Easter at Open Mic Classical, Apr 16th, 2017
It was a warm day, the sun was shining, the bluebirds were singing away from the branches of trees, spring was in the air, and it was also Easter Sunday!
In spite of this strong competition, our Open Mic Classical was a most successful event with a wonderful assortment of musical offerings, and a well-attended eclectic audience of classical music lovers.
The afternoon began with musical offerings by the youngest performers of the afternoon who also were cousins of the extended Woods family.
10-year old Asher began with a piano solo of “Kumbaya”; Asher was then joined by Ella (12) on the violin to perform a polka by John Walsh, and finally Zsoka (7) joined her cousins on the piano with a rendition of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”.
The enthusiasm of the three young ones was catching and a delight to watch and hear!
Piano performances were a major presence during this Open Mic Classical afternoon.
Carol Davis, who travelled all the way from Plymouth to perform, gave a very nice piano performance of Chopin’s Valse in b-minor (Opus 69 No 2).
Carol was followed by a clarinet-cello duet from the Ohio based composer Rick Sowash: Suite in D-minor. Nr. 3 Waltz with Ellen Adamson on cello, and Monika Woods on clarinet.
Pianist Arthur Dimond from Eastham, first time at Open Mic Classical, played a flowing and romantic version of two Intermezzis by Brahms: Intermezzi Op 118 No 2, and Op 117 No 2.
Our featured performers were Carol Rizzoli, violinist, and Ellen Adamson, cellist. They have recently formed a new Cape-based musical group called “CELANDINE”, a name derived from a yellow-flowered plant of the poppy family.
CELANDINE often includes other musicians in its performances.
Carol and Ellen played a series of duets featuring Francesco Giuliani’s (1760-1825) cello-violin Duet III, followed by Gustav Holst’s Four Songs, Op 35 for voice (Ellen) and violin (Carol). All the music was amazingly beautiful and received generous applause from the audience.
One of Ellen many interests is the nyckelharpa (Swedish for “keyed fiddle”), a traditional Swedish musical instrument with similarities to the fiddle and to the hurdy-gurdy. Ellen performed a melodious piece on the nyckelharpa called “Kyrklat”, a lyrical piece with sounds similar to the viola.
Our co-founder and MC, Bob Marcus then presented “long-stem” roses to four key ladies of Open Mic Classical: the two featured performers, Ellen Adamson and Carol Rizzoli, our co-founder and major “musical cement” holding the Open Mic Classical together, Monika Woods, and Donna Pihl, our unsung heroine who manages the table where everyone coming in leaves a donation and received a raffle ticket.
The performances were followed by the usual raffle, only this time Transylvania-decorated Easter eggs (prepared by Monika and her friends) were the prizes, along with some of Canary Burton’s CD’s.
The musical afternoon was continued with lively refreshments and discussions between old and new-found friends with a common interest in classical music. Other common interests also emerged, and I think we all had a good time.
So to all: thanks again / please come again / please spread the word from valley to hilltop so our wonderful cape classical community can continue to evolve and intertwine on our roads less traveled.
