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MUSIC AT PENN ALPS REVEALS 2008 16th CONCERT SEASON
Music at Penn Alps is pleased to announce the 16th Season of this popular chamber music series. This year for the first time, two concerts will be presented at Windsor Hall in Cumberland. The remainder of the season will be presented at MPA’s regular venue in the Great Hall at Penn Alps, Grantsville. All concerts begin at 7:30 on Saturday evenings. For program and ticket information, call 301-895-4250.
The full season line-up is a follows:
Saturday, May 31
Aimé Sposato, Corey Rotz, Kathryn Green, Curt Scheib, & Karen Keating
Soprano, Tenor, Contralto, Bass, and Piano
The season opens with a welcome return by Shenadoah Valley-based soprano Aime Sposato, who will bring a talented group of singers with her to perform favorite arias and ensemble selections from The Marriage of Figaro, La Boheme, Don Giovanni, Carmen, Rigoletto and more. The ensemble comprises Sposato, tenor Corey Rotz, contralto Kathryn Green and bass Curt Scheib. Pianist Karen Keating will provide the accompaniment. The concert is sponsored by Western Maryland Health System and underwritten by Mrs. Betsy Maxfield.
Saturday, June 7
William Montgomery & Roy Hakes -- Flute and Piano
Flutist William Montgomery and pianist Roy Hakes have been performing for many years in the Baltimore-Washington area. Montgomery is a professor of flute, chamber music and wind pedagogy at the University of Maryland and also performs with the Theater Chamber Players in residence at the Kennedy Center. Hakes is a well-known collaborator in the D.C. area who has appeared at The Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, the Arts Club of Washington, and the Summer School Museum. The program will include Debussy’s “Prelude a l’après-midi d’un faune” as well as works by Beethoven, Mozart and Stephen Foster. Sponsored by The Casselman Inn.
Saturday, June 14
Lee Murdock-- Folk singer
Noted as a fluent instrumentalist on the six and twelve-string guitars, Murdock’s fascination with Great Lakes music came from his search for songs from his own part of the Midwest. He has uncovered a boundless body of music and stories from the Great Lakes, drawing on the archives of authentic sailing songs collected in the early twentieth century. Murdock has released fourteen CDs since 1980, and his book, Lake Rhymes, Folk Songs of the Great Lakes Region, contains 18 songs and more than 70 historic photos and illustrations.
No two performances are exactly alike, but a typical performance comprises about one-third traditional music, one-third Lee Murdock originals, and about one-third music by contemporary songwriter-composers. This special appearance is sponsored by R.H. Lapp & Son, Inc.
Saturday, June 21
Nancy Roldán--Piano Recital
Nancy Roldán has performed several times in the Music at Penn Alps series and returns in 2008 with a program by both European and Latin composers. She will perform Mussorgsky’s masterpiece “Pictures at an Exhibition”, in addition to pieces by Ernesto Lecuona and Alberto Ginastera and others. Ms. Roldán is a graduate of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Argentina and holds master and doctorate degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, where she has taught since 1976. She is President of the Baltimore-Washington Chapter of the American Liszt Society. The performance underwritten by Arthur & Barbara Weldon and sponsored by Railey Mountain Lake Vacations.
Saturday, June 28 at Windsor Hall,
Cumberland.
West Virginia Piano Quartet with guest bassist Andrew Kohn
--Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano, and Bass
For its first-ever concert presentation outside the
Great Hall in Grantsville, Music at Penn Alps has invited the West Virginia
Piano Quartet, with guest bassist Andrew Kohn, to perform Franz Schubert’s
popular Quintet in A Major, known as the “Trout Quintet”. The program will
also feature a world premiere of Quintet for Piano and Strings, composed by
WVU resident composer John Beall. WV Piano Quartet was founded in 1994 by
four West Virginia University faculty members; original members James
Miltenberger, piano, and William Skidmore, cello, are joined in 2008 by
Mikylah Myers McTeer, violin, and Maggie Snyder, viola. For this
performance, WVU faculty member Andrew Kohn will assist the Quartet. The
performance underwritten by Dr. Peter B. & Iris Halmos and is sponsored by
Allegany College of Maryland
Saturday, July 5
Ensemble Gaudior -- Baroque Music, Period Instruments
Ensemble Gaudior is dedicated to performing masterpieces of chamber music from the Baroque and Classical eras, using instruments from those periods or careful modern copies. Based in the Washington DC area, Ensemble Gaudior is represented for this program by three of its members, Alexandra MacCracken, founder and director of the ensemble, Daniel Rippe and Elena Tsai. The program will feature works by Biber, Schmelzer and Georg Muffat. Sponsored by Coldwell Banker/Deep Creek Realty.
