The Bach’s Lunch Series continues on February 5th with a lecture by Mark Shilansky entitled “Old Favorites, New Sounds: Interpreting Popular Songs.” On February 12th, Peggo Horstmann Hodes, vocalist, and Kent Allyn, piano, bass and guitar, will present “Winter of Love: Musical Valentines.” Bach’s Lunch programs are free, and take place in the Music School’s Recital Hall, 23 Wall St., downtown Concord, from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m.
On Thursday, February 5th, audience members are invited to join Bach’s Lunch speaker Mark Shilansky as he plays recordings of singers with different styles performing the same song, and demonstrates how he as a jazz pianist and arranger uses re-harmonization and different grooves to personalize these songs on his own recordings.
The following Thursday, February 12th, marks the annual return of the Music School’s popular Valentine’s duo, faculty members Peggo Horstmann Hodes, vocalist, and Kent Allyn, piano, bass and guitar. In this year's Bach's Lunch concert, "Winter of Love," Peggo and Kent will hearken back to the hopeful, poetic, passionate music from the “summer of love” of the late 60's to celebrate the current time of optimism. Performing songs made famous by Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Judy Collins, Peggo and Kent will, in the words of Joni Mitchell, “court and spark you.”
The Bach’s Lunch Series received a 2007 Best of NH Award from New Hampshire Magazine, named as an Editor's Pick - “best place to bring a brown-bag lunch.”
The Bach’s Lunch series is sponsored by The Duprey Companies; The Couch Trusts, TD Banknorth, N.A., Trustee; and The Timothy and Abigail B. Walker Lecture Fund. Call 603-228-1196 for information, or visit the website http://www.ccmusicschool.org
Mark Shilansky has been playing the piano and writing songs since the age of 8. Now, 28 years later (after studying with Dave Tonkin and Michael Annicchiarico at the Concord Community Music School, then going on to UNH and New England Conservatory), he teaches ear training, improvisation, and arranging at Berklee College of Music, and his alma mater, UNH. He also keeps himself busy writing music and producing CDs (over 40 at last count) for himself and others, on which he plays keyboard instruments and sometimes sings. Some of these CDs are the piano trio date "First Look" (1997), the collection of original pop songs "Different Songs" (2000), the suite of extended jazz compositions "Other Voices" (2003) and "Join the Club" (2007). Shilansky also counts as his achievements 3 performances at the IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education) annual convention, and performances and recordings with such artists as Luciana Souza, Rebecca Parris, Kenny Wheeler, Jerry Bergonzi, and the New York Voices, as well as two recent tours of Japan and a performance at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival with the vocal jazz group "Syncopation."
Peggo Horstmann Hodes holds master’s degrees in Elementary Education from Lesley College and Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory. Peggo has been soloist with the New Hampshire Symphony, the Granite State Symphony, the Concord Chorale and the Musicians of Wall Street. In recital, she has premiered works written for her by William Fletcher and Thomas Oboe Lee. Horstmann Hodes is a founding member of femme m’amie, the seven-woman a cappella ensemble, which has recorded two highly acclaimed CDs. She is also half of the duo Peggo & Paul, the New Hampshire recording artists who have gained an international reputation for their original family recordings, two of which won Parents’ Choice Awards. Horstmann Hodes teaches a workshop called Vibrant Voice, which combines creative singing and writing to free the voice and soul. She has led workshops in Hawaii, California, New York, Maine, and New Hampshire. At the Music School, she is a member of the voice faculty and leads the vocal ensemble Karitas.
Kent Allyn is widely considered to be everyone’s favorite sideman by both audiences and performers. In addition to his work with Susie Burke and David Surette, his long list of recording and performing credits includes Ben Baldwin & the Big Note, Paul and Peggo, Cosy Sheridan, Brooks Williams, and The Night Heron Consort, to name just a few. Kent teaches at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine.
Concord Community Music School is a full member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and is recognized nationally for program innovation and management excellence. Welcoming adults, teens and children of all musical abilities, 55 artist teachers reach more than 33,000 people in four states with educational programs, concerts, workshops and community partnerships. CCMS has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Hearst Foundation, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Jane’s Trust, and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and is the 2005 recipient of the NH Governor’s Arts Award for Cultural Access Leadership.