Sunday on the Steinway with William Ögmundson

William Ögmundson is an award-winning and EMMY-nominated composer and lyricist, and a classically-trained solo pianist with nine albums to his credit and over 40,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Admission $10/$5 students.

Chamber Players ‘Winterlude’ Concerts Feature Romantic Classics & A Beethoven Celebration

The North Country Chamber Players will present their ever-popular “Winterlude” concerts on Saturday, February 15, at 4 p.m. at the Sugar Hill Meeting House, and on Sunday, February 16, at 3 p.m. at Court Street Arts at Alumni Hall in Haverhill. This year’s program will feature Romantic Era masterpieces by Gabriel Faure and Antonin Dvorak, and the brilliantly energetic and good-natured Piano Trio in Eb, Op. 1 No. 1 of Ludwig von Beethoven. This Trio was Beethoven’s first published piece and will kick off a year-long celebration of the 250th Anniversary of his birth.

The concerts will open with Dvorak’s charming, and surprisingly lush Terzetto for two violins and viola, and will conclude with Faure’s beloved Piano Quartet in C minor, a piece that is romantic to its core, filled with delicate sparkle, songful melodies and an impassioned climax.

Now in their 42nd Season, the North Country Chamber Players have been described by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts as “one of the outstanding cultural resources in the state of New Hampshire,” and a critic from the Boston Musical Intelligencer lauded them as “a sophisticated group of experienced, passionate, focused, and obviously talented musicians.” Violinist Curt Macomber, a long-time Chamber Player favorite, who has been praised by the New York Times for his “thrilling virtuosity” and by Strad Magazine for his “panache,” will join Chamber Players members Bernard Rose, piano, Ronnie Bauch, violin, Ah Ling Neu, viola, and Chris Finckel, ‘cello.

Tickets for these concerts cost $25 if purchased in advance, on-line or by calling (603) 444-0309, or may be purchased at the door for $30. Students, age 18 and under, are admitted free of charge. Visit www.northcountrychamberplayers.org for further informatioion.

The Tillotson Center Presents: ‘Sunday on the Steinway’ with Matthew Odell

The New Hampshire-born pianist Matthew Odell began his studies at the age of 10 and has since won acclaim for performances of a wide range of repertoire as a solo recitalist, soloist with orchestra, and chamber musician. Mr. Odell currently teaches at The Juilliard School and frequently presents master classes, workshops, and lectures at professional conferences and universities throughout the U.S and Europe. Admission $10/Students $5.

“Art of the Duo” Features International Musical Artists

Internationally acclaimed Syrian clarinetist/composer Kinan Azmeh and Sri Lankan-born pianist/composer Dinuk Wijeratne share a stirring “Art of the Duo” performance/discussion program across northern New Hampshire, May 20-22.

The duo fuses elements of Arabic and Southeast Asian vocabulary with classical and jazz music idioms to create a new sonic world that the legendary Marcel Khalife called “wings of breath.”

In their informal northern New Hampshire programs, the musicians will play work from their album, “Complex Stories, Simple Sounds” and new compositions, and talk about collaboration and improvisation, their musical inspirations, life on the road around the world, and the role of the arts in times of crisis.

Programs take place

• 3 p.m., Sunday, May 20, All Saints Episcopal Church
35 School St., Littleton NH
• 7 p.m., Sunday, May 20, Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 101 Fairgrounds Road, Plymouth
• 6:30 p.m., Monday, May 21, Medallion Opera House, 20 Park St., Gorham NH

•6:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 22, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 113 Main St., Lancaster. Dessert reception to follow.

Tickets for all programs cost $15 per person or $30 for families; tickets purchased in advance online at www.aannh.org are $12; reduced rates are available for Arts Alliance members. Absolutely everyone is welcome; anyone for whom the ticket price is too high is welcome to pay what they can or come at no cost.

