed that local musicians are all you need for fabulous concerts. However, once in a great while we need to fly in someone from forrin parts. We very rarely need to, but every so often it comes up.
Now you can help make both these things happen, which will enable us to put on really great programs that otherwise would fall short for the lack of a player, and help a harpsichord-dependent group eat a better class of pizza. Look for the “donate button” (on every page) push the button, and you’ll feel really good. If you want to specify what your donation is for, there’s a place for that too! All donations are tax deductible, and 7.5 % of it goes to SFEMS, our fiscal agent.
There you have it: it’s (mostly) cheap, it’s (very mostly) local, it’s chamber music in the right space, it’s fabulous, and you don’t need shoes.