Looking Forward from Spring Break

Upcoming March 21 Choir Concert

You are cordially invited to join us for Musica Sacra - Lent 2015 presented by the St. John’s Chamber Choir.  We will sing music of J. S. Bach, L. v Beethoven, F. Mendelssohn, J. Brahms, and S. S. Wesley, including excerpts from Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Op. 86.  The concert is Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 7:30 pm. at St. John’s Catholic Church, 207 York Street, Bangor.  Admission is free, and donations will support food assistance needs in the community.

First Week of Spring Break

Spring Break started February 28 after a week of midterm exams.  For the first part of Spring Break, I was privileged to meet and attend the March 4 concert given by Jacques Boucher, and his wife, Anne Robert, from Montreal, Canada.  I am on the board of the St. John’s Organ Society, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of E. & G. G. Hook’s Opus 288 (1860) at St. John’s Roman Catholic Church in Bangor, Maine. Each winter we sponsor a concert featuring an internationally-known organist.  The 2015 concert featured Boucher and Robert.  Boucher played the historic E. and G. G. Hook organ and Robert played her 1738 Carlo Antonio Testore violin. They performed music of Corelli, Gounod, Rheinberger, and Bèdard in an inspiring concert.  I was privileged to turn pages and pull stops for Boucher while he played the concert.  You can see some press coverage from WABI TV with a small sample of their music:

http://wabi.tv/2015/03/04/music-of-centuries-gone-by-fills-st-johns-in-bangor/

Anne Robert and Jacques Boucher

I attended a March 3 concert by the Vancouver Chamber Choir, a 20-member world-renowned professional choral group.  They were brought to Bangor by the Collins Center for the Arts and they performed at St. John’s Episcopal Church.  They performed music from many time periods and the following composers: Britten, Brahms, Whitacre, Berkey, Allegri, Vaughan Williams, Washburn, and Chapman.

I spent the weekend of March 7-9 in Columbus, Ohio, visiting my grandchildren.  My flights to Ohio on Friday, March 6, were cancelled, so I flew on Saturday morning, March 7.  My granddaughter, Lesley, and I attended a special Lenten choral concert on March 8 at St. Joseph Catholic Cathedral in Columbus.  The St. Joseph Cathedral Choir invited the Christ Episcopal Cathedral Choir from Cincinnati to join them for a concert of music by Slater, Farrant, Purcell, Morley, Byrd, Guerrero, Wesley, Thompson, Helvey, Chilcott, Lloyd, Mendelssohn, and Pärt.  The highlight of the evening was Thomas Tallis’ 40-voice polyphonic motet, Spem in alium.  The combined choirs surrounded the audience and the music was heavenly.

With Lesley in St. Joseph Cathedral.  You can see part of the beautiful Fritts organ, Opus 25 (2006) in the background.

Second Week of Spring Break

The second week of Spring Break, I visited New York with my daughter, Carletta.  We stayed with our dear friends, Helen and Julia Levine.  We attended two operas at the Metropolitan Opera.  Both operas were inspiring and very well done.

1.     Rossini’s La Donna del Lago with Joyce DiDonato as the Lady of the Lake and Juan Diego Flòres as King James was conducted by Michele Mariotti.  Daniela Barcellona sang the role of Malcolm and John Osborne sang Rodrigo.

2.     Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffman conducted by James Levine.  Matthew Polenzani played Hoffman, and Audrey Luna, Susanna Phillips, and Elena Maximova played the three heroines.  Laurent Naouri sang the four villains.

With Carletta inside the Metropolitan Opera

I attended a New York Philharmonic performance conducted by Thomas Adès featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, Berioz’ Les Francs-juges Overture and Andès Totentanz.

We attended the spring recital of the American Ballet Theater Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.  Our good friend Julia Levine is a student at the JKO school and she performed in this recital.

We enjoyed great food at several restaurants and Carletta’s husband, Aaron, joined us for the weekend.

While in New York, I practiced most mornings on the Johannes Klais Orgelbau organ (1977), at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.  Thomas Schmidt, the Music Director, generously allows me to play the organ at St. Peter’s if it is available when I visit New York.

 Klais organ at St. Peter's Lutheran Church

I was happy to return home to my husband, John, who supports me in so many ways as I explore my love of music.  Now back to classes for the second half of the semester!