River Concert 4 Friday July 8th 2011

St. Mary's College of Maryland

Rained out!

River Concert 2011 Celebrates Independence Day Weekend in Patriotic Style

The third 2011 River Concert of the season gathered a huge crowd, filling the lawn at St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a sea of people on the evening of Friday, July 1st . Before beginning the concert with the Chesapeake Orchestra playing the “Star Spangled Banner”, music director Jeffrey Silberschlag warned the crowd to ”get under their chairs for the flyover” after the anthem. No one ducked, but they did give a hearty cheer! “Danger Zone” from “Top Gun” immediately followed, sung by a passionate performer playing electric guitar. The flyover in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation included two Navy jets whose pilots, and some Navy brass, were introduced later in the concert.
Next on the musical program was “Holiday Overture” by Elliot Carter, written in the modern mode during World War II. The music was a little jumbled with a varied style and not particularly melodic. There were jerky sounding strings, bells, sticks and an abrupt ending.

The audience was amused by “A Grand, Grand Overture Op. 57 composed by Malcolm Arnold, a satire of a serious overture. The work was announced by Maestro Silberschlag as “going where no orchestra would ever dare go.” The Overture featured hedge trimmer played by Sam Goddard, two vacuum cleaners amusingly presented by St. Mary’s College President Joseph Urgo and Ginny Stein, muskets shot by costumed interpreters from Historic St. Mary’s City (as can only be portrayed in St. Mary’s County) and a leaf blower performed by Jim Bershon. Some of the “instruments” were actually substitutions for the original use of a floor polisher and real guns. To our amusement, the vacuum cleaners had a lovely sword fight, attempted to dust a nearby photographer’s camera and Joseph Urgo quietly vacuumed his yellow tie.

Jeffrey Silberschlag joked that the excerpts from the “Air Power Suite” by Norman Dello Joio were “one hour long. We’ll do it twice.” The work had lots of soaring melodies, a lot of repeated notes in the string section, full sized chimes and some lovely flutes. I was disappointed that the Chesapeake Orchestra didn’t play “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” a favorite song listed in the program.

After intermission, and the familiar “Liberty Bell March” by J. P. Sousa, Sterling Lambert, a professor of Musicology at the College read “Thomas Jefferson: In His Own Words” in his dramatic British tenor voice accompanied by the full orchestra. The music was a backdrop for the words which included everything from the “Bill of Rights”, to love, and the number of free and captive slaves Jefferson kept. The work ended with Jefferson’s words, “I Shall not die without the hope that life and liberty are on steady advance.”

The concert concluded with some rousing Sousa music including the “King Cotton March” and “Stars and Stripes Forever” (accompanied by many amateur singers in the audience), Morton Gould’s “American Salute” (based on “When Johnny comes Marching Home Again”) and of course P.I. Tchaikovsky’s ”1812 Overture” accompanied by fireworks over the St. Mary’s River. The many boats with their small lights bobbing in the waters of the river were a delightful sight to behold after the concert.

An Evening at the Summer Palace: A River Concert that Wowed the Audience

The Baroque themed second River Concert of the 2011 Season was held at St. Mary’s College of Maryland on Friday June 24, 2011. Music Director, Jeffrey Silberschlag joked that the Chesapeake Orchestra called it “Sweating to the Oldies”. Entirely performed by a smaller chamber orchestra complete with harpsichord and friends, the evening was delightful.

Wow, what a concert! Each new solo performer brought the audience to their feet. It was probably one of the longest concerts, and definitely one of the best. The evening began with J.S. Bach’s “Orchestral Suite No. 3”, which included the well known “Air” movement, commonly referred to as the Air on the G string and often used in weddings. The movement is one of the most widely recognized Baroque pieces ever written.

Giuseppe Nova, co-director of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Alba Campus expertly played solo flute in the “Orchestral Suite in B Minor”, again by Bach. This mostly light and cheerful piece included a triple solo with harpsichord, Mr. Nova, and Suzanne Orban on Cello. Mr. Nova received the first standing ovation and an extra bow.

Fatma Daglar, principle Oboist for the Chesapeake Orchestra for many years, played “Concerto for Oboe” by B. Marcello with much feeling, using her whole body including her foot and even her eyebrows. Cellist Suzanne Orban, heard many times with the Chesapeake Orchestra, played “Concerto for Cello in G Major”. This very difficult piece included many fast paced sections that required intense concentration by Ms. Orban.

