Garth Newel Piano Quartet to play Millboro Elementary School

(musical intro)

There is no better winter blues buster than some fine chamber music in a friendly and familiar setting such as Millboro Elementary School. The Millboro Ruritans and the Garth Newel Piano Quartet are joining forces to bring this special concert to a completely different venue on Saturday evening at 6:30. The concert is free, but donations of non-perishable canned or boxed food items will be welcomed, and passed along through the local food pantry. The musicians, while familiar faces in and around Bath, might not be immediately identified with their instruments, Teresa Ling plays the violin, Evelyn, the viola; Issac Melamud plays the cello and Jeannette Fang, the piano. This group programs and performs over fifty concerts a year. They have performed across the United States, on five continents, and in prominent venues such as Carnegie Hall, Strathmore Hall, and the Chataugua Instititute, and Saturday night they will be playing in Millboro. They, according to the GNMC website, are know for their “spirited and impassioned performances offering an enlivened interpretation of both standard and new repertoire.” Their program for Saturday night includes one piece by Astor Piazzola called La Muerte del Angel and selections from Gabriel Faure, Piano Quartet No. 2, Louise Heritte-Viardot, Piano Quartet No. 2, Mark Carlson, Piano Quartet. In a search for that artist and some of his music, I found something hardly a piano quartet:

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So, while that selection is very unlikely to be on the program Saturday evening, Mark Carlson’s music is one of the many examples of how these musicians promote the creativity of today. They hold an annual competition for rising composers aimed at bolstering the piano quartet genre. They have commissioned prominent composers such as Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Moravec, and regularly premiere works of their contemporaries.

Another great opportunity to hear the Quartet play will be the following Saturday, the 27^th when they hold their first concert in the Winter Pub Series, Colla, Coors and Corn Chowder. That one will be held at the Garth Newel Music Center, and is pay-what-you-will. Reservations are not required for either of these Saturday evening performances, the 20^th at Millboro Elementary School, and the 27^th at Garth Newel Music Center.