“We are so excited to be offering our communities a chance to meet, listen and talk to these amazing musicians as part of a new partnership with the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts, which has worked with them for the past decade,” says Arts Alliance director Frumie Selchen.

Kinan and Dinuk’s three-day visit to northern New Hampshire also includes programs with students from Franklin to Woodsville as part of a residency funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies, including the NH State Council on the Arts. They will return this fall for two more days in the region.

For advance tickets and additional information, visit www.aannh.org, email [email protected] or call (603) 323-7302.

About Kinan Azmeh:

Hailed as a “virtuoso” who is “intensely soulful” by the New York Times and “spellbinding” by the New Yorker, Kinan Azmeh’s distinctive sound spans different musical genres and has gained him international recognition as a clarinetist and composer.

Kinan has been touring the world as soloist, composer and improviser. Notable appearances include: Opera Bastille, Paris; Tchaikovsky Grand Hall, Moscow; Carnegie Hall and the UN’s general assembly, New York; the Royal Albert Hall, London; Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; der Philharmonie; Berlin; the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Washington DC; the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and the Damascus Opera House for its opening concert in his native Syria. He serves as artistic director of the Damascus Festival Chamber Players, a pan-Arab ensemble dedicated to contemporary music form the Arab world. He is also a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble with whom he was awarded a Grammy in 2017.

About Dinuk Wijeratne:
The Sri Lankan-born, Canada-based composer-performer Dinuk Wijeratne has been described by the Toronto Star as “an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future,” and by the New York Times as “exuberantly creative.” His boundary-crossing work sees him equally at home in collaborations with symphony orchestras and string quartets, tabla players and DJs, and takes him to international venues as poles apart as the Berlin Philharmonie and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Dinuk’s 2016 highlights include JUNO and ECMA wins for his string quartet pieces Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems, and his appointment as Composer-in-Residence of Symphony Nova Scotia. His music and collaborative work embrace the great diversity of his international background and influences.

 

 

“Art of the Duo” Features International Musical Artists

Internationally acclaimed Syrian clarinetist/composer Kinan Azmeh and Sri Lankan-born pianist/composer Dinuk Wijeratne share a stirring “Art of the Duo” performance/discussion program across northern New Hampshire, May 20-22.

The duo fuses elements of Arabic and Southeast Asian vocabulary with classical and jazz music idioms to create a new sonic world that the legendary Marcel Khalife called “wings of breath.”

In their informal northern New Hampshire programs, the musicians will play work from their album, “Complex Stories, Simple Sounds” and new compositions, and talk about collaboration and improvisation, their musical inspirations, life on the road around the world, and the role of the arts in times of crisis.

Programs take place

• 3 p.m., Sunday, May 20, All Saints Episcopal Church
35 School St., Littleton NH
• 7 p.m., Sunday, May 20, Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 101 Fairgrounds Road, Plymouth
• 6:30 p.m., Monday, May 21, Medallion Opera House, 20 Park St., Gorham NH

•6:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 22, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 113 Main St., Lancaster. Dessert reception to follow.

Tickets for all programs cost $15 per person or $30 for families; tickets purchased in advance online at www.aannh.org are $12; reduced rates are available for Arts Alliance members. Absolutely everyone is welcome; anyone for whom the ticket price is too high is welcome to pay what they can or come at no cost.

“We are so excited to be offering our communities a chance to meet, listen and talk to these amazing musicians as part of a new partnership with the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts, which has worked with them for the past decade,” says Arts Alliance director Frumie Selchen.

Kinan and Dinuk’s three-day visit to northern New Hampshire also includes programs with students from Franklin to Woodsville as part of a residency funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies, including the NH State Council on the Arts. They will return this fall for two more days in the region.

For advance tickets and additional information, visit www.aannh.org, email [email protected] or call (603) 323-7302.

About Kinan Azmeh:

Hailed as a “virtuoso” who is “intensely soulful” by the New York Times and “spellbinding” by the New Yorker, Kinan Azmeh’s distinctive sound spans different musical genres and has gained him international recognition as a clarinetist and composer.

