Celebrate Beethoven's 250th!
Postponed to a future date in 2021
First Church of Christ, Congregational
Honoring Ludwig van Beethoven(1770-1827)
Hilary Cumming, violin
Duncan Cumming, piano
Sonata in F major, Op. 24 (Spring Sonata)Allegro
Adagio molto espressivo
Scherzo: Allegro molto
Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo
Sonata in A major, Op. 47 (Kreutzer Sonata)
Adagio sostenuto—Presto
Andante con Variazioni
Presto
Violinist Hilary Walther Cumming teaches at the University at Albany and performs as the violinist of the Capital Trio with American pianist Duncan Cumming and Turkish cellist Sölen Dikener. Before moving to New York, she served as concertmaster of the Cape Cod Sinfonietta and the Andover Chamber Orchestra; she has been heard as soloist with these ensembles as well as with the Reading Symphony Orchestra, Concord Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Principal influences for her style and discipline are Joseph Silverstein, Franco Gulli and Shmuel Ashkenasi on modern violin, Stanley Ritchie on Baroque violin, and Seamus Connolly on Irish traditional fiddle. These outstanding artists continue to guide her and inspire her every moment she spends with her violin.
The Capital Trio recording, Threads of the Heart, new music by Los Angeles-based composer David Walther, was nominated for a Grammy in 2013. She has performed most extensively with the Capital Trio, ATHELAS (Denmark), Boston-based Sarasa, the Abbott Trio, and the Coleridge Ensemble. Her recordings can be found on Albany Records, Meridien and AFKA Records. As an orchestra musician, she has played in major halls on four continents; as a chamber musician she has recently toured Denmark, France and Switzerland with the Capital Trio. Her first love and passion remains the study and performance of chamber music.
Duncan J. Cumming, now in his fourteenth year on the faculty of the University at Albany, has performed concertos, recitals, and chamber music concerts in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Canada, Scotland, England, France, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Malawi among other places. He has recorded two albums for the Centaur label, one a solo recording (CRC 3125) including music of Brahms, Debussy, Satie, and Chopin and the other a historical instrument recording with Christopher Hogwood (CRC 3231) of the music of Carl Maria von Weber on Weber’s own 1815 Brodmann fortepiano. He also has two chamber music recordings with Albany Records including A Book of Hours (TROY 1239) and Threads of the Heart (TROY 1428). He is the pianist of the Capital Trio, ensemble-in-residence at the University at Albany, and the trio has performed, lectured, and taught master classes in residencies at Williams College, Crane School of Music, Hartwick College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, SUNY Oswego, Long Island University, and Cambridge University in England.
Born near the Canadian border in Presque Isle, Maine, Cumming graduated Phi Beta Kappa with highest honors from Bates College where he studied with Frank Glazer. He later received a full scholarship from the European Mozart Foundation and participated in intense chamber music study and performance at the European Mozart Academy in Prague. Upon his return to America he studied with Patricia Zander at the New England Conservatory, where he received his Master of Music degree, and in May of 2003 he graduated with the Doctor of Music degree from Boston University.
Cumming has been on the faculty of Phillips Academy in Andover and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. He is the author of the book The Fountain of Youth: The Artistry of Frank Glazer and is a past winner of the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching. In 2018 his festival, Youth Movements, was honored with the President’s Award for Exemplary Public Engagement at the University at Albany. He lives in New York with his wife, the violinist Hilary Walther Cumming, and his children Lucy, Mairi, and William Bear.
Indirectly, Duncan Cumming studied with Beethoven. Here is the chronology of teachers that led to Duncan:
Carl Czerny studied with Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Germany
Theodor Leschetizy studied with Carl Czerny (1791-1857) Austria
Atur Schnabel studied with Theodor Leschetizy (1830-1915) Germany
Frank Glazer studied with Atur Schnabel (1882-1951) Austria & Germany
Duncan Cumming studied with Frank Glazer (1915-2015) USA
We hope to see you on Septermber 12 for this celebration!
St Mary Schola, Early Music Ensemble
Postponed until 2021, date yet to be determined
First Church of Christ, Congregational, North Conway, NH
St. Mary Schola was founded in 2008 by The Reverend James Dalton-Thompson and Bruce Fithian with the goal to provide the finest in early music literature to New England audiences. Based at the Episcopal Church of Saint Mary in Falmouth, Maine, the ensemble presents three concert programs a year. The Schola features some of Maine’s finest singers and instrumentalists who explore the great masterworks of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras.
This program will feature a sublime work of the French Baroque: Andre Campra's Messe de Requiem. Campra's music is filled with soaring vocal lines, similar to the music in Faure's Requiem. This piece brings the sunny warmth of southern France together with his graceful writing for period strings and recorders.
The second featured work is Handel's The Judgement of Solomon, a dramatic confrontation between two women, both claiming to be the mother of a child. This poignant music brings to life the extraordinary pathos of this story.
Suggested donation will be $15 at the door.
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Thanks to Everyone Who Turned Out to Our 2019 Event! Check Back in 2020 for Details on our Next Seacoast Wind Ensemble Concert!
The Annual Memorial Weekend Concert ~ A Tribute to Military Personnel-has been cancelled. We hope to reschedule at a later date.
The ensemble, established in 1984, is a 50-piece symphonic band based in Kittery, Maine. Comprised of musicians from all occupations and trades, the group performs annually throughout seacoast New Hampshire, as well as in the White Mountains, southern Maine, and northern Massachusetts. Dr. Mark Stickney, is Artistic Director.
Memorial Weekend is the official time to remember and honor military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. It has often become tradition to include a salute to thank and honor ALL those who served honorably in the military - in wartime or peacetime, including our current military personnel.
The concert program honors area Veterans and provide a musical salute to thank those who have and continue to serve in the armed forces to preserve our nation and insure our freedom. A colorful display of the flags from the various branches of the armed services will be presented. Featured on the program will be several Sousa marches as well as the traditional playing of the Armed Forces Medley, saluting, in order of establishment, the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
The Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Center at Fryeburg Academy is handicap accessible. Additional information about the concert is available at www.whitemountainmusicalarts.org.