Press Review of the Rocky Hill Concerts series

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Christ United Methodist Church, concert series, Rocky Hill Concerts

English: New England Conservatory of Music. Incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts. Winter term. Boston Music Hall. 1871. The winter term … opens Thursday, November 23d, 1871. … (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ROCKY HILL CONCERTS

by Diana Souza

Sunday, July 29th saw the conclusion of the first Rocky Hill Concerts series. Located at Christ United Methodist Church in Northampton, the acoustics were complementary so that the music reverberated, beautifully filling the hall and delighting the audience. This past Sunday the artist was a harpist, Anna DeLoi, all of 16 years old. Anna studies harp at the New England Conservatory in Boston and has performed in master classes and with orchestras in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. She was joined by flutist Christen Sparago for the second half of the program.

Anna gave a description of each piece and its composer set in historical context. There was a suite for lute composed by J.S. Bach, consisting of short dance movements adapted for harp. Then came pieces by Hindemith, followed by Mozart and finally a Reverie, Arabesque, and Prelude by Debussy.

Previous concerts included the group Red Valley Fog on July 9th and Gretchen Saathoff, accomplished pianist, organist and Director of Music at Christ United Methodist Church, in mid-July. Red Valley Fog is a band performing political folk music reminiscent of the late 60s and early 70s.

On July 22nd Bob Sparkman and Jerry Noble played a spirited program of traditional jazz on clarinet and piano.

There is nothing that equates to listening to live music beautifully played. Be sure to look for this concert series and other concerts in the future.  Kudos to music director Gretchen Saathoff, who conceived of and promoted this series, for her impeccable choice of musicians and the variety of musical styles.

http://www.RockyHillConcerts.wordpress.com

Rocky Hill Concerts, an update

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arts, concert series, entertainment

English: Studio publicity still for film Daddy Long Legs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Things are going very well! Three concerts have been performed, and the fourth and final concert of our summer series will be next Sunday, July 29th.

Full details about our July 29th concert:  http://RockyHillConcerts.wordpress.com

Now that we are well into the series, I can give you an update.

Yesterday’s concert was a hoot from every perspective!

The performers, Bob Sparkman and Jerry Noble, are wonderful jazz musicians who have been playing together since 1995.  They always talk to the audience, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

People began arriving 45 minutes before the start time!  When they opened the outside door, they heard Bob and Jerry warming up.  One by one as they entered the building, they started dancing!  It was great to see people dancing while holding onto the heavy door, some using their canes to channel Fred Astaire.

Five people in the audience (in groups of 3 and 2) had been expecting to hear a solo piano concert (mine).  The local newspaper had published the wrong information.  I was happy that they came, but knew they felt disappointed.  So I made a point of having a conversation with them.  They all decided to stay.  And I was happy to be able to give them all a DVD of my concert from the previous week.

Audience members talked to each other and to the performers.  Connections were discovered that were previously unknown.

Bob and Jerry played a wonderful rendition of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” in which Bob started out with the tune in the low register.  No one in the audience was accustomed to hearing those sounds from a B-flat clarinet, myself included.  An audience member seated near the front had a back-and-forth conversation with Bob at the conclusion of the piece!  Bob picked up on the mood of the audience and spoke to everyone.  (If anyone has told you concerts have to be formal, think again!)

People from the audience approached me with raves about the concert, the venue, the reception, and the series as a whole.

Why does this outcome matter?

That’s what we had hoped would happen!  These have been my goals with this series ever since we started getting it together.  Not just bodies in pews, but a participatory experience for everyone.  Audience members should be engaged and want to come back!

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Summer Concerts

See complete details about Rocky Hill Concerts. one remaining Sunday afternoon performance in July in air-conditioned comfort!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 8 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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Robert W. Oliver republishes his wonderful review of “Goal-oriented Practice”

Tags

music education, music lessons, piano pedagogy

With a big shout-out to Robert, this is the correct link.

http://t.co/Cr0aEze

Mozart takes the speedway

Tags

arts, Mozart, recording

Audi_Rosemeyer_Modell.jpg ~ Image via Wikipedia

Recently I heard a recording of a widely respected pianist playing a Mozart concerto.

