Granite State Stuff : Bach

2008-09 Bach's Lunch Series Closes with a Premiere

AskLisa — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:27:00 GMT

The Bach’s Lunch Series closes its 2008-09 Season with a lecture on June 4^th by Peggy Senter entitled “The Thrill of a Premiere: A Performer’s Perspective” and a concert the following Thursday, May 11^th 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 4^th 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.

April’s Bach’s Lunch: A Road Map for Listening to Jazz

AskLisa — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:22:00 GMT

The Bach’s Lunch Series continues on April 2nd with a lecture by Mark Shilansky entitled “Listening to Jazz: A Road Map.” On April 9th, Matt Langley, saxophone; David Tonkin, guitar; Brendan Dowd, bass, and Tim Gilmore, drums, will present “The Legacy of Bassist Charlie Haden.” 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 April 2, Mark Shilansky will give audience members a tour through the “library” of jazz improvisational techniques, giving an entertaining insider’s view into how jazz musicians decide what to play when improvising on a tune. Shilansky will demonstrate these improvisational ideas at the piano and with selected recordings. Especially with the “free jazz” idiom that Haden often explored, this road map of how jazz musicians organize the improvisation will help listeners follow the structure of the music to be presented in the concert on April 9. The Bach’s Lunch concert will feature works of famous bassists from the jazz tradition, including Charlie Haden, Oscar Pettiford, Rufus Reid and Charles Mingus. Listeners are invited to explore, as the ensemble plays, the way in which the bass player holds a singular position in a jazz setting. A deep understanding of this role allows the bass player a unique vantage point from which to lead a musical journey for both players and listeners alike.

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.”

About the artists:
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."

Matt Langley (saxophone) has studied with Lou Marini of Saturday Night Live, David Baker, Ted Dunbar, and Stan Strickland. Since 1988, he has been a member of the Charlie Kohlhase Quintet (CKQ), recording three CDs on the Accurate Label. CKQ has toured the United States extensively, performing in jazz festivals from the Boston Globe Festival to the Rutabega Jazz Jam in Knoxville, Illinois, and giving clinics, master classes and individual lessons. CKQ’s fourth CD, Dancing on my Bedpost, showed up on the top ten lists of many jazz critics in 1999 and their fifth CD is currently awaiting release on the NADA label. Matt’s recording sessions have included ones with Ron Carter, John Medeski, Billy Martin, Chris Wood, Roswell Rudd, and many others. Matt performs regularly with Tonkin Toys and teaches at the Concord Community Music School.

David Tonkin (guitar) has studied jazz guitar with Ed Cory, Jay Azzolina, and Randy Roos. Chair of the Music School’s Jazz Department, he has worked with the NH Artists in the Schools Program, led workshops at the Lincoln Center Institute at Dartmouth College, and taught at UNH Manchester. He performs throughout New England. Founder of the David Tonkin Group and Tonkin Toys. Tonkin performed in two sold-out performances with Straight No Chaser at the well-known New York City jazz club, The Blue Note, and at the Saratoga Jazz Festival. An active composer, his work has been heard on radio and television throughout the area. He teaches at the Concord Community Music School, where he is Jazz Department Chair.

Brendan Dowd (bass) graduated magna *** laude from Plymouth State University having studied with Don Williams and John Hunter and attended master classes with Todd Coolman, Rufus Reid, and David Dempsey. In addition to electric/double bass instruction and co-leading jazz ensembles at CCMS, Brendan teaches general music, band, and chorus at Ashland Elementary School, in Ashland, NH. He has performed throughout New England with many talented musicians, and performs regularly with the Jared Steer Quartet, Scott Solsky Group, The ftet, and the critically acclaimed bluegrass/folk group, High Range.

Tim Gilmore (percussion) received a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Ed/Music from Salem State College and studied further in composition and performance programs at Berklee College of Music. He is a member of the Harry Skoler Jazz Quartet with Brownstone Recording Artists and has performed with such groups as the Cape Ann Symphony, the Symphony by the Sea, the Paul Madore Chorale, the Boston Percussion Ensemble and the Cambridge Harmonic Orchestra. He has also performed with Lester Bowie, Marion McPartland, Tower of Power, Tiger Okoshi, and Warren Vache. Some of his recordings include “A Work of Heart,” “Reflections on the Art of Swing” and “Conversations in the Language of Jazz” on Brownstone Records. Tim is also on the Concord Community Music School faculty.