The lovely young Nina DeCesare (pictured), 2010 winner of the Young Artist Competition, wowed the audience with some very impressive high notes on the double Bass in “Concerto for Double Bass in D Major” by J.B. Vanhal. Viewers spontaneously clapped after a particularly difficult section and also gave her a standing ovation.

Trombonist, Bryan Bourne, played the half sized alto trombone in “Concerto for Trombone” written by Michael Hayden, the brother of well known Joseph Hayden. This piece began very slowly and was very smoothly played by Mr. Bourne, and later included a light hearted section and a short solo by violinist Jose Cueto.

The concert ended spectacularly with flautists Giuseppe Nova and Karen Johnson, and violinist Jose Cueto (pictured) in Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No 4”, and the well known and personal favorite, “Water Music” by G. F. Handel.

Jeffrey Silberschlag reminded the audience that next week’s concert features fireworks, a flyover to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Naval Aviation, and that famous piece written about the French Russian war that we Americans have somehow claimed for the Fourth of July, Tchaikovsky’s ”1812 Overture”. The concert will be “BYOAPI” or “bring your own apple pie”. Be sure to get there early!

“Wintry Mix” Opens the River Concert Series for 2011

The first River Concert of the season on June 17 2011, held on the green at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, was a success in spite of the threat of thunderstorms in early weather reports. A light rain cooled off the evening during the orchestra tune up, and then remained dry and comfortable.

The”Symphony 7 opus 105” of Jean Sibelius, played by the Chesapeake Orchestra, started with a scale and included a rich sleepy melody, some lighthearted plucking, followed by a speedy section. The symphony also included a portion that sounded like churning water or a storm, which resolved into a frolicking tune that was more lighthearted. At the end of the piece, music director Jeffrey Silberschlag asked the audience, “How many times did someone start the Harley (motorcycle)? I counted 15!” Ahhh, there are risks in an outdoor concert.

The “Piano Concerto No. 3” by Bela Bartok, written while he was dying and worried about his wife’s finances, featured pianist Eliza Garth (pictured). The piece included many different moods from crawling to bouncy and fast, then later included solo drum beats.

After intermission, the orchestra played a short piece, “Mirage”, composed by a 2011 graduate of the college, Mary Coy. The brief piece was fascinating and moody. It will be interesting to see if we hear more of her music in the future.

After asking the audience to “Come back again, but leave your Harley at home”, Jeffrey Silberschlag ended the concert with Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 1. Opus 10”. The symphony included many soloists on flute, timpani, etc. including a very high crying solo by violinist José Cueto.

Blogging again!

After a long delay, I hope to have more time once again to blog again.   

What I Learned About Sports Photography

I photographed a basketball game at St. Mary's College of Maryland for a Sports Photography Competition and learned some interesting things from my experience.  I realized very quickly that even with bright lights pointing down from the ceiling, photographing a fast game in a fairly dark room is challenging.  I really really wanted a f1.4 lens to get extra light for good photos, but my bank account didn't support it.  I had to be really quick to get good photos.  The pro I met used 4 flashes triggered by his camera that were temporarily mounted on the walls and pointed at the ceiling.  He was very nice to me and gave me some pointers.  Based on his advice, I photographed more than just the game.  I included the coaches expressions when their team scored (or didn't score!).  I took photos of the fans jumping up and down.  I caught the players on the benches as they reacted to the game and the cheerleaders had wonderful smiles.  The team had huddles and there was lots of interactions at the beginning and end of the game.

I didn't do well in the competition because the main subjects in my photos didn't face into the frame or the background was too busy.  The expressions on the players faces are very important for a really good sports photo.  I thought the compositions were okay. They were a little soft as well because I needed a brighter lens.  It was a good learning experience.  The 3 photos I competed were all game photos.  I will include a few extras that I didn't compete: players watching on the sidelines and the coach.

Time Lapse Photography is Really Fascinating

I am halfway through a Photoshop course from the New York Institute of Photography (NYIP).  I saw a very interesting blog message they had last week.  Ever wonder how photographers take those speeded up videos from still pictures of flowers rapidly blooming, clouds rolling rapidly across the sky or seedlings growing into plants in seconds?  NYIP had a short little video on how photographers can make a time lapse that was fascinating.  I couldn't resist sharing in with others.

Here is a link to the New York Institute blog page with a video by Zach Wise. 

If you want to view some more videos of sample time lapses, here are a few interesting examples from Wired Science.