Concerto Concert
performed by Valley Strings
featuring three teen soloists: Isaac Houghton, Jennifer Noh, and Gideon Richard
Teen and adult musicians who play stringed instruments come together each Monday to play music they love. On Monday, May 22, the group performs its final concert of the 2022-2023 school year. The concert features three accomplished teen soloists playing very old music.
On the program are two complete concerti. About 1720, Vivaldi wrote four violin concertos themed on the four seasons, using sonnets describing the seasons as his guide. Gideon Richard, a junior at Fryeburg Academy and Isaac Houghton, a sophomore at the academy play the virtuosic violin solo parts. Valley strings provides the beautiful and descriptive accompaniment. From the comfort of spring, listeners can look back on the rigors and pleasures of the season just behind us.
Jennifer Noh, a fine flute player who attends the academy, is our soloist for a flute concerto written in Mannheim, Germany around the time Mozart was in Mannheim. Carl Philip Stamitz wrote this concerto in G Major in 1780, following in the footsteps of one written by Mozart two years earlier. It's a beautifully crafted piece of very classical repertoire—full of perfect proportions, contrasts, and consonant harmonies.
The orchestra will perform an Overture by Johann Christoph Pez, composed around 1700. The concert will take place at the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center on the campus of Fryeburg Academy on Monday, May 22 at 7 PM. It is free and open to the public. Donations to support the future work of the ensemble are welcome. Contact ellen.m.schwindt@gmail.com for more information.
