It’s fair to say Giovanni “Gio” Antipolo keeps busy.
The 35-year-old Moses Tucker accountant by day and pianist, piano teacher, MBA student and CPA-in-training by night has only been involved in Little Rock’s Chamber Music Society for a little less than a year, but already he’s shouldering the nonprofit’s mission in a big way.
At 5, Gio started formal training on the piano, competing and winning “most things in Arkansas.” In 1995, he made the move to Houston for a degree in architecture at Rice University, later completing another degree in piano performance at the University of North Houston. Heeding the call away from the big city, he returned to Little Rock, where he says “you’re not one of 10,000 pianists. You can accomplish more.”
And there’s much to accomplish. Gio and the rest of the Chamber Music Society share a common vision the nonprofit has worked toward since its inception in 1953 — one of a thriving classical music scene that isn’t necessarily limited to the concert hall.
This year marking its 60th birthday, it’s a time to look back and celebrate, but simultaneously set sights on even bigger and better things. Gio is the driving force behind its first fundraising event, Classics and Cocktails, a “concert and cocktail party hybrid,” set for Sept. 13 at the Junior League of Little Rock building.
The fundraiser is necessary to continue the society’s mission of bringing up-and-coming talent to local audiences through its regular concert series, engaging musical outreach programs and ensuring the tradition of classical musicians performing in intimate settings doesn’t fade away.
Its current season’s concert lineup runs the gamut — from a Latin American string quartet to a distinguished Taiwanese-American pianist. Not only is concert admission free for youth from kindergarten to college-age, but performing musicians stick around afterward to lead one-of-a-kind musical educational sessions. Last year’s “informances” included sessions at Mills University Studies High School, Central High School and the Faulkner Chamber Music Festival. All told, the number of students reached over the years ranges in the thousands.
Joe Joyner, proprietor of the Little Rock Violin Shop and founder of the SoMa String Quartet, first encountered the Chamber Music Society in 2009. He joined the society as president two years ago. He’ll be one of the event’s musical performers and will also serve as emcee.
“[The concert series is] a rare opportunity to get to play for and ask questions of such accomplished classical musicians, many of whom are younger and at the start of their careers, and are much more relatable to kids,” Joyner says. “It is my goal to make every one of these outreaches meaningful and memorable for the students who attend and participate.”
Geoff Robson, associate conductor for the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and director of its Youth Ensembles, partnered with the Chamber Music Society earlier this year in presenting a youth workshop featuring world-renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine. He’ll also be one of the Classics and Cocktails performers.
“It’s essential for arts organizations of all types to help carry forward and energize their art form by engaging with the community, particularly through arts education,” he says. “This sort of activity helps to inspire a new generation of music-lovers and performers, which is crucial to keeping art alive and in existence in our communities.”
For the Chamber Society’s first fundraiser, the aim is multifaceted: expose people to classical music in an intimate setting, raise funds to enlarge the society and its outreach and get people to start thinking about the genre in other ways. Financial support gleaned from the drive will go toward forming the society’s next 60 years of service. Members hope to eventually add a fifth locally produced concert to the permanent seasonal lineup, sponsor student musicians and establish an endowment for high school students pursuing a collegiate music program or conservatory.
Some of the event highlights to look forward to include a themed, three-course cocktail and dinner catered by Simply the Best, a cameo appearance from Ballet Arkansas and a lively after-party at Joe’s Violin Shop in downtown Little Rock.
For Antipolo and company, the night is about more than money. It’s a chance to break perceptions about a genre of music many people associate strictly with formal wear in vast concert halls.
As he says, “classical music is for everybody.”
Classics & Cocktails
When: 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13
Where: Junior League of Little Rock building, 401 S. Scott St.
Attire: Cocktail | Tickets: $75 per person
Info: ChamberMusicLR.com
Little Rock’s Chamber Music Society celebrates its 60th year of musical education and advocacy next month at its Classics and Cocktails event. (left to right): Gio Antipolo, Joe Joyner, Geoff Robson and David Gerstein.
Chamber Music Society members and performers pose in Joe Joyner’s Little Rock Violin Shop. The shop will host an after-party following the event.