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JANUARY 2012

Meet The Mozarts:

Sunday, January 15, 3:00 P.M
Doors open at 2:30

at the
CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
93 SOUTH MAIN ST.
ORANGE, MA

Tix $15 advance or at the door.
Advance tickets also available from choristers.

Quabbin Valley Pro Musica's Annual Winter Extravaganza!

Wolfgang Mozart’s Requiem, accompanied by a 21-piece orchestra, highlights the 3 pm Sunday, January 15, 2012 program, Meet the Mozarts, of Quabbin Valley Pro Musica in Central Congregational Church, Orange. Charles Heffernan of Amherst conducts QVPM, resident chorus of the 1794 Meetinghouse.

The program of eighteenth century music begins with three compositions by Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang Mozart’s father. For centuries, scholars attributed one of the selections a “Kyrie,” to the son, according to Dr. Heffernan, who said he believes QVPM will be offering the first performance with recognition of the true composer.

In November, Dr. Heffernan presented a prequel program in Orange Innovation Center about the lives of the Mozart family. He will offer a program at OIC about the music to be performed at 3 pm Sunday, January 8, the week before the concert. Refreshments and conversation will follow the prequel.

Judy Johnson is rehearsal pianist this semester in place of Stephanie Parker.

Singers include, sopranos, Judy Bisinger, Louise Dwyer-Huppert, Candi Fetzer, Beckie Finn, Connie Gillen, Rachel Gonzalez, Rennie Nelson, Linda Overing, Allison Pollitt, Carolyn Brown Senier, and Cathy Tyng; altos, Lynn Boudreau, Mara Bright, Cynthia Brown, Jo-Anne Chapin, Charlene Deam, Marcia Gagliardi, Marti Horman, and Phyllis Stone.

Tenors, Ted Boren, Ken Johnson, John Nelson, Phil Rabinowitz, and Richard Senier; basses, Chuck Berube, Richard Chase, Hugh Field, Bill Gillen, Bill Oldach, and Jim Perkins.

"From Galileo to Einstein, mankind is familiar with the famous child prodigies who grew into the movers and shakers in their respective fields. Radically changing and developing fields of science, art, and music, prodigies have shaped the backbone of modern culture. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was undoubtedly one of the geniuses who revolutionized the world of music in the eighteenth century. Though relatively unappreciated for much of his life, his influence was hardly contained in his hometown of Salzburg or the city of Vienna after his death. Without his nonpareil perspective and prodigious compositions, much of modern classical music would not have developed in its current form."

from: Uncovering the Truth of Mozart
Michael DeJager

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REMEMBERING 2011

If you didn't get a chance to visit us in the past year... scroll down and see all you missed. Click on the links and treat yourself to some very good music and videos. But don't FRET, 2012 is going to be even BETTER!

SEPTEMBER 2011

Western Glory:

Friday, September 9 & 16, 7:30 P.M.
Saturday, September 10 & 17, 7:30 P.M.
Sunday Matinees, September 11 & 18, 2:00 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.
Advance tickets also available at NEW SALEM GENERAL STORE.

Friday, September 9, 7:30 P.M.
Saturday, September 10, 7:30 P.M.
Sunday, September 11, 2:00 P.M.

Friday, September 16, 7:30 P.M.
Saturday, 17, 7:30 P.M.
Sunday, September 18, 2:00 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.
Advance tickets also available at NEW SALEM GENERAL STORE.

Johnson-Lichtenberg Musical

Western Glory is the new Dorothy Johnson-Andy Lichtenberg musical for 2011 set in the Glory Hotel, in the town of Glory, in the Dakota Territory of the 1890’s. The hotel is the heart of a town filled with visiting royalty, farmers, mountain folk, would-be gunslingers, a U.S. Marshall, dance hall girls, and virtuous townswomen. There will be a theft, a trial for murder, and the promise of a hanging.
The usual large cast will fill the stage as they play the colorful characters to the hilt and belt out original songs by the popular Johnson-Lichtenberg team. This will be the ninth Johnson-Lichtenberg musical to premier at the 1794 Meetinghouse.  

JUNE 2011

Beaumont String Quartet:

Saturday, June 11, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $15 advance or at the door.

Classical Strings.

