A simple suburban church with superb acoustics has become a temple of serious music in South Jersey.
At Bunker Hill Presbyterian Church in Washington Township, an ambitious concert series continues Sunday with five "chamber music all-stars" performing string quintets by Mozart and Brahms, says Martha Frampton, series founder.
The seventh season will conclude May 17 with "Storytelling and Folk Dances," including a Spoken Word cantata and featuring downtown New York musicians Doug Balliett and Brandon Ridenour.
"We knew it was possible to have a concert series," Frampton, 58, says. "We didn't know how successful it would be."
Launched in 2008, Music at Bunker Hill offers a five-show season, drawing as many as 170 patrons for performances by musicians with national and international reputations.
The all-volunteer, nonprofit organization has about 50 subscribers; its $20,000 annual budget, which is funded by a mix of public and private dollars, is consistently in the black.
"The venue is such a treasure - intimate, and very welcoming," says Elaine Sooy Goodman, 74, an artist who lives in the township and has been a subscriber since the beginning.
"Anybody who's going there for the first time - their jaws drop, because of the quality," says Goodman, former head of the Gloucester County Cultural and Heritage Commission.
Says violist Toby Appel, who grew up in Salem County and will perform Sunday: "It's an opportunity for people to hear world-class music [a few] miles from their houses. And maybe, they'll go again."
Frampton, a bassoonist and longtime music teacher, established Music at Bunker Hill with her son, the violist William Frampton, in 2008. He'll be among the performers Sunday.
"We almost called it a chamber music series, but we didn't want to be limited," Martha Frampton says. "We've had a couple of jazz shows, and once a season, we allow ourselves to do a wild card," like the season's closing concert.
Frampton and I are chatting in the bright, comfortable sanctuary of the Greentree Road church. She and her husband, Robert - supervisor of music, art, dance, and drama at Washington Township High School - are longtime Bunker Hill members and township residents.
Their community roots literally helped make Music at Bunker Hill possible; a chance conversation Robert had at a local blood drive ultimately led to the church's purchase of a grand piano.
"We needed a space and we needed a piano," recalls Will Frampton, 29, of New York City, who played Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor to kick off the series. "We're pretty much filling a void," he adds.
The series also offers audience members a chance to chat with the musicians over refreshments, which helps build a community.
The patrons "are people . . . who want to hear music produced by acoustic instruments, or are hearing live professional chamber music for the first time," Will Frampton notes.
In an era of digital downloads and ubiquitous amplification, "how different it is to hear music produced by acoustic instruments, to feel the vibrations, the energy," he adds.
The producers and their board of directors take great pride in maintaining high standards. This helps attract players who otherwise might not make the sacrifices of time and expense to perform in a hilltop church in suburban Gloucester County.
"It's as much fun to play for people there as in New York, where the audiences might be a little jaded," Appel says. "There is nothing like live music . . . nothing like being there."