University of Idaho’s Audi-torium Chamber Music Series 2019-20 season begins Tuesday on campus.

There are four performances each season, featuring musicians who are “among the best in the field,” said Leonard Garrison, director of the series and a professor of flute. “Our season presents a great balance; we have something for everyone.”

The setting, the Administration Building auditorium, is a great place to experience music, with excellent acoustics and sightlines, he said.

“After the concert, the audience can meet the artists and get them to sign CDs,” Garrison added.

During the season, the ensembles volunteer in the community by teaching master classes like the Palouse Chamber Music Workshop in January, putting on the annual Young Persons Concert for fifth-graders, as well as the Rug Concert for toddlers and their parents.

This year is being kicked off by the wind quintet, Imani Winds, which performs traditional chamber music, commissions and new works.

The lineup for the rest of the season:

• Nov. 5 — The ATOS Trio ensemble from Germany includes violin, cello and piano. It performs a collection of piano trio masterworks and lesser-known pieces.
• Jan. 23 — The Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet is composed of two violins, viola and cello. The group has been performing together for 25 years and are known for outstanding performances of classical and contemporary music. According to Garrison, “The Pacifica, (is) one of the world’s leading string quartets, known for the breadth of their repertoire.” They will perform works by Beethoven, Shulamit Ran and Shostakovich.”
• April 7 — Chanticleer, a 12-member, male a cappella group that performs a variety of genres from Renaissance to pop, jazz, gospel and more. According to Garrison, “(they) are the premier men’s a cappella vocal ensemble in the world, and their program, ‘Trade Winds,’ is a fascinating mix of works from the Renaissance to the present on this theme.”

Some have said that the series is the best-kept secret on the Palouse, Garrison said. “Others have told me they moved to Moscow because we have ACMS. Our ticket prices are much lower than the comparable performances in large cities, and there is no community our size that presents such excellent groups. Children under 12 are free, so families can come together.”

This concert series has been held annually since 1986, with a tradition of educational performances that “embrace a wide variety of types and styles of ensemble, from string quartets to eight-voice a cappella choirs, to ethnic improvisational ensembles,” according to the university’s website. !