As the Laguna Woods Village rolls back to public life amid COVID caution, a much-loved institution made a comeback at the Performing Arts Center: The chamber music series Community Concerts opened the season Jan. 30 with the Minetti Quartett appearing fresh from Vienna.

The youthful quartet, with all members appearing in their 30s, was made up of violinists Bojidara Kouzmanova-Vladar and Anna Knopp, violist Milan Milojicic and cellist Leonhard Roczek.

Though they arrived in the U.S. only the day before, they defied all definitions of jet lag and delivered a lively performance. Still, COVID had struck the quartet’s first violinist, and Kouzmanova-Vladar substituted at the last minute, according to Roczek, who spoke for the group.

The Minetti Quartett began with the four-movement String Quartet in F-Major, Op. 77, No. 2 by Joseph Haydn and concluded with String Quartet D. 804 in A minor “Rosamunde” by Franz Schubert.

But what one heard between those two pieces was the unquestionable superstar:

The board of Community Concerts makes it a point to pair what one might call “antique” classical music with music by contemporary classical, young for the most part, composers.

This time, the contemporary piece was String Quartet No 1 “New Gifts of the Night,” by Angela Tröndle, who was born in 1983.

“Schubert died younger than her age when she composed this piece,” Roczek said.

Tröndle had dedicated the piece, based on a song by romantic German poet Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff titled “Mondnacht” (“Moonlit Night”) to the Minetti Quartett.

The composition began with silence, and when the music softly started, one could relate to the poem’s beginning, “It was as though heaven had softly kissed the earth.” The piece ended with the same silence with which it had begun.

The concert program quotes the young composer as saying: “I feel the silence as a breeding ground for my creativity. The silence as an inner state of consciousness that I let return again and again before the audible and the visible arise and grow.”

Before the concert, the Community Concerts board and members were on pins and needles whether it could even take place, after the pandemic put the concert series on hiatus for two years.

The Globe recently spoke with Community Concerts co-President Carol Coppage and other board members about the mission of the concert series, how it operates and how it selects the programs and musicians. In the process, they spoke a bit about themselves and their love for the many striations of classical music.

“Thank God for the internet,” Coppage said. “We can reach out to people; agents and musicians reach out to us.”

She added that over time, the board has made lasting contacts with agents and musicians, and communications flow back and forth.

Coppage explained how the 15 board members ultimately select performers: “We get a lot of input from people who would like to play for us. We narrow choices down to 12 to 14 groups, and the final six groups or individuals are chosen by the C.C. board of directors.”

The board members visit the musicians’ websites and watch their videos on YouTube. They also listen to CDs and recordings to make their selection.

The performers come from all over the world, so a degree of English fluency is required, Coppage said. That’s because what sets Community Concerts apart is that musicians speak to the audience about their instruments and about the music they are about to perform, she said.

Coppage, 83, a Village resident since 2007, brings her experience in fine arts management to her role as co-president of Community Concerts. This includes helming a fine arts center in Midland, Michigan.

She shares the presidency with Evette Glauber, whom Coppage praises for her acumen in finding music and musicians who are bound to appeal to an audience with a wide range of interests within the classical music realm.

“I have the managerial skills, and Evette has the musical knowledge,” Coppage said. “We make a good team.”

She said her greatest joy lies in bringing high-quality music to people at a low price. Concerts are not sold as individual tickets but as yearly memberships, with six concerts for $60.

However, paying all the expenses – musician and technician fees, hall rental, ASCAP (copyright) fees, among them – is a challenge, Coppage said. Altogether, Community Concerts’ budget of $50,000 for the entire series allots $10,000 for overhead and $40,000 for performers’ pay.

This year, the board gave audience members the option to include a (nondeductible) donation, and it’s on the lookout for volunteer ushers.

“We operate on a shoestring,” Coppage said.

Dennis Glauber, speaking on behalf of his wife, Evette, who was unavailable for comment, said the couple were on the board of the Seattle Chamber Music Society before arriving in the Village in 2013.

“We came first as snowbirds from Seattle and immediately joined Community Concerts,” he said.

Glauber, 95, said that with more than a 30-year involvement in classical music, he and his wife do a lot of steering of music that is presented to the board.

“I know a lot of the musicians well,” he said. “We are looking for [music] that the Laguna Woods audiences would like, which includes Haydn and Schubert but also 20th century music. I am very happy with the program.”

Unlike his wife, who plays cello and piano, Glauber does not make music. “Well, I play two instruments, the CD and the DVD player,” he quipped.

Myron Singer, 94, was president of Community Concerts from 2013 to 2018. He and his wife, Mimi, 92, have lived in the Village permanently since 2003. Classical music lovers, they immediately joined Community Concerts and volunteered as ushers.

The couple, along with Coppage, shared a bit of the organization’s history. Founded in 1965, Community Concerts hit a bump roughly 15 years ago but revitalized through the efforts of aficionados.

“We really had a need for a classical music organization besides all the popular music,” the Singers said in a conference call.

They stressed that classical music now thrives here, and the organization’s membership has fluctuated between 800 and 900 people.

“What makes us successful is knowing which kind of music and composers would appeal to our audience,” Myron Singer said.

He said he would divide members into two distinct groups: One group has about 300 members who are seriously in love with classical music and composers who require concentration — Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, for example. The other group has about 600 members whose tastes are more eclectic.

“The importance of a board president is to have an acute ear for what would appeal to a wide audience of classical music lovers,” Singer said.

Upcoming concerts at the PAC

Feb. 27: Prima Trio, a pianist, violinist and clarinetist who won the 2007 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, taking the coveted Grand Prize.

March 27: Eric Lu, a young phenom who won the first prize and gold medal at the Leeds International Piano Competition.

April 24; Delirium Musicum, a 12-piece string orchestra in California.

May 22: Simone Porter, one of the finest young violinists of her generation.

June 19: Israeli Chamber Project, a group of world-class soloists with the technical perfection of Heifetz.

Memberships are available and may be purchased at the Performing Arts Center on Feb. 27. Residents may call 949-454-0468 or 206-304-0816 for questions regarding club membership. Proof of vaccination and masks are required at the Feb. 27 concert.