DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 7 * * All Arts News On the Web * * September 25, 2003

STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

      ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column.


      Stop in for live music and more at the Fairfax Music Sessions at the Foothills Bakery in Fairfax most Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m., at ChowBella in St Albans 8-10 p.m. most Wednesday evenings, at the Kept Writer in St Albans most Friday and Saturday evenings, at the Bayside in St Albans Town most Sunday afternoons, and the Cambridge CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
     These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. The booked performances and acoustic Open Mike Nights feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.


PIANO AND MORE

      The Opera House at Enosburg Falls presents the Gabriel Piano Trio in the Mentors Series on Saturday at 8 p.m. The program will include music for piano, violin, and cello, by Mozart, a Mendelssohn concerto, and nine miniatures by Frank Bridge.
      "Miniatures are short pieces," cellist Paul Perley said. "In Britain in the early 1900s [when Bridge wrote this suite] the short pieces that went in a series were often called miniatures. These are from two to four minutes each. They are like a piece with nine short movements." The concert will also include Trio #5 in G Major by Mozart and Trio #1 in D Minor, by Mendelssohn.
      Three of Central Vermont's most active chamber musicians, pianist Alison Bruce Cerutti, cellist Paul Perley, and violinist Diana Stone, make up the Gabriel Piano Trio. Their name comes from the eminent late-19th century French composer, organist, and teacher Gabriel Urbain Faure.
      A piano trio is classically a piano, violin, and cello. "There is a huge amount of repertoire for a piano trio," Mr. Perley said.
      Faure worked at the time impressionism was blooming in European art and poetry and music. This anti-German and anti-Romantic music is subtle, improvisational, and colorful. His own works include significant chamber music, such as the Piano Quartet in C minor from 1879, two operas, orchestral works, and other piano pieces. His compositions offer harmonic character and beautiful melody and were the first this ensemble played together.
      "It's a busy fall for all of us." Mr. Perley said. Ms. Cerutti will solo the Mozart piano concerto with the Vermont Philharmonic at the Barre on October 19. Mr. Perley has another Chamber Music concert coming up.
      Pianist Alison Bruce Cerutti has given solo piano recitals at the Barre Opera House, soloed (along with her brother Daniel) with the Vermont Philharmonic, accompanied flute master classes in France for the renowned Louis Moyse, collaborated with many area soloists, some giving world premiers of new works, and is an active free-lance performer supporting community and professional theater productions. Ms. Cerutti maintains a private teaching studio in Northfield. She was graduated from Oberlin Conservatory and Hartt School of Music, obtaining a masters degree under Watson Morrison.
      Cellist Paul Perley is a founding member of the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra, a long-time member of the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra, and cellist with the Bartholdy Ensemble, one of Vermont's longest active performing chamber groups. He founded and conducted the Green Mountain Waldorf Orchestra from 1999-2002, currently conducts in the Central Vermont Youth Orchestra program, and maintains a private teaching studio in Montpelier. He studied with international soloist Helene Gagne of Montreal.
      Violinist Diana Stone is principal violist with the Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra, first violinist of the Borealis String Quartet, and has been a music teacher in the public school system for the past 24 years. Mrs. Stone also teaches privately, and is a regular music director for Montpelier area theater productions. She studied at the University of New Hampshire and studied under Ruth Posselt at New England Conservatory.
      The trio is committed to in-school programs as well as to concerts. "I play at a school if I have a performance coming to give [the students] an idea of the work that goes into a live performance," Ms. Cerutti said.
      The All Arts Gallery at the Opera House features fine art photography. On the walls downstairs are the landcapes of Timothy Stetson, black-and-white portraits of Wayne Tarr, and my own landscape and architectural images.
      The Gabriel Piano Trio will perform at the Opera House on Saturday at 8 p.m. Admission is $12or adults and $10 for seniors and students, and $5 for children. Advance sale tickets are available at the All arts ticket centers: Enosburg Pharmacy and the Merchant's Bank in Enosburg Falls, plus Swanton Rexall, and Better Planet in St. Albans. Call 802-933-6171 or click here for more info.


      The Gabriel Piano Trio also performs this concert tomorrow night at the Barre Congregational Church.


ON STAGE LIVE

ST. ALBANS--The Knights of Columbus present Josee Vachon on Saturday evening as a fundraiser and "to keep the Franco-American heritage going," said Maurice Bonnette. "We want to put the show on in French."
      Josee Vachon was born in Quebec and "has kept her French." She has shared her Franco-American upbringing for the last 20 years singing her own work as well as a wide array of traditional and contemporary folksongs from Quebec and Acadia.
      Ms. Vachon's popular performances range from the international stage to state festivals to schools to parish soirees. She has served as a Franco-American ambassador at Constitution Hall, the Women´s Singing Traditions of New England Tour, and the Congres Mondial du Conseil International. She has hosted over 500 tapings of "Bonjour!", the most widely-seen French-language television show in the U.S. This year her performances included stops in Berlin, Germany, New Brunswick, Canada and St-Etienne, France. She recorded an original song for the Smithsonian Folkways album. And she first performed in Franklin County for the All Arts Council at our Soiree Grand Menage.
      Cocktails begin at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. and the show will start at 8:30 p.m., all at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Call Mr. Bonnette (527-2469) for reservations and info.

DERBY LINE--QNEK Productions at the Haskell Opera House celebrates its tenth anniversary with the final two performances of the classic Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
      In celebration of their Tenth Anniversary, QNEK received a State Resolution endorsed by the Governor and the General Assembly acknowledging their work in the field of Arts and Entertainment in the Northeast Kingdom.
      Seating is limited. Call 802-334-8145 or e-mail for tickets and info.

ST. ALBANS--Chow! Bella presents the Live Jazz Duo of Stacy Starkweather and Justin Bedell next Wednesday, October 1, 8-10 p.m.


CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

      The Butler Ballet, a troupe from the Butler University Department of Dance in Indianapolis, IN, has accumulated a valuable collection of scenery and costumes from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. This site offers photographs of the scenery collection, with brief historical references and, in some cases, a musical excerpt from the ballet (in MIDI format) about each piece. The collection has been sorted, hung, and identified and is now hosed in a new air-conditioned storage at the university.


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

      ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site.


SUPPORT LIVE ARTS IN YOUR TOWN!


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      This article was originally published in the St Albans Messenger and other traditional print media. It is Copyright © 2003 by Richard B. Harper. All rights reserved. Archival material is provided as-is. Links are not necessarily maintained (if a link in this article fails, try Google.com or your favorite search engine).
      Thanks to recent misuse of copyright material on the Internet by individuals and archival firms alike, we emphasize that your rights to this article are limited to viewing it and printing it for personal use only. You must receive explicit permission from the All Arts Council and the author before reprinting or redistributing this article in any medium.