The Bach’s Lunch Series closes its 2008-09 Season with a lecture on June 4th by Peggy Senter entitled “The Thrill of a Premiere: A Performer’s Perspective” and a concert the following Thursday, May 11th featuring Jean Benson, flute and Gregg Pauley, piano. The concert, entitled “American Inspirations," will feature the premiere of three lines (after Roethke), by Concord composer William Fletcher, along with works by American composers Lukas Foss and Aaron Copland. 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.
In her June 4th lecture, Ms. Senter, who was worked with Fletcher and other composers in premiering their new works, will speak from a performer's viewpoint about the excitement and discovery in helping to bring a new work to life. She will give insights into Fletcher's compositional style, based on her 25 year involvement as a performer with Fletcher's three song cycles. In addition, the Music School has commissioned Fletcher for two works for its Contemporary Festivals: Requerdos Imaginerios, for flute, guitar, oboe and cello (1996); and Sarasongs, based on poetry of Sara Teasdale, for women's vocal ensemble, flute, oboe and piano (2002), which will also be featured in the lecture.
The following Thursday, June 11th, flutist Jean Benson, accompanied by fellow Music School faculty member, pianist Gregg Pauley, will perform the Duo for Flute and Piano by Aaron Copland, Three American Pieces by Lukas Foss, and the premiere of three lines (after Roethke) by Concord composer William Fletcher. The program shows a progression of American music composed within the past 100 years, with Fletcher's 2008 composition being the most recent. William Fletcher has been featured as a composer many times in the Music School's history, receiving two commissions from the School, and having written music for faculty members Senter, Peggo Horstmann Hodes, Gregg Pauley, Jean Benson, and Mark Andrew Cleveland. Although an instrumental composition, this new work recalls a work composed in 1985 for voice and piano, Two Poems of Theodore Roethke, and reflects the composer's deep knowledge of and affection for Roethke and other poets. The title is derived from three lines by Roethke, each of which inspires a movement of the piece.
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 www.ccmusicschool.org
About the artists:
Peggy Senter, speaker, founder and president of the Music School, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina in music education, and also holds a master of music degree in piano performance from the University of Wisconsin, with further study in voice, piano pedagogy and arts administration. She has received such honors as the Governor's Award for Arts Education (1993), the University of North Carolina Distinguished Alumna Award (1999), and the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year (2007). Her piano teachers include Michael Zenge, Howard Karp, and Victor Rosenbaum, and her previous piano faculty positions include the Rivers Music School, North Shore Community College, and St. Paul’s School. She has performed in recital and as concerto soloist and chamber musician in North Carolina, Wisconsin, and New England, including many premieres of new works with Composers in Red Sneakers, Nuclassix, and the Musicians of Wall Street.
Jean Benson, flute, began her study of the flute at the Eastman School of Music with John Thomas. After moving to New Hampshire she traveled to Vermont and New York to study with Louis Moyse and Julius Baker. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Keene State College, studying with Bonnie Insull and other members of the Apple Hill Chamber Players. A frequent soloist in the New England area, Ms. Benson has participated in recital series at King’s College Chapel, the Blacksmith’sHouse, the Longy School, Boston Conservatory, and St. Paul’s School. Formerly principal flute with the Nashua Symphony, Ms. Benson has also soloed with the New Hampshire Philharmonic and the Vermont Symphony. She has performed with the Great Waters Festival and Granite State Opera, and currently plays with the Granite State Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Benson lives in Concord with her husband and daughter, and maintains an active teaching and performing schedule at St. Paul’s School and the Concord Community Music School.
Gregg Pauley, piano, joined the faculty of the Music School in the fall of 1999. A native of Southern California, he earned his bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Southern California with pianist James Bonn. He earned a master’s degree at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts where he studied with Ilana Vered. In addition to many appearances at the Rutgers Summerfest, Pauley has performed in Alice Tully Hall in New York City, at Steinway Hall in Los Angeles and has been presented in recital by the Steinway Society of Princeton, the University of Southern California, the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and the Music Teachers’ National Association Convention, among others. He has performed on WQXR radio in New York and on WKPM in Portland, Maine where he was the featured soloist in a live broadcast of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. Pauley has been a top prizewinner at many competitions, including the Johanna Hodges International Piano Competition, the Portland Symphony-Priscilla Morneault Piano Competition and the Hampton Summerfest Competition.
William A. Fletcher, composer, is currently on the faculty of St. Paul’s School, where, in addition to his duties as Choirmaster, he teaches voice, composition and music theory. He has held the position of voice department chair of the Concord Community Music School, where he also coached the Scholarship Vocal Ensemble. A respected composer, his compositions for voice and piano have been performed throughout the United States, and has received commissions from the Christa MacAuliffe Planetarium, The Concord Community Music School, The Concord Chorale, The Infinities Ensemble and St. Paul's School as well as from performers Peggo Horstmann Hodes, Mark Andrew Cleveland, Gregg Pauley and Jean Benson. Mr. Fletcher has produced recordings for Steve Schuch, The Night Heron Consort, Wellspring, femme m’amie, Peggo & Paul, St. Paul's School, Lucy Chapin, Johnny Nicholson, and soprano Holly Outwin-Tepe. An ardent supporter of new music, he has conducted the premieres of works by Michael Annicchiarico, Gwyneth Walker, Augusta Read Thomas, James Grant, Robert Powell, Marilyn Ziffrin, Petr Reznícek and Henryk Górecki among others.