Come to enjoy the voices of Sudie Marcuse Blatz and Laura Cook in duet,  jazz played on hammered dulcimer, bassoon and guitar, original compositions by contemporary women, including our own Ami Montstream, Boston's Jennifer Griffith, and the late Amy Beach. Savor the first movement of Prokovief's Sonata in C for Cello and Piano, played by Fran Bard and Carolyn Woodward and revel in the saxophone of Tony Gibbs with Benita Rose at the piano on Hemke's "Variations on Carnival ov Venice."

PROGRAM

I) A Little Jazz Music

“Take Five” Paul Desmond (1924 – 1977)
“Tico Tico” (1917) Zequinha Abreu (1880 – 1935)

Ami Montstream – Hammered Dulcimer
Charlie Eirmann – Bassoon
*Kevin Gallagher – Guitar
Note: Although first recorded and popularized by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1959, Brubeck magnanimously gave full credit to Desmond for being sole composer of the famous tune of “Take Five.”

“Jazz Sonata” (1956) Ami Montstream
Sylvia Goldstein – Piano

II) A Little Baroque and Classical Music

“Les Naiades”” Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
(From “Acis et Galatea”)
You, who think love is a weakness, need not trouble our innocent peace. We do not sing our songs of love for you. If you are destined to love neither harshness, hate, nor rage will help you.

“Ecco il Petto” Benedetto Marcello (1686 – 1739)
Here is my heart: I don’t fly from most cruel martyrdom. Anyone who lives and breathes may strike the blow.

“Ah, perdona al primo affetto” W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) (From “La clemenza di Tito”)
Annio finds himself in the unenviable position of telling his true love Servilia that she must wed his Emperor Titus and that now their love is forbidden. Mozart will not let these lovers part though, as is obvious in the sensuous music of this duet for soprano and mezzo in pants.

Sudie Marcuse – Soprano
Laura Cook – Mezzo-soprano
Benita Rose - Piano

III Music for Cello and Piano

“Sonata in C Major for Cello and Piano” Sergei Prokofiev (1891 – 1953) Opus 119, 1st Movement: Andante Grave

Fran Bard – Cello
Carolyn Woodard – Piano

IV Add Mezzo

“Chanson d’Amour” Amy M. C. Beach (1867 – 1944)
Wake, my beloved, dawn is breaking and all nature calls to you. I, too, implore you with sighs and tears and my most beautiful song – awake, open your portal to my love.

Laura Cook – Mezzo-soprano
Fran Bard – Cello
Carolyn Woodard –Piano

V Three Songs by Jennifer Griffith

“When the Forsythia is in Full Bloom” Poem by Judith Joiner
“In Just-spring” Poem by e.e.cummings
“Such Self-Indulgence and Sloth” Poem by David Budbill
Jennifer Griffith lives and composes in the Boston area. These songs are part of a group that were composed with Sudie’s voice in mind. Today’s performance is a Musical Club premiere!

Sudie Marcuse – Soprano
Benita Rose – Piano

VI Finale

“Variations on Carnival of Venice” J. A. E. Demersseman/Fred Hemke

Tony Gibbs – Saxophone
Benita Rose -Piano

BIOS

Laura Cook

Mezzo-soprano Laura Cook studied music at and earned degrees from Bennington College, Yale School of Music, and the Franz Schubert Institute with emphasis on vocal performance. She taught voice for many years in the Community and Diploma divisions of the Hartford Conservatory and general music for the Hartford Public School system. Laura is also a long-time performing member of the Musical Club of Hartford where she has taken great pleasure in her many collaborations with fine musicians over the years.

Fran Bard

Fran Bard, cellist, has performed with the Hartford Symphony for many years.  An avid chamber music player, she is a cellist with the Hop River Chamber Players.  She also taught in the Windsor and Glastonbury Public Schools.

Carolyn Woodard

Carolyn Woodard, pianist, received a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music Degree in performance from the Hartt School of Music. She studied with William Harms, Edward Steuermann, and Raymond  Hanson. Carolyn was a founding member of The Camerata Ensemble and has also performed with the Connecticut String Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony and the New World Ensemble. A well-known teacher in the area, she was chair of the piano department at the Hartford Camerata Conservatory, taught at The Hartt School and maintains a private studio in Glastonbury.

Sudie Marcuse

Sudie Marcuse, soprano, has been an oratorio soloist with the Andover Choral Society, Newton Choral Society, Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra, Hampshire Choral Society, and the Choir of the Church of the Advent in Boston. As a specialist in early music she has performed with period-instrument ensembles such as Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra, Capella Clausura and Cambridge Concentus. A lifelong advocate of ensemble singing, she has sung with Cantata Singers, CONCORA, Convivium Musicum, Cantabile, Novi Cantori, and numerous other choirs. She is also known for her interest in new music, and has premiered solo works of several New England composers including Jennifer Griffith, Robert Edward Smith, and Charles Turner, and has performed with Triad Choral Collective, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Springfield Women in Music and the CUNY Composers’ Alliance. She holds the DMA degree in Historical Performance from Boston University and teaches voice privately in the Boston area.

Benita Rose and Tony Gibbs