O.C. MUSIC / BENJAMIN EPSTEIN : Chamber Series Lets Principals Shine : Pacific Symphony Musicians Get Chance to Showcase Talents in Bowers Museum Concerts

With the recession abating stubbornly at best in California, and with chamber music among the hardest sells in classical music, why would a performing-arts organization with a $658,000 deficit launch a chamber series now?

“In terms of practicality, one thing to keep in mind is that to produce a chamber concert, you’re generally using between three and eight musicians instead of 85,” said James Kanter, principal clarinetist of the Pacific Symphony, which is presenting its first chamber concert in four years on Thursday. Not coincidentally, Kanter is one of several of the orchestra’s principal players featured in the program at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.

“If you generate half the income (of an orchestra concert) and the costs are 15%, that’s suddenly become financially very viable,” Kanter said. “ ‘Run-out’ concerts also generate interest and financial support for the orchestra. While I wouldn’t want to see touring chamber concerts take the place of touring orchestra concerts, they could supplement the orchestral effort at a fraction of the cost.”

Kanter credits music director Carl St.Clair with programming for the two-concert chamber “series.” Music by Brahms frames the first program, which also includes works by Debussy and Toru Takemitsu. The second program will include music of Mozart, Brahms and Quantz on May 27. Both begin at 8:30 p.m.

The orchestra’s recent press releases about the series promised an ambitious “Feast for the Senses,” for which the audience would move to a different gallery for each work performed. Additionally, a special menu in the museum’s Topaz Cafe would “correlate” with both the music and the museum’s exhibits.

The “progressive concert” plan, however, didn’t pan out--Thursday’s performance will take place in the conference room--and the Topaz Cafe staff was surprised to hear about any custom culinary items. “It never got through to me,” admitted John Sharpe, the cafe’s executive chef.

Upon hearing an outline of the program, he came up with a solution: “Ahi sashimi--we’ll call it ‘Takemitsu Ahi.’ That’s as far as I will go.”

The orchestra’s principal horn player James Thatcher, concertmaster Endre Granat and pianist Delores Stevens will play the Brahms Horn Trio, while his Clarinet Trio will feature Kanter, Stevens and principal cello Timothy Landauer. Flutist Cindy Ellis will join principals Robert Becker, viola, and Mindy Ball, harp, for Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, and percussionists Robert Slack, Cliff Hulling and Erik Forester will collaborate on Takemitsu’s “Raintree.”

Perhaps with that roster in mind, Kanter offered one more very good reason for the chamber series. “In a sense, chamber music is myopic--you can hear the individual musician more prominently,” he said. “The repertory showcases the musicians much more than they can be showcased in the orchestral repertory.

“The ensembles (for these concerts) are made up primarily of the orchestra’s principal players. If I may be so bold, it’s an opportunity to present the Pacific Symphony with its best foot forward.”

* Members of the Pacific Symphony play music of Brahms, Debussy and Toru Takemitsu on Thursday at 8:30 p.m at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 North Main St., Santa Ana. Tickets: $5 per concert, plus museum admission of $4.50 ($3 for students and seniors). Free museum admission for Bowers members and Pacific Symphony subscribers with identification cards. (714) 567-3635. For dinner reservations at Topaz Cafe: (714) 835-2002.