ASO's New Chamber Music Series

Flutist Robert Cronin will soon return to the spotlight.

After more than 35 years with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Cronin is a familiar presence during performances at Symphony Hall, nestled comfortably in the woodwind section.

In April, the focus will be on Cronin, when he’s featured in the inaugural ASO Chamber Music Series in the brand new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families with the world premiere of his “Serenade for Flute and String Trio.” He’ll be performing alongside ASO colleagues violinists Kevin Chen, Lauren Roth-Gómez, Olga Shpitko and Yaxin Tan, violists Yang-Yoon Kim and Yiyin Li, cellist Ray Kim and piccolo/flutist Gina Hughes..

Soloing, and playing in a small trio, is a different experience than orchestral playing, for sure. Last fall, he left his customary spot with the orchestra for a solo turn during a special episode of “ASO Behind the Curtain.”

“If you’re sitting in the back of a section, you can blend in. But when you’re up front, everyone’s looking at you. You have to be ready for that,” he said in advance of last fall’s video recording.

His preparations for that recording didn’t stray from what he usually does to get ready for a concert.

“Preparation just means being in good shape,” he said. “It’s about being mentally ready and physically in shape – working out, staying healthy, breathing exercises. At this point in my career, it’s less about the flute and more about me being able to execute what I already know.”

The three-concert ASO Chamber Music series began January 30 with a chamber concert of works by Mozart, Wagner, Rossini, Bartók and Janáček. For the closing concert, on April 26, Cronin’s work is presented alongside compositions by composers who wrote chamber music in and about the Americas – Samuel Barber, José Elizondo and Anton Dvořák. Both performances feature an array of ASO musicians.

In between ASO chamber concerts, harpsichordist Chloé Sévère will present “The Wild Harpsichord,” a show that promises to present the instrument “in a completely new light with an unexpected, funny, and poetic approach.” At first glance, that all seems a little out of step with the rest of the series. But as with the chamber ensembles composed of ASO musicians, it’s about showcasing familiar artists in a slightly different package. Sévère will join the orchestra on March 12-15 for Bach’s Mass in B Minor, so her March 8 appearance on the Goizueta Stage gives audiences a chance to see her in a different light.

“The harpsichord show signals our intention to create opportunities for our guest artists to shine in the more intimate, chamber music setting of the Goizueta Stage while they are in town," said Gaetan Le Divelec, the ASO's Vice President of Artistic Planning. "In this instance, it will also be an opportunity to put a spotlight on the harpsichord, an instrument which typically takes an unassuming role in the context of our orchestra performances."

Formerly the Rich Theater, the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families is a completely renovated, intimate performance space. In a recent showcase of how the new venue will be used, 100 school children packed into the first few rows of seats as a string quartet of ASO musicians launched into familiar classics. For an acoustically dead space, the musicians sounded rich and bright, a rounded depth in the low register reaching listeners in the back rows. The sublime listening experience has a little to do with the venue’s Constellation sound system, which uses an array of microphones positioned around the hall to modify and redistribute live sound. When the system is off, sound rises from the instruments and quickly dies away. Turn it on? Suddenly, the music reverberates. It’s a subtle but welcome shift. While the system that day was geared for the string quartet, it can be tuned to achieve an array of acoustic landscapes, making the space feel much bigger and more sonically rich.

Violist Yang-Yoon Kim, who has been a member of the ASO since 2009, will also perform alongside Cronin in that final concert. Though she is by now a veteran of the orchestra, she originally was gearing up for a solo career. But after taking a deep-dive into symphonic music to get in the right headspace for her ASO audition nearly two decades ago, she decided that the ensemble was for her.

“The colors, the way the lines intertwine between instruments — that was so intriguing to me,” she said. “That’s when I knew I wanted to be a part of it.”

Over the years, both musicians have played in numerous configurations with ASO musicians, so stepping onto the new stage shouldn’t feel any different. Another thing that won’t change? Cronin’s tendency to leave it all on the stage.

“I’m probably not good for much right after a performance — wouldn’t want to operate heavy machinery or anything,” he says. “You’re emotionally and physically spent.”

Learn more about the America @ 250 Chamber Music Series concert and future chamber performances at aso.org/chamber