The Beaumont Quartet was formed in 2008 by four highly sought after free- lance musicians in southeastern Michigan.  Active the year round as orchestral musicians, recitalists, teachers, and occasionally as soloists, the members of the Quartet came together out of a profound love of the string quartet literature. Since their inception they have given numerous performances in Ann Arbor, on The Woodward Corridor Chamber Music series in Detroit, and on the Grosse Pointe War Memorial Chamber Music series.  With two of the group’s members hailing from Massachusetts originally, this performance at the 1794 Meeting House represents something of a homecoming.  The Beaumont Quartet’s repertoire includes classic works of the literature by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms, as well as lesser-known works by such composers as Puccini and Smetana.

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Quabbin Valley Pro Musica:

Sunday, June 12, 4:00 P.M.
Tix $15 advance or at the door.

Featuring the Beaumont String Quartet.

QVPM, the resident chorus of 1794 Meetinghouse, Inc., is directed by Dr. Charles Heffernan, Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He directed the Keene New Hampshire Chorale for more than twenty years.

In Praise and Remembrance is the June 12 concert scheduled for Quabbin Valley Pro Musica. Numbering some forty singers, Pro Musica will perform compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Schubert, and Carolyn Brown Senier in an exhilarating presentation featuring the accomplished Beaumont String Quartet from Michigan. Bach's Cantata #4 will open the program.Song of Abraham, Brown Senier's homage to the Hebrew testament and her late friend Abraham Barron, will complete the first half of the concert. Schubert's Mass in B-flat Major will comprise the second half of the program. It will feature Pro Musica soloists Lynn Boudreau, soprano; Lynn Dudley, alto; Richard Chase, tenor; Ted Boren, bass. The Beaumont Quartet includes Priscilla Johnson, first violin; Judith Teasdle, second violin; Susan Felbeck Schreiber, viola; and Stefan Koch, cello. Other instrumentalists for the afternoon are Stephanie Parker, keyboard; Lois Somers, viola; Yasu Suzuki, double bass; James Sharrock, oboe.

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Unit7 Band-Featuring Eric Olsson:

Thursday, June 16, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Unit7... Speakeasy Music for the 21st Century

Unit7 will save your soul. Jazz you up and funk you over. Unit7 is all dressed up and ready to roll. It sings in the rain, cries at the sun, and howls at the moon. Unit7 is silk and never flannel. Shaken but never stirred. Unit7 is a lost weekend in Vegas, a night in Tunisia, and a day at the races. Alert the press. Call the Grammys. Prepare to feel the love.

Eric Olsson: Vocals, Keys and Guitar
Joe 'Jopey' Fitzpatrick: Drums
Donny Hayward: Bass
Gregory Lauzon, Richard Page and Tom Mahnken: Saxophone
 

    ARTIST'S WEB SITE 

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Boston Blackthorne:

Saturday, June 18, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Driving Celtic and Irish American Traditional and Original Music.

Boston Blackthorne, has stayed on top of the New England folk and Irish circuit for more than 20 years by delivering exciting shows and solid recordings. Their first self-produced and directed CD "Better Late than Ever" won the award for best local album from the Springfield Newspapers in 2007. The song Back When the Craic was Grand has won several songwiting awards including first place in the International Narritive Songwriting Contest in 2008.

In 2010 the band released the CD "County Kerry to Kerry Park". The album was recorded in the Spring of 2010 at Signature Sounds recording studio with noted engineer Mark Thayer at the controls. Boston Blackthorne is unique in that several members of the band are award-winning songwriters writing about contemporary subjects in the context of traditional music as it has been played for centuries. The theme running through the new CD is the transition of traditional music as it followed the Irish diaspora from County Kerry Ireland to Kerry Park in Holyoke MA where thousands of Irish immigrants, including songwriter Jim O'Connor's family made their home.

Jim O'Connor: vocals, guitar, banjo, bouzouki and mandolin
Jon Lees: vocals, 6 & 12 string guitar
Jim Keegan: vocals, bass, tenor banjo (Donkey Pilgrim)
Peter McAvoy: mandolin, tenor banjo and fiddle
Dale Monette: drums and bodhran

    ARTIST'S WEB SITE 

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The Pangeans:

Sunday, June 19, 4:00 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Latin Jazz, Samba, Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Funk and Afro-Beat.

