By Portia Bode
Daily Titan Staff Writer

The music of a flute and guitar duo will fill the music hall of Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton on Dec. 6 starting at 3:30 p.m.

Tickets for similar concerts usually cost between $75 to $100 because the performers travel from all over the world, said Lynn Rogers, president of Fullerton Friends of Music.

However, Fullerton Friends of Music is able to provide classical chamber music for free because of the support of donors, Rogers said.

Denis Azabagic, who plays guitar, and his wife, Eugenia Moliner, who plays flute, form the Cavatina Duo, which will perform at the second Fullerton Friends of Music concert of the season. According to the Fullerton Friends of Music Web site, the duo will be performing Piano Sonata in A Major, K. 331 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Sonata in E Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, which are arranged for a flute and guitar, as well as Fantasia Brillante from “Carmen” by Francois Borne and more.

Azabagic and Moliner won the Young Musicians of the Doelen competition in the Netherlands in 1996 and have performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

Valerie Bernstein, artistic director of Fullerton Friends of Music, tries to bring in an unusual act once per season. Bernstein said she is looking forward to Cavatina Duo’s performance because a flute and guitar is a unique combo.

The company is supported mostly by individual donations, Bernstein said. Other donations come from companies, she added.

Bernstein believes chamber music is important for the soul and feels honored to be a part of Fullerton Friends of Music. “I believe it can change the way people look at the world and how they feel,” she said.

She encourages audience members to bring their children and grandchildren to the concerts because she thinks it is rare for children to hear classical music.

Chamber music is typically performed by a small group of musicians, said Rosehen Gates, a member of Fullerton Friends of Music.

Generally, people rarely listen to live chamber music for free since the performers are with well-known chamber music organizations, said Ann Ross, board member of Fullerton Friends of Music.

“It’s important to have a small intimate city community that supports each city having its own chamber sequence,” Ross said.

Beulah Strickler, the founder of Fullerton Friends of Music, held the company’s first concert in her living room in 1958. Strickler graduated from Juilliard and has played all over the world. Fullerton Friends of Music’s concert series is the oldest chamber music community concert in Orange County, Rogers said.

There are four more opportunities to hear a Fullerton Friends of Music concert this season: Dec. 6, Jan. 17, Feb. 28 and Apr. 25 at 3:30 p.m. at Sunny Hills High School Performing Arts Center.