Le Salon de Musiques musicians perform without a stage, connect with audience at floor level

Julius Reder Carlson, a current UCLA research and teaching assistant in musicology, said he has always enjoyed both playing music and learning about a piece’s composer.

“I was interested in playing the music and contextualizing it … so I started to study different kinds of music and why it was important and meaningful to people in different parts of the world,” Carlson said.

Carlson said he looks forward to imparting some of his knowledge and passion for music with Le Salon de Musiques, a series of eight concerts in which small groups of string musicians play chamber music to an audience that surrounds them as they play.

Because there will be no stage, the audience will sit at floor level with the musicians. Carlson will provide an introduction about the composer of the piece and the historical context of the time.

Following the performances will be Q&A sessions moderated by Carlson, in which the audience can talk directly to the musicians about the pieces.

These concerts, which will be held on the third Sunday of every month at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, are organized by pianist and head artistic director Francois Chouchan. Chouchan, who is also the producer of the show, said that this venue distinguishes this concert from others because it will not have a stage, thereby placing the artists directly with the audience.

“It’s a really casual and different way to perform music because there is no separation between the audience and the musicians,” Chouchan said.

He said that chamber music is not written for large orchestral ensembles but for small quartets or quintets.

“The music is written for small spaces. Most of the time these pieces are performed in big venues and there isn’t close or intimate contact with the musicians. … It’s frustrating for everyone,” Chouchan said.

According to Chouchan, he and fellow artistic director Phil -lip Levy chose pieces that they believed the audience would love.

“It’s really important that in hard economic situations people can escape from difficult times. I try to choose melodic and sensitive music that is accessible and enjoyable,” Chouchan said.

The pieces performed on Oct. 16 will feature German composer Johannes Brahms’ “Sonata-Scherzo” and his “Piano Quintet in F Minor Opus 34.”

Levy, who helped Chouchan put the program together, is also the lead violinist featured in the October performance.

He said Brahms was one of the greatest Romantic composers of the period.

“The piano quintet is one of the most powerful pieces in chamber music. … It’s like a symphony for five people. It’s full of drama and emotion,” Levy said.

He also said that the two pieces are thematically connected by Brahms’ theme of being free but alone, which comes from the German expression “frei aber einsam” (F.A.E.).

Levy said that rehearsing for these pieces is a lifelong challenge.

“There’s always something to be learned from these masterpieces. We practice for three to four hours per day for weeks until the performance, … but it’s a never-ending process of learning,” Levy said.

Chouchan, who moved from Paris to Los Angeles five years ago, said he was inspired by Marie Antoinette to organize a salon-type environment.

Antoinette organized her own “Salon de Musique” in Versailles to embrace new art and share a small space with her friends.

“For me, music is a question of sharing. You need to share your emotions with people and interact with them. … It’s more than performing the music. The audience can feel, look and listen to the music. For me, this is the real and authentic face of chamber music,” Chouchan said.