The July 18th River Concert

We had another lovely balmy summer evening for the fifth River Concert Series performance on Friday July 18th on the Green at St. Mary's College of Maryland. The concert began around 7pm as usual and featured Belgian trained pianist, Patrick Dheur.  He played "Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra" by Cesar Frank with a flourish.  Not to be outdone, the Chesapeake Orchestra seemed like it was the largest of the summer, including the harp, many strings, horns, woodwinds and percussion.  

We also enjoyed Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet:  Fantasy Overture",  the first piece.  Jeffrey Silberschlag introduced the romantic work by saying "Romeo and Juliet answers the musical question;  Why didn't they just give those kids a cell phone?  Cause you know they could have just texted "Priest gave me drugs.   Pope's from Argentina.  Everything's okay.  See  you later, and... no problem.  This is powerful music.  Several times during the rehearsal period, I had to stop because various members of the orchestra found themselves attracted to their stand partners.  You may have that problem too.  Just look away."  

My favorite work for the evening was "Symphony No. 6 'Pathétique'" with the regal sounding march and soaring violins in the Third movement.  It was beautifully played.

                                           Admiral Tim Heely

                                           Patrick Dheur

                     Andrew Llewellyn at the Chesapeake Orchestra tent

                                                                  Jeffrey Silberschlag

The River Concert on July 11th was a Great Night for Song

Highlights of last Friday’s concert, conducted by Larry Vote, included music from Puccini’ s “Madama Butterfly”, Verdi’s “La Traviata” and the Bridal Chorus from “Lohengrin” by Wagner.  The “Bridal Chorus” often thought of as “Here Comes the Bride”, was sung in German.  I kind of knew it had origins other than that well known piece used as the processional for weddings, but many of us haven’t heard it with the words.  Interesting.  The concert was held on the green at St. Mary’s College of Maryland at 7:00pm as usual and included popular Arias, choruses and overtures from operas.  Larry described the evening as a box of chocolates with a variety of flavors.

Guest star Danielle Talamantes had a spectacular soprano voice, with wonderful voice control, power and lots of expression.  She was dressed in an eye catching full length purple gown which added color to the “Italian patriotic” tent spotlights of green, yellow, and red.  The Chesapeake Orchestra and the River Concert Series Chorus shared the stage throughout the concert. All of the participants took turns as the predominant musical focus.  I thought the chorus sounded wonderful even though they only had 3 practices!  (I would have loved to join them if I hadn’t been the photographer)

Here are a few photos…

 

 

River concert tonight 7pm

St. May's College of MD green

Conductor Larry Vote

Wonderful Big Band Friday Night at the River Concert

The Chesapeake Orchestra Big Band played lots of old favorites like "In the Mood", "American Patrol", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and "Moonlight Serenade".  The green at St. Mary's College of Maryland was very crowded and bursting at the seams on Friday, July 4th (7pm).  There was a fairly strong breeze courtesy of Hurricane Arthur, which wasn't too close, after having hit the coast of North Carolina.

Jeffrey Silberschlag, music director commented "...I want to also thank Maryland once again for not sticking needlessly out into the Atlantic like North Carolina"

The concert featured Stephanie Jordan, a very talented and expressive jazz singer from New Orleans.  She was a last minute addition to the program and is a big Lena Horne fan.  Some of her songs included "On a Clear Day", "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".

Fireworks ended the program , but it was quite windy, so I was surprised that they still went up as planned.  Solomon's Island moved their fireworks to Saturday night!

                Stephanie Jordan

                 Jeffrey Silberschlag

      A patriotic member of the audience

 Fireworks with Bandshell 

                 by Jim Macaulay

River Concert Series Program

We got published!  

If you are a music fan and attend the River Concerts at St. Mary's College of Maryland on Fridays at 7pm through July 25th, check out the program.  I have 10 photos and Jim has a photo too.

We have pictures on pages 5 (2 bottom), 27 both, 36 both, 39 top, 40 both jims is of Julian, 41 top, and 42 top.

The photos aren't marked, but they gave me a free ad on page 25 with a photo of DJ.  He's a cute little guy.

We are hoping the weather will be okay for this Friday's July 4th concert with fireworks.  Hope to see you there.

The program 

My favorite photos

Gilligans Pier Restaurant; a Tropical Maryland Beach

We stopped for dinner a while back at Gilligan's Pier, just south of St. Mary's County. 

11535 Popes Creek Rd, Newburg, MD 20664

We were hungry and searched for restaurants.  This one was hard to find without gps or a map.

The view was beautiful.  We had a lovely sunset and very interesting light.  The owners bring in palm trees from Florida every year so it looks tropical.  It's like being on a Maryland tropical beach with a casual restaurant and a tiki bar made from a boat.

River Concerts start this week!

The River Concert Series at St. Mary's College of Maryland starts on Friday, June 20th at 7pm.  The tent is up on the green along route 5 in St. Mary's City as usual.  We're excited and hope to see some of you there!  Check out http://www.chesapeakeorchestra.org for information.  I'm hoping to see some of my photos in this year's concert program.  Enjoy the music.