FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES Report of our March 18th, 2018 Event
A few weeks before last Sunday's OMC performance I sat near a 2 year old who was humming a familiar melody. Not Mary Had a Little Lamb. Not Wheels on the Bus. A percussive melody, vaguely tongue-in-cheek the way it toyed with repetition, and not something I expected to hear from a toddler. (Perhaps it had been one of OMC co-founder Bob Marcus' fascinating 5-minute lectures that got me pondering musical/neurological connections.) I finally identified it as a theme from Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Not entirely surprising considering the toddler was son of featured co-guest pianist James Rosenblum, who delightfully entertained us this recent Sunday with a wonderful rendition of the much beloved Gershwin concoction. (The toddler is also the son of hot-on-the-88s Ana Glig, a recent OMC feature.)
caption << SCULPTING SOUND >> Co-founder Bob Marcus delighted as usual with witty MC banter, seen near the wall sculpture (see inset) he created for the UU. (He's currently in the artistic throes of another piece! After that, perhaps we can talk him into creating a sculpture specificially for OMC!) Young Zsoka Woods, in the foreground of that same lovely sculpture, was accompanied by quick-to-sync Elizabeth Tipton who provides a WONDERFUL resource for us as she sight-reads material day-of to accompany performers (though pre-rehearsals also an option).
Kids and music. How early does the "Mozart Effect" kick in? Is there something extraordinary about musical language? The eagle flies. The jaguar has his teeth, the bear his strength. Mankind has language
caption >> Is that Elaine Lipton, head of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, center of the center image? Why yes it is! Elaine generously donated festival tickets to OMC's auctions, so stay tuned to these emails for great auction opps. Also shown, Donna Pihl (far left) and Jo Brisbane, soaking in the music. (And thinking of forming a musical ensemble perchance? OMC has inspired many).
The recent OMC performance had the interesting facet of co-featuring the Gershwin that, though instrumental, frequently SOUNDS like singing, with the Schubert piece that WAS sung. (Elizabeth Tipton joined OMC co-founder Monika Woods (clarinet) and OMC outreacher Ellen Adamson (voice) on Schubert's gorgeous "The Shepherd on the Rock.")
caption << SPEAKING EASY WHILE PLAYING HARD >> The UU was sucked into a time warp this recent Sunday as clarinetist and OMC co-founder Monika Woods took the stage with Anna Glig in early 20th century speakeasy attire to accompany James Rosenblum on Gershwin's lovely and festive Rhapsody in Blue. We welcome James from NYC to our fair island, and thank him joyfully for bringing rolicking cosmopolitan Gershwin zanity. Rosenblum has played at Carnegie Hall and was a finalist in WQXR's Classical Moonlighters Competition.
OMC co-founder Monika Woods did clarinet double-duty on Sunday. Private music instructor by day, she found time between lessons to practice the difficult and crazy glissandos in Rhapsody in Blue, to the delight of straight ears seeking a few bent notes. The serenely graceful Schubert licks on "Shepherd" were a bit easier for her reed to read, which she played in a trio with OMC's Ellen Adamson and Elizabeth Tipton (piano). Ellen Adamson sang divinely on Schubert's "The Shepherd on the Rock."
Hailing originally from the mid-west / Kansas, Ellen is our new out-reach coordinator, so reach out! (Which you can do by replying to this email. Among other things: what 5-minute lecture might YOU want to give our audience?)
Schubert: haunting, philosophical, lyrically "voice".
Gershwin: bubbling with bustling big apple jazz-isms elegantly encapsulated into a playful classical form.
"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child." - Pablo Picasso
caption >> Arthur Dimond (upper left) played Scott Joplin, Carol Davis the lovely lilting Chopin Mazurka in Ab in a lovely lilting way and Jared McMurray from Cotuit took piano prowess to the nth level with some Rachmaninoff and also introduced many listeners to the bizarre, lovely, and strangely modern textures of Soviet Armenian composer Khachaturian (1903-1978) from Georgia.
caption <<THE KARKUSH CHORALE >> OMC co-founder Monika Woods wasn't the only private music instructor who had a featured student on Sunday. Local 88-key pedagogist Sylvia Karkush Furash was represented by two of her virtuosic young piano students (Jim Dellamorte and Liz Novak) who serenaded us with some delicate yet powerful Chopin (Opus 9 #1, the one where we essentially hear a chromatically drunken philosopher falling down the stairs in one of the piece's first licks) and Beethoven respectively. Dan Powers sang divinely some poetic English text along with house pianist Elizabeth Tipton who did a tremendous job of sonic support.
All in all, our recent Sunday was quite a turnout, one of the biggest crowds to date. 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.
