The National Music Festival will launch its 2018 – 2019 Resonance concert series Oct. 28 with a performance by Trio Sefardi. The six-concert season will run through April 2019 on Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, 7579 Sandy Bottom Rd., Chestertown, Md.
Trio Sefardi performs songs of the Sephardic Jews, who inhabited Spain and Portugal for centuries before being expelled in 1492. In exile this Jewish minority maintained their Ladino language, oral culture and folkloric music. Usually the women of the community passed down the traditional songs, as new songs were added, dealing with history, daily life, love and loss.
Formed in 2010, Trio Sefardi’s members are Howard Bass, lute, guitar, bass; Tina Chancey, bowed string, percussion, vocals; and Susan Gaeta, solo vocals, guitar and percussion. (Pictured l-r: Bass, Gaeta and Chancey)
RES·O·NANCE /ˈrezənəns/ Noun: the quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating … a quality of richness or variety.
The concerts feature intimate, solo and small ensemble performances, presented by the National Music Festival.
“Resonance keeps the energy of our summer National Music Festival going year-round with high-quality performances by nationally known and regional artists,” said Caitlin Patton, NMF executive director. Now in its third season, Resonance was formerly known as Kent Chamber Music.
Other highlights of the season include a performance by violist Miles Hoffman, founder and artistic director of the American Chamber Players, on Feb. 17. Hoffman is also author of The NPR Classical Music Companion: An Essential Guide for Enlightened Listening, and a popular, long-time music commentator for NPR’s Morning Edition. After Trio Sefardi, the series will continue with:
Nov. 18 — Mallets Towards None, Michelle Humphreys and the Towson University Percussion Ensemble
Jan. 13 — Kassia Music Collective! string quartet, including violinist Elizabeth Adams, a NMF mentor, plus clarinet
Feb. 17 — Miles Hoffman, viola, American Chamber Players
March 24 — Karen Slack, soprano, international opera singer
April 28 — Gwen Krosnick, cello
Humphreys and Krosnick are also NMF mentors.
Tickets are $20 for each of the six performances (https://nationalmusic.us/events-and-tickets/single-concert-tickets/), or purchase a Resonance Season Pass online for $100 and get one concert free (https://nationalmusic.us/product/resonance-pass/). Tickets for students with ID and children under 14 are only $5.
Best Value: A National Music Festival Combination Pass (https://nationalmusic.us/product/combination-pass/) ensures admission to all six Resonance concerts and all ticketed events of the two-week, 2019 National Music Festival, June 2 – 15, 2019.
For more information about the National Music Festival and Resonance, please visit nationalmusic.us.
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