Chamber Music Concert
All over our seven-town universe, people are practicing. Amid the flurry of winter sports, plans for town meetings, school activities, and seed-ordering, music is filling homes. These musicians will share their winter's work on Friday, March 13, at Fryeburg New Church.
The acoustics in that church's sanctuary make it an ideal place to listen to chamber music. The room is resonant and the piano is good. Some of the musicians have recently participated in a chamber music class designed to teach students how to be independent musicians. In the program, students work with their peers to perfect duets or trios. Students get the chance to run some rehearsals themselves, learning such skills as how to count in, how to communicate about dynamics, and how to develop an interpretation together.
Daniel Strahler, piano, and Jasper MacDougall, trombonist, are performing a piece by composer and organist John S. Dixon. This piece, an arrangement of a prelude for pipe organ, is aptly titled “Aria” and combines majestic and lyrical phrases with beautiful harmonies. Mr. Dixon graciously shares his compositions with musicians who want to perform them. Sparrow Bickford, pianist, will play the bass part of a piano duet called Judy's Waltz with the program's teacher Ellen Schwindt. Silas Krautman and Tristan Roll will play a piano duet called “Lost in the Wind,” Lilah and Tristan Roll will create some frivolity in their rendition of Bartok's “Frolic.” One piece includes three pianists: Caroline Lichtman, Sparrow Bickford, and Daniel Strahler. Along with the duos, two students will perform chamber music solos. Honora Geier sings the most famouse song of Robert Schumann's “Widmung” or “Dedication” from the cycle “Myrthen.” Theo Gray, pianist, performs the allegro movement of Beethoven's F minor piano sonata.
Some adult players will join the students with selections of their own. Charlotte Gill, Phil Marshall, and Ellen Schwindt perform a Handel trio sonata. Ethan Chalmers, violinist and violin teacher, performs a selection from Prokofiev's 5 melodies for piano and violin. The concert begins at 7 PM on Friday, March 13 at 12 Oxford Street. Admission is free. Fryeburg New Church generously shares the use of its space with many community organizations. Donations to Fryeburg New Church for the upkeep of their building will be gratefully accepted.
