The summer concert season is drawing to a close, and with the end of the season, the last summer concert by VentiCordi took place at South Congregational Church in Kennebunkport last Thursday.

It was attended by a large and knowledgeable audience – large for a chamber music concert, that is.

VentiCordi means “winds and strings,” and this group, now in its eighth season, programs works for wind and string combinations that are rarely performed by most chamber groups.

For Thursday’s concert, percussionist Laura Johnson was added to the group. With the exception of one work from the late 19th century, all the compositions performed were written in the 20th century.

Prior to performing each piece, artistic directors Dean Stein and Kathleen McNerney gave brief introductions. Stein is the first violinist of the Portland String Quartet (and also a first-rate violist), and McNerney makes playing the oboe sound as if anyone could render such rich timbres from that tricky instrument.

Other performers included Gary Gorczyca on the clarinet and Bridget Convey on the piano. Each, I might observe, is an exceptional performer on their respective instrument. (The complement of performers depend on the instrumentation of the works performed, and vary from program to program.) At this point, I must make an observation, a mea culpa. As a critic, I need to be objective and separate my evaluation of the music from my evaluation of its performance.

When reviewing a show, for example, there is the script, the music (if any) and the performance of the singers/actors/dancers to evaluate. With the exception of the piece by Milhaud, the works performed Thursday, while having merit to be sure, I confess I would not go out of my way to hear performed again.

The opening work, “Tangling Shadows” for oboe and vibraphone, was composed by Nathan Daughtrey. The execution on the vibraphone called for a virtuoso performer, and Jordan was all of that. The difficult oboe part was brilliantly executed by McNerny.

As for the music, the two parts seemed to meander separately. Occasionally, the vibraphone accompanied the oboe before going its own way, and eventually, the music stopped.

The second work on the program was “Varied Trio” for violin, piano and percussion.

Here, Jordan struck a variety of percussion instruments and added to the atmosphere of the piece. Convey plucked notes on the strings of the piano and banged on the wood from time to time.

In the third of the five movements, Stein explored the uppermost reaches of his instrument, and did so with expression and accuracy. Musically, it wasn’t until the fourth movement that I heard some beautiful music as opposed to musical sound effects.

The last work performed prior to intermission was “Suite for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano” by Darius Milhaud. I have never been to Provence, France, but thanks to this work, I have an idea of just how scenic an area it must be. (Milhaud was born in Provence.)

This a very minor work by a major composer, but it is nonetheless a charming and engaging work. Gorczyca’s clarinet worked its magic here, especially in the slow movement, along with Stein’s violin. In the last movement, Milhaud had a brief flirtation with American blues, but decided the piece was long enough and decided to end it. (I wanted to hear more.)

After intermission, a lengthy, multi-movement work by the rarely-performed composer August Klughardt called “Schilflieder” (“Songs of the Reeds”) for oboe, viola and piano was performed. The piano playing by Convey, excellent in all respects, was particularly distinguished in this work, especially in the fourth movement. Stein played a carbon-fiber viola (loaned by Julia Adams for this concert), and coaxed some of the most sensuous timbres one has ever heard from that instrument, particularly in the last movement (“On the Pond”). McNerney’s oboe playing never sounded more sensuous than in this piece.

The last work was a composition by Stephen Michael Gryc, a composer on the faculty of the Hartt School of Music. It called for violin, speaker (McNerney) clarinet and percussion (Marimba).

This work is based on poems by Maggie Anderson, describing the dreams of vegetables as they grow in the garden. The composer briefly spoke about the piece prior to the performance, and near as I can tell, it received an excellent reading .

VentiCordi, voted Best of Maine by Down East magazine’s Readers Choice Awards for 2016, continues its music making in the fall. They are scheduled to appear at Bowdoin College on Oct. 28 and at Woodford’s Congregational Church in Portland on Nov. 6.

Whatever the venue, the listener can be certain that the music will be interesting, sometimes unusual, and delivered by first-rate musicians providing superb as well as evocative performances.

— Morton Gold is a composer/conductor, retired educator and an arts reviewer for the Journal Tribune.