THE PANGEANS are a group of seven musicians performing Latin Jazz, Samba, Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Funk and Afro-Beat.  The group performs original compositions based on traditional rhythms as well as compositions by Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), Herbie Hancock, Fela Kuti and others.  If you like to dance and/or listen to World Music, you'll love THE PANGEANS!

Brian Bender: trombone, trumpet, melodica, keyboards, percussion, composer
Jim Vogel: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, percussion, composer
Adam Scotera: trumpet, alto saxophone   
Steve Crow: electric guitar 
Bruce Dobbins: congas, Latin and African percussion
Peter Kim: electric bass
Joe "Jopey" Fitzpatrick: drums  

     ARTIST'S WEB SITE 

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Swift River Anthology:

Saturday, June 25, 7:30 P.M. (encore matinee performance June 26, 2:00 P.M.)
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Spoon River Comes to New Salem.

Dorothy Johnson’s Swift River Anthology is a collection of voices from the Swift River Valley representing the people of Dana, Prescott, Enfield, and Greenwich who were displaced to make room for the Quabbin Reservoir. Their stories are American history from the setting of New England almost to the present day told by ordinary people. Some stories are poignant, some humorous, some angry, but all bring back a sense of a vanished world.
The production is a staged reading and the readers are well-known to area audiences. Sally Howe, Dee Waterman, Debra Lichtenberg, Andy Lichtenberg, Jack Borden, and Richard Trousdell represent the Valley folk whose prolific monologues take us back to lives and times forever lost.

Swift River Anthology:

Sunday, June 26, 2:00 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Encore Matinee (see above description)

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Samantha Farrell:

Thursday, June 30, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Prodigious and Undulating Vocals that are Delivered with
Rare, Swinging Passion.

Samantha Farrell is a sparkling young singer-songwriter who’s been criss-crossing the country and wowing audiences from the left to the right coast. It’s been a very good year for the Boston native who got her start in Los Angeles. Recently described by the Huffington Post as possessing "a liquor-honey voice, deft guitar work, and slightly melancholic tones that meld to form an aching and elegant aural tapestry," she's been reviewed by major music mags such as Relix, played for at-capacity venues across the country and New England, and independently released an album and EP this year, the former of which knocked Whitney Houston out of her number seven position on the national iTunes charts. An independent artist to the bone, she’s building something special, one show, one song, one fan at a time.

The daughter of an Irish American father and African American mother, she was born in Boston, and raised on a farm in rural Massachusetts where music was a constant part of the colorful fabric of her life. Influenced early on by old school soul, jazz and R&B as well as the likes of singer-songwriters such as Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, Samantha has fused these genres into an eclectic style all of her own; a rootsy and soulful blend of urgent and catchy melodies, expressive lyrics and powerful acoustic guitar. Her music has been heard on several major network television shows (NBC's "Shark", CW's "One Tree Hill" & "Privileged") as well as numerous independent movies.

     ARTIST'S WEB SITE

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JULY 2011

The Jolly Beggars:

Thursday, July 7, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Rich, traditional Celtic Music.

The Jolly Beggars bring the rich tradition of Celtic music to audiences all over the North Eastern United States. Made up of students from the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, CT, their traditional songs and musical arrangements have exposed many music lovers to the joys of Celtic music.They tell traditional stories from Irish folklore and intersperse their musical arrangements with traditional reels and jigs. Characterized by their tight harmonies and use of mandolin, pennywhistle, guitar, bass, bodhran, spoons, and more, The Jolly Beggars have quickly built a solid following and continue to spread their music through New England and the Tri-State area.

The band performs music that is largely Celtic in origin (Irish and Scottish), with some pieces coming from an extension of that music in other cultures.

Jeff DesRosier: Vocals/Mandolin/Guitar
Christopher Vece: Vocals/Whistles
Greg Wilfrid: Vocals/Guitar/Banjo/Mandoli
David Uhl: Vocals/Double Bass
Matt Torcellin: Vocals/Percussion
Chris Jasinski: Vocals/Percussion

    ARTIST'S WEB SITE 

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Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez:

with special guest; Mitch Chakour

Saturday, July 9, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $15 advance or at the door.

