2024 Winter Harbor Music Festival Concert Series
THE SORCERER
$15.00
Friday March 1st, 6pm @ Hammond Hall, Winter Harbor, ME
Best-laid plans go comically awry when love-addled do-gooder Alexis sets out to abolish the artificial barriers of rank, wealth, beauty, and age in his sleepy English village by enchanting the unmarried townsfolk to fall madly in love with each other en masse from peer to pauper. With his reluctantly supportive fiancée Aline at his side, Alexis hires the local Sorcerer and dealer in magic and spells, J.W. Wells, to spike the townsfolk’s tea with his patent, love-at-first-sight potion.
With a demon-summoning sorcerer offering reasonable rates and bulk discounts, a tampered teapot, and a town incapacitated by an impending onslaught of weddings, this satire on polite English society in the vein of The Importance of Being Ernest and Downton Abbey will delight the whole family!
The Sorcerer, Gilbert and Sullivan's first full-length successful operetta, opened on November 17th, 1877 at the Opera Comique Theatre just off the Strand in London where it ran for 178 performances.
Directed by Deiran Manning, and accompanied by The Downeast Chamber Orchestra, this production features many talented performers from the area including some familiar faces (Roland Dube as the class-obsessed Sir Marmaduke, Joe Marshall as the deaf Notary, Debra Hangge as the bittersweet Lady Sangazure, Aidan Pasha as the shrewd businessman and sorcerer J.W. Wells, Celeste Mittelhauser as the hopeful bride Aline, and Pepin Mittelhauser as the mostly eloquent Dr. Daly), some returning faces (Sara Phillips in her second role with GSSME as Mrs. Partlet, Rogan Winch returning to GSSME after ten years as the high-minded Alexis), and some new faces (Alexandria Winch as the lovelorn Constance).
The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine has been presenting the comic operas of W.S. Gilbert & A. Sullivan in Ellsworth since 1977. GSSME was thrilled to be the recipient of a Maine Theater Grant through the Maine Community Foundation this year. More about the Society can be found at www.gilbertsullivanmaine.org/
Best-laid plans go comically awry when love-addled do-gooder Alexis sets out to abolish the artificial barriers of rank, wealth, beauty, and age in his sleepy English village by enchanting the unmarried townsfolk to fall madly in love with each other en masse from peer to pauper. With his reluctantly supportive fiancée Aline at his side, Alexis hires the local Sorcerer and dealer in magic and spells, J.W. Wells, to spike the townsfolk’s tea with his patent, love-at-first-sight potion.
With a demon-summoning sorcerer offering reasonable rates and bulk discounts, a tampered teapot, and a town incapacitated by an impending onslaught of weddings, this satire on polite English society in the vein of The Importance of Being Ernest and Downton Abbey will delight the whole family!
The Sorcerer, Gilbert and Sullivan's first full-length successful operetta, opened on November 17th, 1877 at the Opera Comique Theatre just off the Strand in London where it ran for 178 performances.
Directed by Deiran Manning, and accompanied by The Downeast Chamber Orchestra, this production features many talented performers from the area including some familiar faces (Roland Dube as the class-obsessed Sir Marmaduke, Joe Marshall as the deaf Notary, Debra Hangge as the bittersweet Lady Sangazure, Aidan Pasha as the shrewd businessman and sorcerer J.W. Wells, Celeste Mittelhauser as the hopeful bride Aline, and Pepin Mittelhauser as the mostly eloquent Dr. Daly), some returning faces (Sara Phillips in her second role with GSSME as Mrs. Partlet, Rogan Winch returning to GSSME after ten years as the high-minded Alexis), and some new faces (Alexandria Winch as the lovelorn Constance).
The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine has been presenting the comic operas of W.S. Gilbert & A. Sullivan in Ellsworth since 1977. GSSME was thrilled to be the recipient of a Maine Theater Grant through the Maine Community Foundation this year. More about the Society can be found at www.gilbertsullivanmaine.org/
Kevin Birch, Clavichord
$15.00
Friday, April 5th, 6pm @ Hammond Hall, Winter Harbor, ME
Kevin Birch take us on a journey of musical discovery performing keyboard music of the 17th and 18th Centuries on clavichords by Martin Kather (Hamburg - 2020) after Praetorius (1621), Andreas Hermert (Berlin - 2023) after an anonymous Austrian clavichord (c. 1700) - known as the “Admont” clavichord after the Benedictine Monastery at Admont, and Dutch builder Koen Vermeij (Bennebroek, NL - 1988) after Christian Gottlob Hubert (1784).
Birch will perform music by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621), Peter Philips (1560-1628), Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667), Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (c. 1656-1746) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). He will introduce the program with a description and historical overview of the clavichords.
Kevin Birch began organ studies with Yuko Hayashi on the C. B. Fisk organ at Old West Church in 1979 and earned the Bachelor of Music Degree at New England Conservatory (with Distinction in Performance) in 1987. He continued studies with Klaas Bolt at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and later with Delores Bruch at the University of Iowa where he earned the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees.
Since 1992 he has served as Director of Music at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor, Maine where he also serves as Executive Director of St. John’s Organ Society - a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of E. & G. G. Hook’s Opus 288, built for St. John’s Church in 1860.
He has performed solo recitals in the US, Canada, Europe, and in South America, and for several national conventions of the Organ Historical Society. He is especially devoted to the many fine historic organs in Maine on which he enjoys frequent opportunities to study and perform.
