Witch Hazel; a concert for the end of autumn

There is a shrub in the woods just now blooming. While other forest and field fauna have dropped their leaves and are going into the long rest of winter, the witch hazel blooms. She sends out small spiders of bright yellow petals, or are they bracts? At any rate, they are beautiful if you are so lucky to find one in full bloom while the maples still have a few bright leaves and the oaks are just going to russet.

Witch Hazel is my metaphor for my November community concert of the 2026 season at the Little White Church. I say “mine” because I'm the organizer and I get to perform some long-dormant pieces.

The concert is planned for November 15 at 4 PM. The other performers and I have planned a cornucopia of varied offerings for our listening pleasure. Or you might say that it is to be a wild potluck of musical dishes, jumping from one genre seamlessly to another, sometimes even within one single piece of music.

Highlights include singer/songwriter Alan Hunt’s medley of David Bowie’s Space Oddity and Elton John’s Rocket Man; Sweater Weather, a solo piano piece of mine that I started writing 48 years ago, Gordon Lightfoot’s Song for a Winter’s Night, flute and piano music played by Jane O’Brien and Jeanne Mason AND flute and piano music played by Dana Cunningham and Julia Hendrickson. As if that wasn’t far out enough, two little melodies by John Cage and a by-turns rowdy and beautiful piano and violin sonata by Alexy Shor and Mikhail Pletnev (which has a truly broadway-sounding ending) round out the genre-jumping fun.

Concert admission is by donation. Proceeds support the community-building work of The Little White Church. Suggested donation is $10-20, but please pay what feels good and come warm up a late autumn afternoon with yellow light and and lovely music. For more information, please contact Ellen Schwindt: ellen.m.schwindt@gmail.com.