The Queen of Blue-Eyed Rock n' Soul. Incendiary and Eclectic!

The heart of Christine Ohlman has belonged to rock n' roll from just about the moment she could walk and talk. By the time she traveled from Boston to New York on an overnight train to make her first record at the age of 16, writing the "B" side on the way to the studio, she was already a veteran of the local coffeehouse circuit around New Haven, Connecticut. "The first guy who ever signed me flew down from New York City to hear the band; he signed us the same day," she says. "We were in the studio practically before we knew what hit us recording a version of Al Kooper's 'Wake Me, Shake Me.' The next thing we knew, we were on the charts and I was in heaven!"

Christine was a founding member of The Scratch Band, legendary throughout the Northeast for their incendiary and eclectic live shows, and her stark, piano-accompanied version of Dusty Springfield's "I Only Want To Be With You" from their first LP was a turntable hit in the U.K. Beginning in September 1991, a portion of The Scratch Band reunited in the studios of NBC's Saturday Night Live with Christine joining guitarist/vocalist/musical director G.E. Smith and bassist Paul Ossola, both former Scratch Band members, in the SNL band. At one point, the 11-member group, featuring in its repertoire a heavy dose of Christine's favorite music—southern soul—took the stage (joined by Ry Cooder, Steve Cropper and Maceo Parker) as the house band for The Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards, a performance that was, in Ohlman's words, "just about the biggest flat-out thrill of my life.

While touring and recording with Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez are the main focus, Ohlman has other all-star concert appearances to her credit, including the Lincoln Center “American Songbook” Series (with Sting and Lou Reed), the 2009 Obama Inaugural Gala, and Celebrate Brooklyn’s Tribute to Bill Withers (with Nona Hendryx and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James). She continues to perform with the SNL Band, appearing with Al Green on the show's 25th Anniversary Special and in the hilarious 2010 commercial parody “Carter n’ Sons Barbeque.” She is a sought-after studio guest vocalist, appearing on Ian Hunter's Shrunken Heads (named one the Top 20 CDs of 2007 by the New York Daily News), Big Al Anderson's Pawn Shop Guitars, and two CDs by esteemed Irish punk group Black 47.

Cliff Goodwin: Lead Guitar
Cliff Goodwin, a native son of Worcester, MA, came up, as a founding member, with legendary New England rock n' roll gods The American Standard Band, appearing on their self-titled LP. In 1976, he answered the call to become Joe Cocker’s lead guitarist, where he stayed until 1988, sharing the stage with Nicky Hopkins and Bobby Keyes; recording Luxury You Can Afford (Asylum), Cocker (Capitol), Live In Central Park (Casablanca), Standing Here, and Live in Montreaux; and cementing his reputation as an musical director par excellence when he assumed that role for Cocker upon joining the band. Along the way, Cliff worked with John Mayall, Steve Miller, and Robert Palmer, appearing on Palmer’s Secrets, three Billboard Hot 100-charted singles with the New City Rockers, and the million-seller Twisted Christmas with The Bob Rivers Comedy Corporation.

Wolf Ginandes: Bass Guitar
Wolf is Christine’s guest bass player for the evening while Rebel Montez bass guitarist Michael Colbath is on vacation.  Wolf has been playing since high school and started playing full time in 1972. About eight years later he started repairing guitars for a living and playing gigs nearly every day of the week. He has toured internationally with multiple artists.  He has lived in the Boston area for several years and plays for local favorites Digney Fignus, Dan King and others.  He is also considered to be one of the best guitar repair technicians around, and he has served an endless stream of Berklee College of Music students, faculty, and Boston axemen in their quest for the perfect-sounding instrument.

Larry Donahue: Drums and Percussion
The heartbeat of the Rebel Montez sound resides within the heart, hands, and feet of Larry Donahue. Joining up after a stint in LA’s turbulent music scene, Donahue brings to the band an unshakeable sense of timing and a musical sensibility that is open to a world of inspiration, from the elegant Stax stylings of Al Jackson, Jr. through the garage/rockabilly madness of Travis Wamack’s “Scratchy” and Frank Kirkland’s jungle-drum excursions with Bo Diddley.

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Rodrigo Tarraza & Les Inegales:

“In Stile Italiano”
Baroque Gems from Europe

Sunday, July 10, 4:00 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Internationally Renowned Flautist. Classical Baroque.

