Group is not stuffy about its concerts

When the Keowee Chamber Players perform in Columbia County Saturday, they plan to please the audience with a warm and intimate concert.

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The four-member group out of Asheville, N.C., will begin the performance at 7:30 p.m. at the Jabez Sanford Hardin Performing Arts Center at the Columbia County Library. The concert is part of the Augusta Symphony's Columbia County Music Series.

"I think from the size and intimacy alone that it has a different impact on you than a (full orchestra)," said Kate Steinbeck, co-founder and artistic director of Keowee Chamber Music. "You feel the acoustic music either way, but I think when it's a small group like that, it's just a very personal experience."

Violinist Daniel Skidmore, violist Simon Ertz and cellist Philip von Maltzahn will accompany Steinbeck, who plays flute.

Steinbeck said she and Ertz play instruments that were designed by their own family members.

"All of the instruments are, of course, handmade, but we have a very personal connection to all of them," she said.

The group has been playing together for about six months. Steinbeck said her production company, Keowee Chamber Music, will use different musicians for some projects.

The group will perform Max Reger's Serenade and Erno Dohnanyi's Serenade before breaking for an intermission. During the second half of the program, the chamber group will perform Claude Debussy's Six Epigraphes Antiques in addition to Mozart's Quartet D Major.

"I think of concert program planning kind of like meal planning," Steinbeck said. "You have to have good, different parts of the meal for it really to come off well."

Steinbeck said this concert will mark her first trip to the Augusta area. The group has previously played in South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.

"We're just not stuffy at all," she said. "The four of us just have a really good time when we play together. There's a lot of joking going on while we're playing."

Tickets cost $30. If available the night of the concert, tickets for full-time students and military personnel cost $7.

For information or tickets, call (706) 826-4705 or visit www.augustasymphony.org.