Home   Bios   Photos   Rep   Concerts   Groups   Contact

Ambrosia Chamber Ensembles are groups of chamber music enthusiasts who play in various combinations in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. We are semi-professional, and skilled amateur musicians who play for our own enjoyment and well-being and to share music with others. We rehearse on Thursday evenings, usually in Kitchener-Waterloo, and sometimes in rural Princeton. Some of our groups have consistent members working toward future performances, and others with varied members meet on an ad hoc basis to read through some of the great repertoire. Which group plays at each rehearsal depends on who is available then. Our ensembles include string quartets (standard, and two cellos), clarinet quartet, piano quartet, clarinet quintet (string quartet and clarinet), piano quintet (string quartet and piano), string quintet with two violas, string quintet with two cellos, string sextet, trios, and a duo.

In classical mythology, ambrosia is the food of the Greek and Roman gods, thought to confer immortality. As life on Earth becomes increasingly sobering with escalating threats to the continued existence of humanity including wars, climate change, extinction of numerous species, and artificial intelligence, alongside widespread diminishing ability to read, think, and value science and truth, we look to the beauty of music as a source of replenishment and nourishment to uplift ourselves and others. Our musicians value the art of playing chamber music enough to make time for it in our lives and occasionally share it with others. Just as ambrosia confers life-enhancing benefits on those who partake of it, playing and listening to music confers life-enhancing benefits on those who partake in it.

We are: Yiyang Shi, violin/viola (tenor); Carmen Miron, violin/viola; Caleb Olesen, viola (bass); Mary Steele, cello (soprano/alto); Michelle Kyle, cello/piano (soprano/alto); and Ginny Scarfino, clarinet. Musicians who have played with us include Jackie Wall, violin, Pawel Pomorski, violin, and Cesar Carreno, viola.