Rodrigo Tarraza is an internationally renowned flautist, and one of the few musicians worldwide specializing in baroque traverse flute. He studied with Barthold Kuijken at the Royal Conservatory, The Hague and has performed throughout North America, South America, and Europe as both a soloist and chamber musician.

In 1995 he co-founded the Ensemble Les Inégales, dedicated to European and specifically French chamber music.
Les Inégales has performed and recorded extensively in Europe, USA and Chile. Their most renowned album is Ordinaire de la Chambre du Roi recorded on the German label Carpe Diem.

He has taught both baroque transverse and modern flute at schools and universities in Norway, Holland, Germany, Chile, and the US, including the New England and San Francisco Conservatories.

In 2001, his passion for music took him in a different direction in a foray into the jazz world, and he co-founded Unfulfilled Desires, an international jazz-funk band based in Lenox, MA and Paris. Unfulfilled Desires has performed at jazz clubs and festivals in the northeastern US and throughout Europe and released three CDs to date.

     ARTIST'S WEB SITE 

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Digney Fignus:

Thursday, July 14, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Sophisticated Blend of Blues, Folk, Cajun, and Old-time Music
with a Rock-and-Roll Heart!

Digney Fignus is a Boston based singer/songwriter. His latest CD, "TALK OF THE TOWN," (October 2008), continues the story of Johnnie Boudreaux, "a man too good lookin' for his own good," first introduced in the critically acclaimed "TROUBLE ON THE LEVEE" (2006).

Digney arrived on the music scene playing guitar and singing in a three-piece Boston punk band called the SPIKES. Scoring on local radio with songs like "Air Raid" and "Summer Vacation." THE SPIKES performed for underground loft shows that eventually led Digney to run one of the first "Punk" night clubs in Boston, ("Streets" voted Boston's #1 nightclub by the Boston Phoenix). Digney's big break came in when he won the MTV basement tapes with his hit song and video "THE GIRL WITH THE CURIOUS HAND". This led to a follow up release on COLUMBIA RECORDS that Digney co-produced with former CHARTBUSTER and MODERN LOVER, Leroy Radcliffe.

More success came when Digney won the WZLX Boston Anthem contest with his song "BOSTON TOWN". The song is featured on the four-song CD “BOSTON TOWN" which received critical acclaim and was nominated for RECORD OF THE YEAR, by the Mass Country Music Awards Association. One of the songs from the CD "End of the Line" won one of the SONG OF THE YEAR awards.

Since the spring of 2007, Digney has also been appearing regularly as one of the celebrity judges on the new COMMUNITY AUDITIONS/STAR OF THE DAY television show which currently airs on Boston's channels 4 and 38.

    ARTIST'S WEB SITE 

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Ethan Bremner:

Sunday, July 17, 4:00 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Tenor, Classical Opera.

The possessor of “an excellent tenor voice” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) and a keen dramatic sensibility, Ethan Bremner brings a wealth of experience to his varied repertory. While earning his Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Wisconsin, he performed three full Gilbert and Sullivan roles with the Madison Savoyards: Richard in Ruddigore, Luiz in The Goldoliers and Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance. With Stoughton Opera he sang Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and he appeared as the Herald in Puccini’s Turandot with Madison Opera. The University of Wisconsin Opera Theatre featured Mr. Bremner in several roles, including: Dr. Caius in Verdi’s Falstaff, Testo in Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi, Alfred in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and Don Curzio in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
Since his arrival in Boston, Mr. Bremner has become one of the city’s most sought-after young tenors. He made his local debut with Boston Opera Collaborative in 2006 as Achilles in Gluck’s Iphigenie en Aulide, and the company engaged him to sing Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème. He then made his company debut with Opera Hub, in the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo, followed by company debuts with Longwood Opera and Opera Providence (as Alfred in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus), Lakes Region Opera (as Canio in Puccini’s I Pagliacci) and with the Newport Baroque Festival as Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
Following his successful company debut, Longwood Opera presented Mr. Bremner as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, a particularly well-received role debut that showcased the young tenor’s growing aptitude for Italian repertory of the late nineteenth-century. In 2010, Mr. Bremner triumphed as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen in a concert production of the opera with the Paul Madore Chorale. During their 2010-2011 season, Opera Boston engaged Mr. Bremner to cover two difficult principal roles: Florestan in Beethoven’s Fidelio and Don Ruiz di Padilla in Donizetti’s rarely-performed opera Maria Padilla.
Equally adept at concert repertoire, Mr. Bremner recently performed Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin with First Church of Boston. He has also been featured as a Brookline Chorus Artist in Residence since 2007. With the Brookline Chorus, he has appeared as the tenor soloist in a variety of works such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s Mass in B Minor and many others. He has also enjoyed solo appearances in Verdi’s Requiem with the Boston Civic Symphony and in Mozart’s Requiem with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale, in addition to frequent appearances in the ensemble of the prestigious Handel and Haydn Society.
Ethan was a Finalist in the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (New England Region) and currently studies voice with Andrea DelGiudice. He is a native of Athol, Massachusetts.

