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North Shore Pro Musica begins its 30th season
A repertoire of old and new brings an eclectic and exciting mix to local listeners
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From Debussy to Tan Dun, from Shubert, the Schumanns and Beethoven to Yusef Lateef and Peter Winkler, the repertoire of the chamber music group, North Shore Pro Musica, is eclectic and exciting.
Elisabeth Palmedo, soprano, founding member and director of NSPM, noted that many chamber groups have a repertoire of staples, "old standards" that people recognize and enjoy. "But," she added, "we try to do new things, too. My idea is that people should have a little challenge — with contemporary music," as well.
As the group's 30th season begins, nothing proves that point more than the first program, to be presented on Nov. 1 at 5 pm at the Ward Melville Heritage Organization's Educational and Culture Center in Stony Brook.
The evening consists of a program for harp and oboe and starts with work by Yusef Lateef. The music, notes Palmedo, "is very exotic." A National Endowment for the Arts jazz master, Lateef is also known for his mastery of Middle Eastern and Asian instruments.
The program features Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp. In between, Palmedo will be "doing some folk songs of the British Isles." Featured on the harp will be Margery Fitts.
The groups second concert, on Nov. 22 will be an all strings program with music by Tan Dun and Schubert. "I'm very excited about Tan Dun, a Chinese composer who wrote the music for the movie, 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.'" Tan Dun was born in China but moved to the United States in the 1980s to study at Columbia University. His work varies from pieces for chamber groups to film scores and operas, such as "The First Emperor," which premiered in 2006 in New York City.
The second part of the program is Schubert's Quintet in C. Since the Dun piece is a quartet, Olga Zilboorg a founder of NSPM will be joining the group. Said Palmedo, "Olga's not a part of the group now, but we asked her to join us for our 30th anniversary."
The Jan. 24 program features oboist Terry Keevil with chamber music for oboe and other instruments. The March 7 program is for clarinet and cello. The season ends for NSPM on April 11 with music by Robert and Clara Schumann.
Since its founding, the group has performed in a number of locations. Of their current venue, Palmedo said, "The Educational and Cultural Center has an intimacy … it's a wonderful hall with good acoustics."
Palmedo added, "I don't know what we'd do without the music department at Stony Brook [University]. Terry Keevil got his doctorate there. It's such a good music department that sometimes [students] stay around." NSPM has performed works by Peter Winkler, an SBU professor. Andy Lin is currently in the university's doctoral program, as is Emanouil Manolov. Annette Perry received both bachelor's and master's degrees there as well.
Who plays at any given performance and in any season depends on what pieces are being presented. The group currently consists of Dimitri Dover (piano), Margery Fitts (harp), Terry Keevil (oboe), Andy Lin (viola), Emanouil Manolov (violin), Elisabeth Palmedo (soprano), Annette Perry (cello), Emma Lee Holmes-Hicks (violin), Miho Zaitsy (violoncello), Olga Zilboorg (violoncello), Ming Park (flute) and Levana Cohen (clarinet).
Each concert is recorded and CDs are available at the following concert. Pentimento Restaurant in Stony Brook is offering specially priced dinners after each concert.
Tickets for concerts are $18 each, $12 for students. A subscription for the five concerts is $75, $45 for students. For further information on NSPM, call 584-8945 or go to www.northshorepromusica.org.
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