Kinan has been touring the world as soloist, composer and improviser. Notable appearances include: Opera Bastille, Paris; Tchaikovsky Grand Hall, Moscow; Carnegie Hall and the UN’s general assembly, New York; the Royal Albert Hall, London; Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; der Philharmonie; Berlin; the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Washington DC; the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and the Damascus Opera House for its opening concert in his native Syria. He serves as artistic director of the Damascus Festival Chamber Players, a pan-Arab ensemble dedicated to contemporary music form the Arab world. He is also a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble with whom he was awarded a Grammy in 2017.

About Dinuk Wijeratne:
The Sri Lankan-born, Canada-based composer-performer Dinuk Wijeratne has been described by the Toronto Star as “an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future,” and by the New York Times as “exuberantly creative.” His boundary-crossing work sees him equally at home in collaborations with symphony orchestras and string quartets, tabla players and DJs, and takes him to international venues as poles apart as the Berlin Philharmonie and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Dinuk’s 2016 highlights include JUNO and ECMA wins for his string quartet pieces Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems, and his appointment as Composer-in-Residence of Symphony Nova Scotia. His music and collaborative work embrace the great diversity of his international background and influences.

 

 

“Art of the Duo” Features International Musical Artists

Internationally acclaimed Syrian clarinetist/composer Kinan Azmeh and Sri Lankan-born pianist/composer Dinuk Wijeratne share a stirring “Art of the Duo” performance/discussion program across northern New Hampshire, May 20-22.

The duo fuses elements of Arabic and Southeast Asian vocabulary with classical and jazz music idioms to create a new sonic world that the legendary Marcel Khalife called “wings of breath.”

In their informal northern New Hampshire programs, the musicians will play work from their album, “Complex Stories, Simple Sounds” and new compositions, and talk about collaboration and improvisation, their musical inspirations, life on the road around the world, and the role of the arts in times of crisis.

Programs take place

• 3 p.m., Sunday, May 20, All Saints Episcopal Church
35 School St., Littleton NH
• 7 p.m., Sunday, May 20, Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 101 Fairgrounds Road, Plymouth
• 6:30 p.m., Monday, May 21, Medallion Opera House, 20 Park St., Gorham NH

• 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 22, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 113 Main St., Lancaster. Dessert reception to follow.

Tickets for all programs cost $15 per person or $30 for families; tickets purchased in advance online at www.aannh.org are $12; reduced rates are available for Arts Alliance members. Absolutely everyone is welcome; anyone for whom the ticket price is too high is welcome to pay what they can or come at no cost.

“We are so excited to be offering our communities a chance to meet, listen and talk to these amazing musicians as part of a new partnership with the West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts, which has worked with them for the past decade,” says Arts Alliance director Frumie Selchen.

Kinan and Dinuk’s three-day visit to northern New Hampshire also includes programs with students from Franklin to Woodsville as part of a residency funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies, including the NH State Council on the Arts. They will return this fall for two more days in the region.

For advance tickets and additional information, visit www.aannh.org, email [email protected] or call (603) 323-7302.

About Kinan Azmeh:

Hailed as a “virtuoso” who is “intensely soulful” by the New York Times and “spellbinding” by the New Yorker, Kinan Azmeh’s distinctive sound spans different musical genres and has gained him international recognition as a clarinetist and composer.

Kinan has been touring the world as soloist, composer and improviser. Notable appearances include: Opera Bastille, Paris; Tchaikovsky Grand Hall, Moscow; Carnegie Hall and the UN’s general assembly, New York; the Royal Albert Hall, London; Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; der Philharmonie; Berlin; the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, Washington DC; the Mozarteum, Salzburg, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and the Damascus Opera House for its opening concert in his native Syria. He serves as artistic director of the Damascus Festival Chamber Players, a pan-Arab ensemble dedicated to contemporary music form the Arab world. He is also a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble with whom he was awarded a Grammy in 2017.

