Tuesday, June 8, 2010

River Concert Series Music Festival Starts June 18

The 2010 St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) River Concert Series concert season kicks off Friday, June 18, when accomplished jazz and classical pianist Jeffrey Chappell joins the Chesapeake Orchestra and music director Jeffrey Silberschlag to perform American composer Samuel Barber’s “Piano Concerto.” The concert also includes Robert Schumann’s No. 1 “Spring.” The weekly celebrations on the college’s Townhouse Green continue every Friday through July 30 with world-class music and a variety of food from local vendors. Gates open at 5 p.m. and concerts start at 7 p.m. These outdoor concerts are free and open to the public, and picnic baskets are welcome.

The first evening concert celebrates the special birthdays of Barber’s 100th and Schumann’s 200th. Pennsylvania-born Barber won the Pulitzer Prize twice, in 1958 for his first opera “Vanessa” and in 1963 for his “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.” Critics call Schumann’s “Spring,” written in 1841, “exuberant and lyrical” and “melodic.”

Pianist Chappell has performed throughout the United States and abroad in recitals and at chamber music events. He has been a soloist with the symphony orchestras of Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston, and Denver, among others, as well as with the Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque, the Missouri Symphony, and the Mississippi Symphony. His many appearances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra include concerts at Carnegie Hall and Wolf Trap Park. Chappell is on the faculties of Goucher College in Baltimore and the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C.

Silberschlag, music director and conductor of the River Concert Series, Chesapeake Orchestra, and the Italian Alba Music Festival, has recorded with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Czech Radio Orchestra. His performances have been hailed by European critics as thrilling, compelling, and outstanding. Silberschlag has collaborated with such artists as Hilary Hahn, Lara St. John, Terence Blanchard, the Ahn Trio, and Jane Monheit.

For more information, visit the River Concert Series web site at http://www.riverconcertseries.com/ or call 240-895-3038.
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