Ethan will be performing well known and beloved opera hits with special guest pianist Eric Mazonson and baritone Jon Salvi.

   ARTIST'S WEB SITE

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Dr Gonzo and his Road Kill Orchestra:

Thursday, July 21, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Jazz, Funk, Rhythm & Blues.

What is Garage/Lounge music? It is the perfect soundtrack for any man cave listening while ensconced in your favorite Barcalounger wearing nothing but a smoking jacket and day old (and yet serviceable boxer shorts) and sipping on a "High Life" tall boy and yet, studies have shown that women seem to enjoy it as well... Could theRoadKill Orchestra be providing the unifying soundtrack of the new millennium? Give it a hard listen and see if the tunes don't get stuck in your head, too.

Food has never sounded so good; let alone Roadkill. The Roadkill Orchestra is a local band whose sound hits somewhere between jazz, funk, and ska, but one thing is for sure they know how to make your stomach growl for more. Dr. Gonzo’s deep vocals, like that of Tom Waits, compliment the eclectic and energetic rhythm of the band very well.

Influences:   
Willy Dixon, Leon Russel, Tom Waits, John Prine, Frank Zappa, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Dr. John, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, and MANY MANY MORE....

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Samirah Evans & Her Handsome Devils:

Saturday, July 23, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $15 advance or at the door.

Jazz & Blues Vocalist.

In New Orleans, a city known worldwide for its music, Samirah was one of its most popular jazz & blues vocalists. She first performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1990, and became a regular fixture as either a leader or featured vocalist for fourteen consecutive years. She has toured Europe, Asia, and both North and South America as a headliner, and shared stages with a multitude of legendary artists from B.B. King and James Brown, to New Orleans own Queen of Soul, Irma Thomas.

Samirah's live performance repertoire runs the gamut from raunchy blues to jazz smooth as silk. She has often been compared to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and Etta James. Like many jazz and blues artists, Samirah dedicates time to perpetuating indigenous American music. She was a long time participant in the Blues Schoolhouse program sponsored by the International House of Blues Foundation. She also served as a volunteer show host on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage radio station, WWOZ, for over ten years.

    ARTIST'S WEB SITE 

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Rebecca Hartka, Hartka-Hayes Duo:

Sunday, July 24, 4:00 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the doro.

Music of New England: MacDowell, Foote, Beach, and Paine.

Hartka and Hayes will be presenting a performance of music from the “Second New England School” of composers. From the expansive style of Foote, to MacDowells tuneful miniatures, the music is harmonically lush and tuneful.

Program:

Amy Beach: Dreaming, Op. 15, No. 3
John Knowles Paine: Romanza and Humoreske, Op. 30
Edward MacDowell: Woodland Sketches, Op. 51 (Arr. Julius Klengel)
Fred Hersch: Tango Bittersweet
Arthur Foote: Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 78

