Staff photo by Connor Cummiskey Soh-Hyun Park Altino, left, and Leonardo Altino, right, of the Altino Duo rehearse with Artistic Manager Bethel Balge Friday afternoon in the Chapel of the Christ on Martin Luther College Campus.

NEW ULM — The Summit Avenue Music Series (SAMS) kicks off its second ever season Sunday afternoon with music from South America.

Starting at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, The Altino Duo will be performing at the Martin Luther College (MLC) Chapel of the Christ. Tickets are $13 a piece or $5 for students.

“Chamber music is always a small group of musicians performing mostly classical music,” Artistic Manager Bethel Balge said. “What we have in our first concert is sort of borderline classical because we are doing tangos.”

The duo is a married couple that includes Brazilian Cellist Leonardo Altino and Korean-born Violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino.

Both have performed across the world including much of South America, Europe and throughout the U.S., according to summitavenuemusic.com.

SAMS was started last year when Balge realized that there was not a lot of chamber music available in New Ulm, she said.

Each of the three performances grew in audience, convincing her that it was worth continuing this year.

One advantage of SAMS in New Ulm is it brings chamber music to local audiences that may not be able to listen to it elsewhere.

“Students are not likely to pay the money or take the time to travel to the Twin Cities to hear something like this, or even Mankato,” Concert Manager Grace Hennig said. “Having something in New Ulm also is really great for our senior population, because we are so heavy on the senior side.”

The music series attracts a crowd from surrounding communities as well. That allows SAMS to partner with local businesses to benefit the local economy.

SAMS is partially supported by the Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council which recently awarded it $6,800, Hennig said. The series also receives donations from the New Ulm Area Foundation and local patrons.

“We try to keep the cost down, a ticket that would be well over $20 or $30 in the Twin Cities we keep to $13 here,” Hennig said. “Then for our students in town: college, high school, even grade-school students it is $5.”

There are two more performances in this series, all on Sundays at 3 p.m. in the chapel on MLC. Next is the Bekesh Trio on Feb. 18, 2018.

The name of the trio comes from the first two initials of each performer: Balge, Kenneth Freed and Sharon Mautner-Rodgers. They are accompanied by Peter McGuire and Sabina Thatcher.

The series rounds out April 8, 2018 with Solo-Pianist Ralph Votapek. He is a frequent guest soloist with the Chicago Symphony and has played with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic among many others.

Tickets are available online or at the door. SAMS website is summitavenuemusic.com. Visitors can find artist biographies, concerts and tickets there.

ccummiskey@nujournal.com