Vernon n A thrill of excitement ripples through the local classical-music-loving community when pianist Gail Niwa gathers her musician friends for one of her celebrated chamber concerts at Great Gorge, as she has for the past seven years. People know they are in for a treat, and Sunday’s concert, the first in 2007, at St. Francis de Sales R.C. Church was no exception. The concert began with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Flute Quartet in D Major, elegantly performed by Leslie Newman on flute, David Niwa on violin, Ah Ling Neu on viola, and Wolfram Koessel on cello. In describing the piece, Niwa said that the slow middle movement has been called the “perhaps the most beautiful accompanied flute solo that has ever been written.” The second piece, Sergei Prokofiev’s Sonata in d Major for Flute and Piano, captivated listeners with the harmonic complexities of its four movements. Niwa and Newman seemed to be a having a rollicking good time playing together, especially during the boisterous finale. As a surprise that delighted the audience, Newman played a flute arrangement of an aria from Camille Saint-Saens’ opera “Samson et Delilah.” Bedrich Smetana’s Trio in G Minor, with Gail Niwa on piano, David Niwa on violin, and Wolfram Koessel in cello brought the audience, some 200 strong, to their feet in a standing ovation. In an earlier interview, Gail Niwa had described the piece as “juicy,” referring to the rhapsodic melodies and fiery conclusion. The composer wrote the piece as an elegy in memory his four-year-old daughter Bedriskam, “too early snatched by death.” “A marvelous, marvelous concert,” said Msgr, John Boland, pastor of St. Francis, as he greeted friends and parishioners attending the concert. “We are so fortunate to have this wonderful music.” Members of the audience would say a hearty “amen.”