FALL Program: Classically now

A collaboration of the Montpelier Chamber Orchestra and Vermont-born Violinist, Jesse Irons, the orchestra presents two concerts in Montpelier (November 16th & 17th), exploring the connections of the classical period with the contemporary.

Born in Berlin, Vermont, Jesse Irons has been praised by the Baltimore Sun as a “polished and sensitive” violinist, his performances “moving… with a perfect mix of passion and precision.” (Baltimore Magazine) He received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory, serving as graduate assistant in chamber music. Jesse’s many wonderful teachers include Pamela Frank and Nicholas Kitchen. Jesse is a founder of the self-conducted orchestra A Far Cry, and has appeared in concerts across the United States and Europe, as well as in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Singapore. His playing was described as "insinuating" by the New York Times, and he's pretty sure they meant it in a good way. Mr. Irons enjoys exploring music outside the classical mainstream, and has performed with touring Broadway musicals, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, as well as with new-music luminaries Alarm Will Sound. His baroque-violin-playing alter ego appears with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, and numerous small ensembles around Boston, including the recently formed quintet Gut Reaction.

Jesse will lead the orchestra in the Concerto for Violin #4 in D Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Anne Decker, the MCO’s Music Director, will lead the orchestra in Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte arranged for string orchestra and Haydn’s Symphony #93 in D Major, the first of the London Symphonies. Please join us as we welcome Jesse back to Central Vermont in both performances as well as visits to the high schools in Montpelier to work with students and an appearance on VPR on Wednesday, November 13th.

HOLIDAY Program: AMAHL & The Night Visitors

It all started in 2017 when two of Montpelier’s creative minds got together and thought, how can we bring an opera to life in a way that will engage audience members of all ages?  Music Director, Anne Decker, and artist, Janice Walrafen, set off on an adventure that led to a full chorus, soloists, an orchestra and puppeteers, in a production for the community in Montpelier’s City Hall in 2017, entitled, “A Gift Far Greater.”

Now, with the support of MontpelierALIVE, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, Northfield Savings Bank and National Life Group Foundation, MCO will make this a bi-annual event!  We’ll see dancers from Moving Light Dance Company through collaboration with their Director, Christine Harris, perform in the Butoh dance style. Vocalists include Mary Bonhag as the Mother, and Mary Jane Austin as vocal coach.  Janice Walrafen will bring her loom puppets back to life at City Hall. We follow the story of a little shepherd boy who is disabled, likes to daydream and has a habit of telling tales. The composer, Gian Carlo Menotti, grew up in Italy where Christmas gifts were delivered by the Three Kings. What gifts will each king carry? How will they react to the mother stealing?

Spring Program: fUrther afield ***Postponed until further notice

Vermont composer David Gunn once observed that our musicians often come from further afield than central Vermont. That resulted in his naming his new composition, funded by the Vermont Community Foundation, “Further Afield.” Music Director Anne Decker used David’s observation to develop the rest of the program, which consists of music composed in or about destinations that are far away from Montpelier, Vermont. The orchestra will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture – which represents the sea, the antipode of Montpelier – and Molly on the Shore by Percy Grainger, a composer born in Australia (geographically the furthest point from Montpelier). Decker also used the theme to search “further afield” for other orchestral music. The MCO will perform Inti Figgis-Vizueta’s Symphony for the Body, which focuses on each player’s ability to interpret articulation, register, and timing. Inspired by deep-listening composer Pauline Oliveros, Symphony for the Body is driven by the rise and fall of breath, communal listening, and a freedom to choose one’s own path. The MCO will also perform Suite of Dances by Florence Price (1887-1953), the first African American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer. MCO thanks the sponsors for this concert, including Vermont Community Foundation, The Garage Cultural Center, and The City of Montpelier.

Molly on the Shore by Percy Grainger (1907)

Suite of Dances by Florence Price (1933)

Further Afield, new commission by David Gunn (2020, Barre, VT),

featuring soloist Laurel Ann Maurer, principal flute

Symphony of the Body for Orchestra by Inti Figgis-Vizueta (2017) 

Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave), op. 26, by Felix Mendelssohn (1830)

Concert crawl

A community favorite! Enjoy three meals and three musical acts at three houses/performance spaces. Stay tuned for details and how to purchase tickets.

Dates

November 16th at 7 pm and November 17th at 3 pm

Location

City Hall Arts Center

(Lost Nation Theater)

Admission

$15 adults, $5 seniors and students (12-18), children 12 and under free or $5

Dates

January 4th at 7 pm and January 5th at 2 pm

Location

City Hall Arts Center, Montpelier VT

(home of Lost Nation Theater)

Admission

$25 adults, $10 seniors, $5 students (12-18), children 12 and under free floor seating or $5 for seated in chair

Dates

Postponed until later date

Location

City Hall Arts Center, Montpelier VT

(home of Lost Nation Theater)

Admission

Date & Admission

September 2020