March Bach’s Lunch Series: Dance with the Devil

AskLisa — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:33:00 GMT

The Concord Community Music School’s Bach’s Lunch Series continues on March 5th with a lecture by UNH Professor Christopher Kies entitled “The Supernatural in Music.” On March 12th, Gregg Pauley, pianist and faculty member at the Music School, will present “Dance with the Devil: Music of Scriabin, Liszt and Bolcom.” 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. Throughout history, many composers have been inspired to represent either "demons" in general or "the devil" in particular in their music. Moreover, composers and performers both have occasionally been seen as being possessed by demonic traits themselves. On Thursday, March 5th, Christopher Kies will explore some of the outstanding musical examples of this genre and consider the reasons why these works and their composers/performers are so popular.

The following Thursday, March 12th, pianist Gregg Pauley will give voice to this intriguing topic in a concert featuring such works as Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz, Scriabin’s Black Mass Sonata, and William Bolcom’s The Graceful Ghost. Bolcom, a prolific composer whose work spans ragtime, art songs, and symphonies, won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1988.

The Bach’s Lunch Series received a 2007 Best of NH Award from NH Magazine—“best place to bring a brown-bag lunch”—and 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.

February Bach’s Lunch: Musical Valentines

AskLisa — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:29:00 GMT

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.”

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.

January Bach’s Lunch Brings Beethoven to Life

AskLisa — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:37:00 GMT

1^st and 2^nd Thursdays at the Concord Community Music School

The Bach’s Lunch Series, running from November through June, offers free, informal lunch-hour lectures the first Thursday of every month and a related concert the following Thursday in the Music School’s Recital Hall, 23 Wall St., downtown Concord. On January 8th, Birgit Matzerath, a member of the CCMS piano faculty, will present a lecture entitled " Beethoven’s Last Sonata: Rooted in the Past, Pointing to the Future.” The following Thursday, January 15th, Ms. Matzerath will return to perform a program entitled "Music of Bach, Beethoven & Schoenberg: Beyond Space and Time," which includes not only this sonata, the final work of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas, but also works by J.S. Bach and Arnold Schoenberg. Both the lecture and concert begin at 12:10 p.m. and end by 12:50 p.m.

In the January 8^th lecture, Ms. Matzerath will offer listeners a brief overview of Beethoven’s life and work as well as a "road map" for following the unusual form of the piece. She will then focus on the modes of expression Beethoven uses in the piece, which were considered quite extreme at the time and reach far beyond the time period in which he was writing. In fact, the programming of the Schoenberg work on the January 15^th concert, which was composed in the early 20^th century, will allow the listener a chance to hear the compositional influence Beethoven had on music nearly 100 years into the future. Similarly, the contrapuntal, or imitative, writing, in much of the Beethoven work reveals a direct compositional connection to the Bach Prelude and Fugue on the January 15^th concert, which was composed a century earlier.

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.

May Bach’s Lunch Series: Schubert and the Piano’s Singing Voice

AskLisa — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:18:00 GMT

The Bach’s Lunch Series continues on May 1 with a lecture by Daniel Beller-McKenna, entitled “Songs Without Words: Schubert and the Piano’s Singing Voice.” On May 8, Anita Yu, a member of the piano faculty at the Music School, will perform Schubert’s Sonata in B-flat Major in her Bach’s Lunch concert entitled “Poetic Majesty.” 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.

The May 8 concert will include Schubert's B-Flat Sonata – one of his most hauntingly beautiful pieces. It was also one of his final three sonatas written in the last year of his life. Known for his exquisite lyricism, Schubert delivers a poignant melody that seems to arise from his very heart and soul. The theme in the opening of this sonata is both dreamy and resigned, but is interrupted suddenly by the ominous rumbling of a low trill, foreshadowing death as the rattling comes to a complete stop.

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.”

Daniel Beller-McKenna is Associate Professor of Music at the University of New Hampshire where he has been on the faculty since 1998. He has published widely on the music of Johannes Brahms and (less widely) on John Lennon and the Beatles. Beller-McKenna is President of the American Brahms Society and performs in various musical ensembles in the New Hampshire seacoast region.

Anita Yu holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of British Columbia, and a master of music degree in piano pedagogy and performance from Westminster Choir College. She studied with Louise Goss, Phyllis Lehrer, and Ena Barton, and currently studies with Michael Lewin at the Boston Conservatory. Ms. Yu has performed many solo performances in Boston, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Vancouver. She is a former assistant musical director and accompanist for the Papermill Theatre, Lincoln, NH, and a former faculty member at the New School for Music Study and St. Paul’s School. She currently teaches at the Community Music Center of Boston, and the Concord Community Music School.