About Dinuk Wijeratne:
The Sri Lankan-born, Canada-based composer-performer Dinuk Wijeratne has been described by the Toronto Star as “an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future,” and by the New York Times as “exuberantly creative.” His boundary-crossing work sees him equally at home in collaborations with symphony orchestras and string quartets, tabla players and DJs, and takes him to international venues as poles apart as the Berlin Philharmonie and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Dinuk’s 2016 highlights include JUNO and ECMA wins for his string quartet pieces Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems, and his appointment as Composer-in-Residence of Symphony Nova Scotia. His music and collaborative work embrace the great diversity of his international background and influences.

 

 

Sunday on the Steinway with Ben Cosgrove

Ben Cosgrove returns for an afternoon of “electric and exhilarating” music.
Admission: $10/students $5. Sponsored by the Tillotson North Country Foundation.

Ben Cosgrove is a traveling composer-performer whose music explores themes of landscape, place, and environment in North America. Ben has performed in every U.S. state except Delaware and Hawaii, and held artist residencies and fellowships with institutions including the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, Harvard University, Middlebury College, the Schmidt Ocean Institute, and the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology. His nonfiction has appeared in Orion, Taproot, Northern Woodlands, Appalachia, and other publications. He is based around New England.

St. Kieran Arts Presents: Ancient Voices — Dan Kennedy & David Rose

Dan Kennedy’s commitment to Contemporary Instrumental music goes back to the 1980s. Conservatory trained, he got his start playing evenings of improvised piano music at Oberlin’s Cat-in-the-Cream Coffeehouse. Heard on over 250 radio stations, as well as Pandora, Spotify, and Music Choice, his music has been in rotation on Sirius XM Satellite Radio ever since 2009. His debut EP LANTERN was produced by the legendary Will Ackerman, producer for George Winston, Michael Hedges, and Liz Story. His third and latest album BLOOM ROAD (2015) provides a scintillating coffeehouse-style set of piano driven music. It features guest artists Charles Neville on sax (The Neville Brothers, Ray Charles, B.B. King), David Rose on Native flute, and Greg Loughman (Patti Page, Philip Aaberg) on bass. BLOOM ROAD went to #7 on the ZMR Top 100, an American chart, and to #4 on the OWM Top 100, a British chart, where it also received nominations for 2015 Album of the Year and 2015 Piano With Instrumentation Award.

Dan is a professional pianist who has played 100 engagements in the last three years. In 2015, Dan was proudly elected to both Whisperings and to the Enlightened Piano Artist Network, putting him among the top 300 contemporary solo pianists in the world. His CDs are available at www.dankennedy.us and at online merchants such as CDbaby, Amazon, and Apple Music. Dan resides in an 1860 farmhouse in Western Massachusetts.

Appearing with Dan is Native American flautist David Rose.

Medallion Opera House Presents: Mediterranean Muses

Twice Grammy-nominated guitarist-composer Jose Lezcano teams up with virtuoso pianist Virginia Eskin to present a duo program of music that showcases the Mediterranean spirit and excitement of works from Spain, Italy and Hispano-America.

Jose’s collaborations with Virginia over the past decade include duo performances for Boston’s St. Botolph Club, Natick Concert Series, the Bass Hall Monadnock Series in Peterborough, N.H., the Keene State College International Guitar Festival, and the Sumner Hall Concert Series in Keene, N.H.  Together they have explored the little-known repertoire for guitar & amp; piano, including works by Torroba, Ponce, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and an original work by Lezcano (Fantasia Latina).

They will present a program of works, entitled “Mediterranean Landscapes — Works from Spain, Italy, and Hispano-America,” including works by the aforementioned composers, with sonatas by Scarlatti, guitar
preludes of Villa-Lobos, and Brazilian Tangos by Nazareth.