Kevin is also devoted to the art of the clavichord - an instrument long associated with the organ, especially in Germany and Scandinavia - and is a member of the Dutch Clavichord Society, the German Clavichord Society and the Boston Clavichord Society. Recent projects include solo clavichord recitals for the German Clavichord Society in Cologne, Germany, the Boston Clavichord Society, and lectures/recitals on “The Clavichord and the Organ - Companions for Centuries” at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and at Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, OH.
Kevin Birch take us on a journey of musical discovery performing keyboard music of the 17th and 18th Centuries on clavichords by Martin Kather (Hamburg - 2020) after Praetorius (1621), Andreas Hermert (Berlin - 2023) after an anonymous Austrian clavichord (c. 1700) - known as the “Admont” clavichord after the Benedictine Monastery at Admont, and Dutch builder Koen Vermeij (Bennebroek, NL - 1988) after Christian Gottlob Hubert (1784).
Birch will perform music by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621), Peter Philips (1560-1628), Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667), Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (c. 1656-1746) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). He will introduce the program with a description and historical overview of the clavichords.
Kevin Birch began organ studies with Yuko Hayashi on the C. B. Fisk organ at Old West Church in 1979 and earned the Bachelor of Music Degree at New England Conservatory (with Distinction in Performance) in 1987. He continued studies with Klaas Bolt at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam and later with Delores Bruch at the University of Iowa where he earned the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees.
Since 1992 he has served as Director of Music at St. John’s Catholic Church in Bangor, Maine where he also serves as Executive Director of St. John’s Organ Society - a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of E. & G. G. Hook’s Opus 288, built for St. John’s Church in 1860.
He has performed solo recitals in the US, Canada, Europe, and in South America, and for several national conventions of the Organ Historical Society. He is especially devoted to the many fine historic organs in Maine on which he enjoys frequent opportunities to study and perform.
Kevin is also devoted to the art of the clavichord - an instrument long associated with the organ, especially in Germany and Scandinavia - and is a member of the Dutch Clavichord Society, the German Clavichord Society and the Boston Clavichord Society. Recent projects include solo clavichord recitals for the German Clavichord Society in Cologne, Germany, the Boston Clavichord Society, and lectures/recitals on “The Clavichord and the Organ - Companions for Centuries” at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and at Oberlin Conservatory in Oberlin, OH.
The Silver Duo, Cello and Piano recital
$15.00
Friday, May 3rd, 6pm @ Hammond Hall, Winter Harbor, ME
Noreen and Phillip Silver bring a wealth of performing experience to their highly regarded partnership. They have an enviable international reputation for chamber musicplaying of the highest caliber. The Duo, founded when Noreen and Phillip were students at the New England Conservatory of Music, has received accolades and acclaim from appreciative audiences and critics throughout Europe, Israel, the United States, Scandinavia, and the Czech Republic. Their imaginative programming, in which lesser-known works are given exposure alongside established repertoire favorites, has proven very popular and made them much in demand.
Noreen Silver has been described by Michael Tumelty in the Glasgow Herald as “an extraordinarily soulful player” who “demonstrates an uncommon depth of feeling andimagination.” Since 1999 she has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maine, where she directs the Chamber Music program, teaches cello and Music Theory.Noreen also holds the position of Principal Cellist in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared as soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions. She grew up inGlasgow, Scotland, studied at the Royal College of Music in London, and at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. She was fortunate to pursue independentstudy with the great cellists Jacqueline du Pré and Pierre Fournier. Much in demand as a teacher, Noreen has also served on the faculties of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Strathclyde University.
Phillip Silver is an internationally acclaimed solo and collaborative artist who has performed in many of the world’s leading concert halls. The Frankfurter Rundschaudescribed his playing as “virtuosic,” Haaretz commented upon his “...superb technical ability that enthralled the audience with melody, lyricism and poetry,” while the Boston Globe called him “an international collaborative pianist of the first rank,” and the Jerusalem Post described him as “a superb accompanist whose work is marked bysensitivity, felicity of style and an inborn musicianship which unerringly directs him to the most appropriate musical gesture.”
Noreen and Phillip Silver bring a wealth of performing experience to their highly regarded partnership. They have an enviable international reputation for chamber musicplaying of the highest caliber. The Duo, founded when Noreen and Phillip were students at the New England Conservatory of Music, has received accolades and acclaim from appreciative audiences and critics throughout Europe, Israel, the United States, Scandinavia, and the Czech Republic. Their imaginative programming, in which lesser-known works are given exposure alongside established repertoire favorites, has proven very popular and made them much in demand.
Noreen Silver has been described by Michael Tumelty in the Glasgow Herald as “an extraordinarily soulful player” who “demonstrates an uncommon depth of feeling andimagination.” Since 1999 she has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maine, where she directs the Chamber Music program, teaches cello and Music Theory.Noreen also holds the position of Principal Cellist in the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared as soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions. She grew up inGlasgow, Scotland, studied at the Royal College of Music in London, and at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. She was fortunate to pursue independentstudy with the great cellists Jacqueline du Pré and Pierre Fournier. Much in demand as a teacher, Noreen has also served on the faculties of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Strathclyde University.
Phillip Silver is an internationally acclaimed solo and collaborative artist who has performed in many of the world’s leading concert halls. The Frankfurter Rundschaudescribed his playing as “virtuosic,” Haaretz commented upon his “...superb technical ability that enthralled the audience with melody, lyricism and poetry,” while the Boston Globe called him “an international collaborative pianist of the first rank,” and the Jerusalem Post described him as “a superb accompanist whose work is marked bysensitivity, felicity of style and an inborn musicianship which unerringly directs him to the most appropriate musical gesture.”
Please contact us with any questions
email: info@winterharbormusicfestival.org
or call: 917-238-0819
email: info@winterharbormusicfestival.org
or call: 917-238-0819