A brilliant, musical tribute to MMCC’s Artistic Director, Christopher Rex, will light up the night and your heart.

Join us in honoring our beloved MMCC’s Artistic Director of Madison Chamber Music Festival in a night of Musical Fireworks. This dazzling performance is brought to you by nine talented musicians, representing five award-winning ensembles— together on our stage for one night only.

On May 9th at 7 PM, the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center’s auditorium will be ablaze with fiery classical music performed by members of five award-winning ensembles: The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Georgian Chamber Players, Atlanta Chamber Players, Emory School of Music, Vega String Quartet, and Christiania Trio. The exciting program includes audience favorites by Dvorak, Mozart, Vivaldi, Smetana, Piazzolla, and Manuel de Falla. The Musical Fireworks concert is a musical tribute to the late Artistic Director, Christopher Rex, and the final performance of the 20th Annual Madison Chamber Music Festival Series.

The MMCC is thrilled to have this exceptional ensemble performing together in our elegantly restored historic auditorium during the 20th season of the MMCC’s Annual Chamber Music Festival. The series, curated by the late MMCC’s Artistic Director of Chamber Music Festival, Christopher Rex, celebrates the exciting sounds of chamber music for audiences of all ages.  

The Musical Fireworks concert highlights the extraordinary talents of composers and musicians alike. Audiences will be enchanted by the talented instrumentalists who infuse each piece with their passionate playing styles. 

Pianists Julie Coucheron (ASO), David Coucheron (ASO), William Ransom (Emory), and Elizabeth Pridgen (ACP) dazzle and delight with their agile and vivacious fingering. Violinists David Coucheron (ASO), Jessica Shuang Wu (Vega), and violist Yinzi Kong (Vega) take music to new heights with their nimble swift playing. Together, with cellists Khari Joyner (ASO) and Charae Krueger (ASO), the artists blaze a bright trail of melodies that will leave you breathless and wanting more.

The night will take on special meaning for friends of MMCC, as the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Festival, Christopher Rex passed away. His friend and longtime supporter of MMCC, Wayne Vason, speaks fondly of his friend in this special tribute to him.

“The world of music lost a true artist and lover of beauty with the passing of Christopher Rex on March 22.  And the Madison Cultural Center lost the Founder and Artistic Director of the Madison Chamber Music Festival and our good friend.

Principal cellist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for 39 years, Christopher Rex launched the Madison Chamber Music Festival in 2002.  While we had been exploring the possibility for a number of years, the stars became aligned when a photo of Christopher Rex appeared on the front page of the New York Times Arts Section playing his cello on a street corner in Fernandina, Florida, and announcing the beginning of the Amelia Island Festival.  I knew Chris through my wife Lee and her work with the Atlanta Symphony and asked if he would consider bringing his Festival to Madison.  Chris recognized that our intimate auditorium with its distinctive acoustics and historic Madison were ideally suited for Chamber Music and in 2002, the Madison Chamber Music Festival was begun.”- Vason

The Musical Fireworks performance, brought to MMCC by Christopher Rex, begins with two smoldering pieces by Antonin Dvorak and Tomaso Vitali. Each simmers with emotion, drawing in the audience with increasing intensity and flair. De Falla’s La Vida Breve for Four Hands on Piano follows the opening numbers and electrifies the room with its velocity and complexity.

The fourth piece in the program is Smetana’s Piano Trio in G Minor. This quiet yet powerful number brings gravity to the night with its somber origin story. Renowned musician and orchestral reviewer Giorgio Koukl of EarRelevant praises the piece and the musicians. He states, "The flexibility of the interpretation, united with the thrilling technical skills of Julie Coucheron, created a unity that was genuinely moving and of the highest quality."

Astor Piazolla’s Summer arrives to lift the audience from their repose and revive them with exhilarating Latin sounds. Argentinian in style, its tango rhythms pulse throughout the piece, inviting audiences and musicians to dance— if only in their hearts.

Vivaldi’s famous movement Summer races after Piazolla’s, filling the auditorium with its soaring, bright notes. Following the two feisty summer pieces comes the gentle tones of Tomaso Albinoni’s Adagio. Peaceful and polished, it's a moment to reflect and appreciate the talents of everyone on stage and all who brought them there. 

The concert closes with Vittorio Monti’s familiar encore piece, Czardas. Based on Hungarian folk dances, this energetic and lively number will leave audiences feeling refreshed after a night of high emotions. Musical Fireworks has captivated audiences across Georgia, and we know that our Madison-Morgan friends will be equally entranced.

Wayne Vason, a friend of Christopher Rex and longtime supporter of MMCC, would like you to know that “While the Festival is primarily dependent upon individual patrons and sponsors, one of my lifelong friends, classmate, and fellow alum of the Madison Graded School, Charles Baldwin, and his wife Sue, as the Trustees of the Robert M. and Lilias Baldwin Turnell Foundation, provided key funding to launch and sustain the Madison Chamber Music Festival as Founding Festival Sponsor.  

Charles (now deceased) and Sue have continued Robert and Lilias’ vision for the Cultural   Center which began in 1954, and the Festival is dedicated to their memory. The Brady Inn has become the Festival Sponsor in recent years. In its 20 years, The Madison Chamber Music Festival has presented world-class musicians ranging from classical – Lyn Harrell, Valentina Lisitska, Sylvia McNair, David and Julie Coucheron, and Christopher O’Reilly to Bluegrass - Bella Fleck and Abigail Washburn, Chris Thiele, the Krueger Brothers and Rhiannon Giddens to Jazz with Joe Alterman.  This commitment to high-quality performers has led to grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and other funding sources.

Contributions can be made in Chris’ memory to a fund created to support the Madison Chamber Music Festival.  The final concert of this 20th year of the Festival, “Musical Fireworks,” on May 9th will be dedicated to Chris and will feature a number of his friends who are virtuosic musicians from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Georgian Chamber Players, Atlanta Chamber Players, Emory School of Music , Vega String Quartet and Christiania Trio." -Vason

General Admission Tickets for the event are $50 and can be purchased now on our website at MMCC-ARTS.ORG or by phone at 706-342-4743. Madison-Morgan Cultural Center Auditorium, 434 S. Main Street, Madison, GA 30650. A finalé party will be held immediately after the concert for Festival Friends Platinum level and above at a private residence in Madison, GA. 

This event is sponsored by our Emerald Cello Level Sponsors, Lee Harper & Wayne Vason, and Ruby Cello Level Sponsors, Betsy & Steve Briley, and Sharon & Bill Ross.

This Madison-Morgan Cultural Center is a non-profit foundation with a mission to enrich the lives of the residents of its immediate community and the broader region by presenting high-quality programming and educational opportunities in the fields of visual and performing arts, history, and other humanities. MMCC will preserve and interpret its historic buildings and will cooperate with other organizations that have mission-compatible goals.