This provided an enjoyable listening experience… until the last movement.

This being one of the most famous Mozart piano concertos, many listeners know the melody lines.  Had it been possible, we might have been singing along.

Singing along was, however, not to be.  Why?  The soloist got the speed bug.  The result, instead of ascending, melodic scale passages, was an accent on each high note of the scales, followed by a blur.

Yes, his playing was even.  But where was the expressivity?  No one can discern the shape of the music when the playing is unclear.

So I’ve been wondering.  How did speed playing become popular?  Must everything be played as fast as possible as if it were a competition piece?  Why is speed rewarded?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Summer Concerts

See complete details about Rocky Hill Concerts. 2 remaining  Sunday afternoons in July in air-conditioned comfort!

E-books

“Goal-oriented Practice: How to Avoid Traps and Become a Confident Performer” gives every musician a fresh perspective!

My book frees up time to learn more music, memorize, or do something else entirely!

“Goal-oriented Practice” is also available in print!

Goal-oriented Practice

sold in 8 countries!

Review by pianist Robert W. Oliver

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Rocky Hill Concerts article in Gazette

Click here to see the July 5th article in the Daily Hampshire Gazette!  Most of the information is correct, but please don’t take the quotes seriously.

http://rockyhillconcerts.wordpress.com/gazette-article/

This comment, from a high school classmate with a sense of humor, appeared on Facebook in reponse to the article:

Congratulations! Very exciting. Great mix.

And I to think …. I knew you when

Headline should be: Burlington Iowa lass making it big in the decadent east with sassy approach to highbrow tunes … Well maybe that is a bit wordy, and geared toward the Hawkeye.

tee hee!

Quick update

Bongo drum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hi Everyone,

Just letting you know that I’m in the throes of concert series details.  I appreciate the visits as well as your patience.

Also, on Saturday morning I participated in a memorial celebration for a UMass professor who passed away last Fall.  His 12-yr.-old granddaughter sang Brahms’ “Lullaby” very well, with flawless German.  She has a beautiful voice, has been studying classical voice for about a year, held it together when she was a little nervous, and was truly a pleasure to work with.

During the celebration, the family showed a video composite of footage they have.  The grandfather played ragtime.  A lot.  All over town.

The grandchildren were included in much of the video.  When Bob would play, they danced.  In one segment, a baby girl was lying on the floor on her back.  When Bob played, she flailed her arms and legs, then enthusiastically pushed herself backwards over and over with her feet!

In another segment, Bob had a bongo drum and another drum on a table.  He would play the bongos with a drumstick for a few seconds, then wait for one of his granddaughters to do something.  So she would play something, and they went back and forth.

And then they had an entire conversation in a totally made-up language.  It was great!

For the concert series, the performers are all set (July 8, 15, 22, and 29).  The reception, programs at the door, and how to collect the donations were finally delegated to others today.  I had been feeling overwhelmed, as I am playing one of the concerts (July 15, which is less than 2 weeks!) and really should be practicing.

The last time I organized a reception was during graduate school!  Since that time, my concert participation has been as a performer.  Someone else always handles the other stuff.

An intern from the local paper interviewed me last week.  An article about the concert series should appear this week.  If so, I’ll post it here.

During the interview, the reporter asked me to elaborate beyond the information she had about each concert.  So I began with the 1st one, Red Valley Fog.

When I told her they sing folk songs for social justice, she didn’t get it.

So I mentioned 4 events they have sung for recently.  She still didn’t get it.

So, out of desperation, I said, “Think Pete Seeger!”

She said, “Who?”

And then she said, “How old are you?”

So we’ll see how the article turns out.

Thanks for stopping by!  I’ll be back to more frequent blogging as soon as I can.

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