Active as a soloist, chamber musician and educator, cellist Dr Rebecca Hartka released her debut CD "Folkfire" in October 2010, receiving critical acclaim as well as radio play on both WFCR and WAMC Performance Place. Her international solo debut in 2007 in Vietnam was reviewed by a local paper as "... no less than magical and eloquent." As comfortable in a café as a concert hall, Hartka has appeared in venues such as the Boston Center for the Arts, the Rockwood music club in New York and Club Passim in Cambridge, MA. She has recently appeared at the Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture in Brooklyn, NY, on the North Quabbin Center for the Arts series, the Exploring the Arts series, the 88 Keys series, and the Jazz and More series. As one of the founding members of the Phoenix Trio, she gave regular concert tours throughout the country from 2006-2009. Hartka has been featured as a guest artist in a concert tour with the Meritage Quartet and has also performed with Serenata Chamber Players, Boston College Contemporary Music Ensemble, Hyperprism, the Fringe Festival, Cape Ann Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Intermountain Opera Company, among others. Hartka earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts and Masters in Music from Boston University College of Fine Arts and her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Oberlin College and Conservatory studying with Peter Rejto, Andor Toth, Michael Reynolds, Rhonda Rider and Leslie Parnas.

Joining the cellist on stage will be internationally known pianist, Gregory Hayes. Hayes has taught piano and harpsichord at Dartmouth College since 1991. He plays harpsichord, piano, and celesta regularly for the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and has also performed with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's (New York), and Arcadia Players. He has participated often in the New England Bach Festival and Marlboro Music Festival, and on the Mohawk Trail Concerts series. He is longtime music director for the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence (Massachusetts). Mr. Hayes is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst College and the Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Ming Tcherepnin, Kenneth Fearn, Dora Zaslavsky, and Raymond Hanson. He lives in Goshen (Massachusetts) and has taught for many summers at Greenwood Music Camp in nearby Cummington.

  ARTIST'S WEB SITE 

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Mother Turtle, Featuring Marsia Shuron Harris:

Thursday, July 28, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $10 advance or at the door.

Soul, Rock, Acoustic and Jazz.

Mother Turtle (a.k.a Marsia Shuron Harris), performs solo and with her band. Her brand of SoulRock is said to "be soulful enough to inspire even the most cynical bastard to dance" (Northeast Performer Magazine). Songs are rooted in personal growth, social consciousness, love and a larger vision for the world as a whole. Blending soul, rock, acoustic and jazz, Mother Turtle attracts a variety of music fans and people of all ages dance to the infectious rhythms. The Union News calls her music, “inspirational” and “moving.” Her voice is distinctive. Even vocal virtuoso Martin Sexton says that Marsia has “the deepest, darkest, most delicious voice.” She has opened for Sexton as well as other recording artist’s such as, Meshell Ndegeocello, Jeffrey Gaines and others.

Darlingside:

Saturday, July 30, 7:30 P.M.
Tix $15 advance or at the door.

This is the official closing concert of our 2011 Summer Concert Series. There will be a champagne reception prior to the performance. Please come and help us celebrate the completion of another fantastic summer at the Meetinghouse. Arrive a little early (about 6:30-6:45) and have some refreshments. It's always a great pre-concert party.

Darlingside Resides at the Intersection of Rock, Classical, and Folk.

Established in September 2009 as Northampton, MA’s premier “string-rock” quintet, Darlingside has quickly taken hold in New England’s musical imagination.  Playing over 100 shows during their first year of touring, the band has created a seamless, exhilarating sound at the intersection of rock, classical, and folk music.  Their first studio offering, EP 1, has earned high praise for its craftsmanship and originality, and the band’s new material has further expanded their artistic range.

Together only a year, they have already played to packed houses from Portland to D.C., headlining such prestigious venues as The Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, Brooklyn Bowl in NYC and the Paramount Theatre in Rutland, VT. Lush five-part harmonies, classical cello-violin duets and compelling break-beats characterize the band's sound. Darlingside keeps audiences on their toes with exuberant stage presence, spontaneous a cappella, frequent instrument switches, mind-boggling covers and a widely eclectic, cross-genre blend of original material.

A happy place between indie rock and folk, Darlingside's self-titled album comprises powerhouse vocals, dreamy harmonies, dominating cello and violin interjections and good ol' fashion guitar picking. The self-declared "string rock" quintet exudes musical aptitude with an effortless air in six soft, self-reflective and narrative songs, interspersed with jaunty hand-clapping.

Sam Kapala: drums, vocals
Don Mitchell : guitar, vocals
Auyon Mukharji: mandolin, violin, vocals
Harris Paseltiner: cello, guitar, vocals
David Senft: vocals, bass guitar, guitar

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SEPTEMBER