Renowned pianist Jacqueline Schwab and noted Boston-area recorder player Emily O’Brien will give a concert at the home of Hunt and Allison Smith in Nelson, NH.
On Sunday, March 20 at 7:30 pm, the duo will perform this dance music-infused program, featuring classical and traditional music pieces drawing on “fin du siècle” (turn of the 20th-century) French impressionistic and English modal harmonies. (English country dancers will recognize the harmonies that inspired Cecil Sharp’s arrangements, which have in turn influenced contemporary dance players.) The concert’s centerpiece is Sonatina for Recorder and Piano, by English composer York Bowen (1884-1961), dedicated to Arnold Dolmetsch and featuring Debussy-meets Gershwin harmonies, light-hearted dialogue between the two instruments and a dancing spirit. Other pieces may include classical compositions, Gershwin, Jacqueline’s arrangements of vintage American music, and Emily’s and Jacqueline’s improvisations on contemporary waltzes out of the traditional dance community. Emily O’Brien studied recorder and French horn at Boston University, and recorder and Baroque flute at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany, and she performs and teaches in the Boston area. Pianist Jacqueline Schwab, who majored in piano improvisation at New England Conservatory of Music, has been heard on the sound tracks to over a dozen of Ken Burns’ award-winning PBS documentaries, has performed at the White House for President Clinton and, with Scottish singer Jean Redpath, on A Prairie Home Companion and the Late Show with David Letterman. Jacqueline has long played for dancing with the Bare Necessities ensemble and currently performs concerts of vintage American music around the US.
Suggested donation $12-$15.
Seating is limited. Reservations are required. Contact 603-209-3304 or email[email protected].