Saturday, July 12
Brian Plitnik & Timothy Hoft -- Alto and Tenor Trombone, Piano
Trombonist Brian Plitnik is co-founder of Coronation Brass ensemble in the tri-state area. He is currently Professor of Low Brass and Director of Brass Ensembles at Frostburg State University, and he serves as the Low Brass Instructor for the Cumberland Music Academy in Cumberland. Pianist Timothy Hoft was awarded a fellowship in 2006 through La Gesse Foundation, providing performance opportunities in France and Italy, as well as in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. The program will range from the 18th to the 20th centuries, with works from Johann Albrectsberger to Tommy Dorsey. The concert is sponsored by Frostburg State University.
Saturday, July 26
Gorton-Van Hoesen Duo -- Harp and Oboe/English Horn
The Van Hoesen/Gorton Duo was formed in 1985 when the husband and wife team of James Gorton and Gretchen Van Hoesen presented the Pittsburgh premiere of the Double Concerto by Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski. Both artists are members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Gretchen Van Hoesen is Principal Harpist, James Gorton is Co-Principal Oboist. The program of solos and duets will include Telemann’s Fantasia in A minor. The concert is sponsored by Yoder-Hershberger Insurance Agency.
Saturday, August 2 at Windsor Hall,
Cumberland.
Lomozov/Rackers Piano Duo -- Piano for four hands
The Lomazov/Rackers Piano Duo returns to Music at Penn Alps for their third concert in recent seasons and will reprise Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”, which they performed to an enthusiastic audience here in 2006. Both performers hold the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, and both currently serve on the piano faculty at the University of South Carolina’s School of Music. The performance is underwritten by David & Irene Eyer and sponsored by Sincell Publishing/The Republican
Saturday, August 9
Marissa Regni - Violin
Marissa Regni is Principal Second Violinist of the National Symphony Orchestra. Before coming to Washington, D.C., she was a member of the Saint Louis Symphony, where she served as assistant principal second violin. She is a member of the critically acclaimed Manchester String Quartet, and was a founding member of the Kennedy Center Chamber Players. Ms. Regni has also been a featured artist on National Public Radio. Among the works she will perform are the Partita No. 3 in E Major by Johann Sebastian Bach and the Sonata in D Major, Opus 115 by Prokofieff. Sponsored by Total Biz Fulfillment
Saturday, August 16
Amy Leung & Naoko Takao -- Cello and Piano
Cellist Amy Leung has been a guest performer with the Emerson Quartet, the Guarneri Quartet, and the Kennedy Center Theatre Chamber Players, and she appears regularly with Washington Musica Viva and the Washington Bach Consort. She will be joined by pianist Naoko Takao, a native of Japan, has been actively performing as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician since coming to the U.S. in 1984. She is currently a member of the Chesapeake Trio and the Post Classical Ensemble. Their program will include "Elegy" for Cello and Piano by Masatoshi Mitsumoto (b. 1937). Sponsored by Garrett College
Saturday, August 23
Jonathan Carney & Friends -- Violin, Viola, Flute
Hailed as one of the great concertmasters of his generation, violinist Jonathan Carney currently holds that position with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and has also been Concertmaster of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, and the Basque National Orchestra in Spain. Acclaimed Russian violinist Igor Yuzefovich is Assistant Concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Flutist Ruthie Carney played principal flute for the New English Chamber Players, the New English Wind Quintet, the London Verona Ensemble, and orchestras throughout Great Britain. The trio will perform works by Miklos Rozsa, Franz Josef Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozar, Hector Villa-Lobos and Ludwig van Beethoven. The concert is sponsored by Frank Gerwig & Associates.
Tickets for individual concerts are $12 general admission (18 and under free). Books of ten tickets may be purchased in advance for $100.00 and used at any concert. Ticket outlets (for single tickets only) include Main Street Books, Frostburg, The Book Center, Cumberland, The Book Mark’et, Oakland, Kleeb’s Music Center, Morgantown, WV and Penn Alps Restaurant and Craft Shop, Grantsville. Tickets will also be sold at the door. Music at Penn Alps is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting classical music and American traditions.