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May 31, 2007
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Let?s get classical, classical Summertime, and the listening is easy. True, most of the major local classical groups have stowed their bows and mouthpieces until the fall, but some interesting performances are coming up. Here?s a quick run-down to fill your calendar so you can fill your ears. ? Nashua Chamber Orchestra, June 2-3: New music highlights the season-ending concerts of this community group, in the form of a world premiere of a new concerto for an unusual instrument?the English horn, the mournful, lower-pitched cousin of the nasal oboe. But Robert Edward Smith?s newly written ?Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra,? with Cathy Macintyre as soloist, promises to bring the instrument out of its traditionally mournful rut. Smith, in notes about the three-movement work, described his aim of taking the instrument to new places. ?...the thought occurred to me that I was placing limits on what the instrument could do. That was like thinking a trumpet could play only fanfares, or a harp could play only arpeggios. I decided that it would be better to use the full range of the instrument and to compose music that was bright and playful, in addition to parts that were dark and wistful.? How does it sound? Only one way to find out, which is by attending one of the two performances by Nashua Chamber Orchestra, which are Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. at Collings Auditorium, Daniel Webster College, Nashua and Sunday, June 3 at 7 p.m. in Milford Town Hall (better acoustics!), Milford. Tickets are $15, with student/senior discounts. For info, visit nco-music.com or call 673-4100. ? Concerts at Concord Community Music School: Cock your ears for good music up in the Capital City, as the Concord Community Music School?s ?Bach?s Lunch? mid-day series concludes with a double-barreled tribute to composer Robert Schumann. On Thursday, June 7 at 12:10 p.m., UNH associate professor of music Rob Haskins presents a lecture titled ?The Piano Concerto as Bildungsroman.? No music, but instead a lecture focusing on how Schumann?s music relates to the Bildungsroman, a novel in which a character overcomes many obstacles to become a fully-formed individual. Then, on Thursday, June 14 at 12:10 p.m., comes the musical payoff, when you?ll get to hear Schumann?s Piano Concerto in A minor in a two-piano version. Pianist Anita Yu takes the solo part, while pianist Gregg Pauley stands in for the orchestra. Both pianists are on the faculty of the Concord Community Music School at 23 Wall St., which is where both programs will take place. For more info, call 228-1196 or visit ccmusicschool.org. ? Local teachers get recognized: While we?re on the Concord Community Music School, two faculty members were selected recently to attend two prominent national teaching programs. Soprano Andrea Veal has been chosen by the National Association of Teachers of Singing to attend a program in June at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. And pianist Birgit Matzerath received a $1,000 grant from the Music Teachers National Association to attend a festival in Fort Worth, Texas. They?re both examples of the high level of teaching that?s going on all around the Merrimack valley. ? Monadnock Music free chamber concerts starting July 12: One of the best classical music deals of summer is the series of free concerts by Monadnock Music in small churches and meetinghouses in towns west of the Merrimack valley. Top musicians jamming together in small intimate settings?what?s not to like? The program starts on Thursday, July 12 with an 8 p.m. performance at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, and runs through late August. Some are way the hell out by Vermont; among those closer to us are Thursday, July 26 at 8 p.m. in Milford Town Hall; Saturday, July 28 at 8 p.m. at Francestown Old Meetinghouse; Friday, Aug. 3 at 8 p.m. at Deering Community Church; Thursday, Aug. 9 at 8 p.m. at Wilton Center Unitarian Church; and Wednesday, Aug. 15 at 8 p.m. in Temple Community Church. No details about the music or performers yet, but Monadnock has a 40-year reputation for good, challenging programs always played at a very high level. Worth an evening?s drive into the country to check it out.. |
5/10/2007 To protect and sing
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