Improvisation upon a Ground

This summer is full of concerts and farming. I'm preparing concerts and I'm centrally involved in a group-work kind of community gardening project. It may sound like an unlikely combination, but each pursuit is informing the other. The first of the musical fruits of the summer is a return of Music as Meditation.

Misty view of the Little White Church from the Pianist's Point of View

On Sunday, June 30^th at 4 PM at The Little White Church in Eaton, New Hampshire, I am revisiting the concert form I call Music as Meditation. Friends will join me in a program titled Improvisation upon a Ground. The themes of the concert include creating organizational structures for social projects without a central person guiding the endeavor; the rich musical “grounds” of Johann Pachelbel and Solomon Eccles, improvisation in the face of constant change, and the delights of contemplating our very smallness as individuals and as a species.

Never fear, this program won't be weighed down with too much political philosopy, but rather be an exploration of forays into an improvisational space through the medium of poetry, stories about our Community Supported Agriculture adventure, music, and even participation. Expect a time to sink into the experience of sound: organized sound, improvisatory sound, and environmental sound. Expect to hear some fragments of Bach, poetry by Josefin Waltin selections from Arvo Pärt, new compositions and improvisations by Ellen Schwindt, and the dulcet sounds of a talented young violinist Isaac Houghton.

a mama turtle who made her way into Greenhouse 3 at The Earle Family Farm this summer

Music as Meditation is a free-to-attend program. Donations received will support the upkeep of The Little White Church and the work of its volunteer board. For more information, please contact Schwindt at ellen.m.schwindt@gmail.com.

Future concerts include:

• July 11th: Community Classical Chamber Music. At The Little White Church at 7 PM. Admission by donation. Selections include Handel, Schubert, Chopin and Rota. Piano, violin, and flute players perform.
• July 21: Graduates Kaitlyn Sakash and Maisie Brown join me to perform in an "album release party" concert. The album in question is the kind you put on the music desk of a piano and play from. The pieces to be performed are inspirations for my own piano compositions, and selections from my album of piano pieces. 
• August sometime--date and venue TBD: Julia Howell and Chris Nourse join me for more chamber music including music by Henry Cowell and a little original music. 
• September 8th: Artful Noise Quartet comes to the Little White Church in Eaton. One piece on the program is a new composition of mine titled Forest Scenes. This is a piano quintet piece that also includes some recitatives and arias for mezzo soprano. Julia Edwards will sing these and I get to play the piano. 

I will look forward to seeing music friends at all of these concerts and to talking about gardening and farming all summer long.