Chamber Music in October

Would you believe that the Pyxis Quartet’s October 1 concert at the Delaware Art Museum has been sold out since August? The Concerts on Kentmere series will be presented in the Pre-Raphaelite gallery and an option for dinner on the Chihuly Bridge can be part of the package for those lucky few who booked early.

The Pyxis Quartet was founded this year and I hope they will play together for many years to come: Hiroko Yamazaki, piano, Meredith Amado, violin, Amy Leonard, viola and Jie Jin, cello are a formidable combination.

If you did NOT book early for the Concert on Kentmere, fret not. You have two other opportunities to hear the Pyxis this fall: They will be playing on Thursday, October 29, at noon at First and Central Presbyterian Church just off Rodney Square and on Sunday, November 1 at Grace United Methodist Church at 3:00 p.m.

But don’t forget the Newark Symphony Chamber Series which starts on Saturday, October 3, with a star-studded ensemble of players. Thomas DiSarlo, concertmaster of the Philadelphia group Camerata Ama Deus, will play a violin etude by Ernst, and two Mozart violin duos with Amy Walder. Walder will switch to viola to join Susan Kiley, who will trade in her NSO viola role for a violin, and Charles Thomas, cello and Thomas DiSarlo, violin for the Haydn Emperor Quartet. The final piece in the concert will be the Schumann E-flat Piano Quartet with Vincent Craig, piano, DiSarlo, violin, Amy Walder, viola and Charles Thomas, cello.

On October 11 at 4:00 p.m.,near perfect acoustics in the Church of the Holy City will enhance the delightful sound of the Copeland String Quartet: Eliezer Gutman, violin, Thomas Jackson, violin, Nina Cottman, viola and Mark Ward.

And if you are still hungry for chamber music (and macaroons), don’t forget the Hotel Dupont Chamber Series. On October 27, you will hear the Nielsen Wind Quintet, the Strauss Happy Workshop and a local composer, Chuck Holdeman’s Petit Concert.

On Tuesday, December 1, David Amado teams up with his wife, Meredith, for an evening of Mozart violin sonatas at the Hotel Dupont.

There is no shortage of chamber music in the Diamond State this season!

See http://www.delart.org/.
See http://www.desymphony.org/.
See http://www.newarksymphony.org/.
See http://www.copelandstringquartet.com/.

Casting Call: It's Not Mean to be Green

Casting three men and two women (ages 18 years and older) for IT’S NOT MEAN TO BE GREEN, THE MUSICAL, based on the book by Jamie Kleman. Show debuts April, 2010 as part of the Children's Series at The DuPont Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware, with tours continuing through June. (Candidates must be able to commit to tour schedule.)

Seeking 3 men and 2 women and Stage Manager/Director, with musical and dance background. The play revolves around 5 lead characters: one 8-year-old boy, one 12-year-old girl, a mom, a dad, and a narrator. Auditions to be held two evenings in mid October: one in West Chester and one in Wilmington. Call 302-753-5588 or email jlk@itsnotmeantobegreen.com to schedule an audition. Please come with musical selection of your choice. Readings will be provided. Actors will be compensated and travel stipends provided. Must be able to perform morning and afternoons, with rehearsals 3 days a week, running November through March.

See www.duponttheatre.com/childseries.html.

Shopping "on the Green"

Art on the Green in New Castle is my second Christmas shopping adventure (the first being the Arden Fair).

Since my pal Carol and I had not found Cynthia Marriott’s booth at the Arden Fair, we were delighted to find her at Art on the Green. “But I was at the Arden Fair!“ she protested. “That and here (Art on the Green) are my two best days of the year.” Perhaps we didn’t see her at Arden because, like today, people were in a holding pattern around her booth, looking at her brilliant colors and admiring her self-locking earrings. (More at cynthiamarriottdesigns.blogspot.com)

Carol went wild over Sioux City Soaps. They had some wonderful scents: cantaloupe, green tea, lemongrass, and rosemary. And we both thought that Plays with broken glass was the wittiest booth title at the fair.

Not only were there a cluster of artists on the hill overlooking the Delaware River, but some 300 exhibitors ranging from license plate mapmakers to knitters to Christmas kitsch crafters made it a great reason to be out in one of the last warm days of the season.