CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF EXPANDING THE STAGE
The story was always larger. We built the stage to hold it.
For 25 years, the Ritz Chamber Players has brought the artistry and music of the African diaspora into fuller view: not as an addition to classical music, but as part of its living center.
WHO WE ARE
Where artistry, history, and possibility share the stage.
RCP joins extraordinary artists, essential repertoire, and the history that surrounds the music. The result is chamber music of the highest order, heard in fuller context and shared with audiences across generations.
Our StoryNext at Terry Concert Hall
Expanding Horizons
Opening Night of the Silver Jubilee Season
Five founding artists reunite to open our 25th anniversary season, with James Lee III's Lament.Sing.Arise, written for Kelly Hall-Tompkins and Terrence Wilson and premiered by RCP at the Library of Congress.
Saturday, November 21, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Terry Concert Hall, Jacksonville University
Free and open to the public. Pay What You Can, suggested $25 | $250 for the 25th Anniversary.
The afternoon before
Tea at The Terry
Friday, November 20, 2026, 1:00 p.m., Terry Concert Hall
The Opening Night artists bring music from Saturday's program to the senior community, in partnership with the City of Jacksonville Senior Services Division.
About Tea at The Terry
- Joseph HaydnLondon Trio No. 1
- Valerie ColemanMaombi Asante
- André PrevinFour Songs, poems by Toni Morrison
- James Lee IIILament.Sing.Arise
- Dmitri ShostakovichPiano Trio No. 2
Five concerts. One anniversary. The next chapter begins here.
Across five Saturday evenings at Terry Concert Hall, the Silver Jubilee widens concert by concert, from Opening Night to the Juneteenth Finale.
On tour with Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole
Free At Last?
The Evolution of the American Spiritual
Music can outlive the conditions that created it. It can also carry their memory.
With Dr. Cole as narrator, Free At Last? traces the American spiritual from sacred memory to the concert hall, through the Freedom Movement, and into the present.
A special presentation: St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Fernandina Beach, Friday, November 20, 2026, 7:00 p.m.
The record is the argument.
RCP did not spend 25 years asking whether audiences would come to this work. It performed the music, built the audience, commissioned the next scores, and kept opening the door. Founded in Jacksonville on February 22, 2002, and named for the historic Ritz Theatre in LaVilla.
Meet the artists who carry the work forward.
RCP draws extraordinary musicians whose careers reach major orchestras, concert halls, universities, and stages around the world. Every artist page introduces the musician, their work with RCP, recordings, and where to hear them next.
Access is not separate from the artistry. It is part of the promise.
Free and Pay What You Can admission, school and community programs, Tea at The Terry, and the Next Stage Fellowship all extend the work beyond a single evening.
Come closer.
Build with us
Partnership can underwrite the season, a performance, access, new work, or education.
Become a PartnerMake it possible
The Silver Jubilee Campaign celebrates 25 years and builds the Legacy Fund.
Invest in the Next 25