Granite State Stuff : Concert

Hampton Beach Casino puts on special show to raise funds for ailing manager

AskLisa — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:43:00 GMT

Jon Papandrew has been the Operations Manager at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom for more than a decade. His face has been the first to welcome each and every artist to Hampton Beach, his hand has been the last to bid them farewell as they hit the road to the next gig.

Jon was recently diagnosed with Stage IV liver cancer. It has metastasized to his bones. Needless to say, the diagnosis has been devastating not only for Jon, but for his family, his friends and the entire Casino Ballroom community. In addition to the physical and emotional toil, Jon is faced with the incredible burden of affording cancer treatment. The tables have turned and Jon needs the help of the community like never before.

On Thursday, August 20, the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom will be holding a benefit for Jon featuring live music by Little Feat. Proceeds from the show will go directly to the Papandrew family. If you would like to help out its simple, just buy a ticket to the show and have a great time. If you would like to donate directly to the Papandrew family you may do so by sending the donation to:

The Jon Papandrew Relief Fund
Banknorth
c/o Ms. Kelli Plante
Service Manager
P.O. Box 243
Rye, New Hampshire 03870

Your kindness and generosity are appreciated during this difficult time.

Update: Now, thanks to so many generous donations, a silent auction has been added to the event and will run from 6pm to 9pm the night of the show. Items include:

- Fender Guitar signed by both George Thorogood and Jonny Lang
- Epiphone Guitar signed by Joe Bonamassa
- 160GB iPod
- Autographed Little Feat foam core show poster
- Red Sox tickets
- 10' Sea Kayak
- 6 pack of skybox suite tickets to the show of your choice
- 6 pack of tickets to Water Country
- Weber Grill
- Maridian Snowboard
And much, much more…..

Seacoast Wind Ensemble to Perform in Eagle Square on July 2

AskLisa — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:50:00 GMT

The New Hampshire Historical Society will host the Seacoast Wind Ensemble in a free outdoor concert on Thursday, July 2, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., in downtown Concord’s Eagle Square, just outside the Historical Society’s museum.

The concert is made possible by the Duncan S. McGowan Memorial Fund for Eagle Square and the Marion C. Smyth Trust/Frederick Smyth Institute of Music.

The Seacoast Wind Ensemble includes more than 50 adults performing on bassoon, clarinet, euphonium, flute, French horn, harp, oboe, percussion, piccolo, saxophone, trombone, trumpet and tuba. The ensemble performs marches, show tunes, jazz, classical/symphonic adaptations for band, Broadway, and modern pop-style tunes, all suitable for the whole family.

In case of rain, the concert will be moved indoors to the adjacent atrium at 7 Eagle Square. Attendees should bring their own chairs for the indoor concert. For directions visit http://www.nhhistory.org or call 603-228-6688.

Founded in 1823, the New Hampshire Historical Society is the independent nonprofit that saves, preserves, and shares New Hampshire history. The Society serves thousands of children and adults each year through its museum, library, educational programs, publications, and outreach programs. For more information visit http://www.nhhistory.org.

National Recording Artists "The Classic Crime" coming to Ground Zero in Allenstown, Borderline Eleven needs your help to open

AskLisa — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:51:00 GMT

WOW! We are excited! THE CLASSIC CRIME, Tooth & Nail Records national recording artists, are making their ONLY NEW ENGLAND APPEARANCE at Ground Zero in Allenstown, NH on Monday, June 22 @ 7:00 PM. We have been invited to open for them! Woo hoo!! They are making a stop up here between gigs in New Jersey and Philadelphia. A total of five bands will hit the stage, and we want to be there!! Check out their profile at http://www.myspace.com/theclassiccrime.

BUT, we have to pre-sell a minimum of 30 tickets to have this honor. Tickets are $10 apiece. Ground Zero is a great youth venue, only 10 minutes from Manchester, NH. The owners work hard to bring quality entertainment at a reasonable price to give the youth of our area a safe place to have fun--one of the few places which honors bands with original music--and they bring in local, regional, and national acts. It's been a well-kept secret up til now, but we want to storm the doors of GZ with people ready to have a rockin' good time--with us and The Classic Crime!!!

We know we have made lots of new friends in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine towns as well as NH places a distance from Manchester. Believe us, this show will be worth any drive you have to make. The cost of tickets and gas will still be cheaper than the ticket price to see them in a large major venue. And this show will be more personal and intimate than a big cavernous arena anyway. Great way to meet and greet a national band without having to win backstage passes, bribe bouncers, wear janitor disguises, or whatever.

Please add the date to your calendar and help us by letting us know that you can be there by replying to this email or sending us a note at borderline.eleven.music@gmail.com. We have only a few days to accomplish this, so please let us know as soon as you can. If we can't hit the mark, we won't be able to play, and some other local band will .... please help us make this happen!

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.

7th Annual Mandolin Festival & Concert

AskLisa — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:34:00 GMT

March Mandolin Madness

Four nationally-known multi-instrumentalists will headline the seventh annual March Mandolin Festival at the Concord Community Music School. This year, the festival features Radim Zenkl, Seth Austen, Skip Gorman and David Surette. The festival concert, open to the public, takes place in the Music School’s Recital Hall on Saturday, March 7th, at 7:30 pm. The Concord concert follows a festival concert at The Press Room in Portsmouth on Friday, March 6th.

This two-day event offers group lessons, workshops on a variety of topics, and jam sessions, in addition to the public concert on Saturday evening. Saturday workshops include Mandolin Technique and Speed Development, Developing a Classic Bluegrass Sound, Group Tunes, Right Hand Picking Techniques, Exploring the Blues and Irish Jigs and Slip Jigs, to name only a few. Rolfe Gerhardt and Jenny Warner of Phoenix Mandolins will be available all day Saturday to assist participants with care and repair issues. Sunday morning will offer a chance to consolidate Saturday’s events, compare notes and play through the group tunes together. The Festival will close at 12:30 pm on Sunday.

David Surette, festival organizer and recording artist, is widely known for his work on the mandolin, guitar and bouzouki, his frequent solo appearances, as well as performances with Susie Burke, Rodney Miller and the group “Airdance.” Surette is coordinator of the Music School’s folk program.

The full weekend festival is limited to 50 students and usually sells out early, with pre-registration required. For more information on the festival and to pre-register for the weekend’s workshops, or to purchase general admission tickets for the Saturday evening concert, call the Concord Community Music School, 603-228-1196, or drop by the school at 23 Wall Street in downtown Concord. Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults; $12 for students and seniors. Festival sponsors include the NH State Council on the Arts Traditional Arts Program, www.MandolinCafe.com, and the Concord Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

With a mission “to foster a sense of community through music…for people of all ages, musical abilities, and backgrounds,” the Music School welcomes adults, teens, and children, emphasizing the importance of ensembles and performance as well as individual instruction. It also partners with more than 20 New Hampshire schools, human service agencies, retirement homes, and public housing communities to bring musical participation to people unable to travel to CCMS. Call the Music School for more information, 603-228-1196, or visit the website www.ccmusicschool.org.