News of Note | The Phil

CONCERT CHOIR SINGS IN SALEM: KSC AND PSU JOINED FORCES WITH NH PHILHARMONIC TO PERFORM MAHLER

February 24 & 25, 2024 - Musically driven students and faculty from the Keene State College Concert Choir and the Plymouth State University Choirs had the chance to showcase their talents alongside the New Hampshire Philharmonic as part of a series of concerts showcasing Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 on Feb. 18, 24 and 25 at Plymouth State University, and the Seifert Performing Arts Center in Salem, N.H.

The KSC and PSU choir members and faculty provided the vocal component for Symphony No. 2. Vocal solos were provided by KSC’s soprano soloist Dr. Evan Leontis, and PSU’s alto soloist Hannah Murray.

KSC music Professor Dr. Sandra Howard sang alongside the choir and said the performance opportunity correlates with student success.

Howard said two choral professors, two solo vocalists and an orchestra, among other musicians, collaborated to realize the performance.

“This isn’t something our students have the chance to experience often,” Howard said. “This is a fantastic chance for our student musicians to level-up their musicianship, and hopefully build confidence that can translate into their future goals.”

Howard said the collaborative concert offered interdisciplinary opportunities to musically-minded members of the KSC community.

“Concert Choir is open to anyone on campus. We’re not just talking choral students, but anyone who connects with music. We have members from over 20 different majors, including instrumental students who wanted the chance to get up close and personal with the professional level New Hampshire Philharmonic,” said Howard.

Val Zanchuk is a trumpet player and the treasurer of the New Hampshire Philharmonic’s board of directors. Zanchuk said the Mahler concert series was the orchestra’s first collaboration with college-level musicians.

“This isn’t an opportunity they have every day, being able to play with a professional orchestra doesn’t happen all too often, and it was exciting for all of us,” Zanchuk said. “They did a great job, and we didn’t have to rehearse for more than one session. The choir came in so softly that it felt like heaven.”

Zanchuk added, “I hope they had the chance to embrace the personal, emotional, and spiritual feeling you get from performing for an audience,” Zanchuk said.

Junior James Slipp, a music performance major who sang with the Concert Choir, said Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 was a challenging and rewarding piece to work on. “This semester has been almost constant work on Mahler. It’s a challenging piece, and most people don’t get to perform at this level until later in their musical careers,” said Slipp. “It’s been great to work alongside so many talented people, and I hope the audience feels the same kind of awe we do. Mahler knew exactly what he was doing,” Slipp said.

Reporter: Ryan Pacheco can be contacted at rpacheco@kscequinox.com

https://kscequinox.com/2024/03/concert-choir-sings-in-salem/

2023 - 2024 Season

October 14 and 15, 2023

Dvorak’s 7th Symphony, Bohemian Rhapsodies

Sorry Queen fans, but these are rhapsodies by real Bohemians. This vibrant concert explores the rich tapestry of Czech and English music, traversing spirited overtures, evocative suites, fantastical scherzos, soul-stirring concertos, and impassioned symphonies. The evening begins with Smetana's energetic Overture to The Bartered Bride, transitioning seamlessly into the pastoral scenes painted by Kaprálová in her Suita Rustica. The ethereal beauty of Suk's Scherzo Fantastique lends a whimsical touch, before the concert delves into the profundity of Elgar's Cello Concerto, a cornerstone of the Romantic era. Concluding the night is Dvořák's Symphony No. 7, a triumphant blend of folk elements and symphonic tradition. This concert provides a captivating journey through diverse emotional landscapes, perfectly showcasing the enduring charm of these musical masterpieces.

PROGRAM GUIDE

October 2020

SALEM, NH - The Seifert Performing Arts Center has made the difficult decision to suspend all live events in 2020. For the NH Philharmonic Orchestra, this means we will be postponing our concerts through the end of the year as well. We will update you as soon as we have more information.

Meanwhile, The Phil is exploring options with local venues to bring live chamber music to the community when safe to do so. Please check out our website for updates regarding performances, news, and live-stream events. You can enjoy previous performances at www.nhphil.org/listen, from Beethoven and Bruckner to Bernstein and the Holiday Pops.

Finally, we want to thank you, our fans and patrons for your continued support. Arts organizations such as The Phil have struggled to stay afloat during COVID-19. Your donations through our website, participation in fundraisers, and support on social media makes all the difference.

As our Music Director, Mark Latham said: “I am brimming with confidence that the music of the Phil will ring out again, more true, more sure, more harmonious than ever before. Through music, with your help and participation, we will answer Martin Luther King’s call: ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?’ The Phil, as you can sense when we perform, is a community of friends -- friends who love to play and share their music. Is there a person on the planet who does not love music of some kind? Music, and especially live music, has the capacity not only to invigorate and lift up, but also to help heal divisions and bring together folks from the most diverse backgrounds. After the assassination of President Kennedy, the conductor and composer of West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein wrote: ‘This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.’ The Phil unreservedly embraces Bernstein’s and King’s calls.”

We so look forward to connecting with our audience again and sharing our passion with the community, whether it be livestreamed or in person come 2021. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@nhpil.org.

June 2020

Dear friends and patrons of the Phil,

Firstly, we sincerely hope that you are all well and in good spirits.

It is about 3 months ago now that we cancelled our Drawn to the Music and May concerts due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and since that time of course, around the world live music, and performing arts gatherings of any kind have come to a silent standstill. Just when perhaps we need them most, the arts have been unable to share - live - their messages of hope, confidence and redemption and inspiration. Plato said the following 2,500 years back: Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. So, without music, where are we? Certainly that’s worth thinking about. Where is our soul, where are our wings?

We, the Phil, want to let you know that we are thinking of you, dear patrons, and very much missing directly sharing our music with you. Not only are we thinking of you, we know that you also share our pain in not having a live orchestra to raise our spirits from time to time. (I imagine too that each player’s instrument is somehow lonely now, dormant in its case, cut off from participating in the symphonic and sylvan sounds of Beethoven and Bruckner, Mozart and Mahler… Our horns and trumpets, flutes and violas, trombones and cellos; they too anticipate the ride to the hall, the communion with their fellow instruments!)

Personally I am brimming with confidence that the music of the Phil will ring out again, more true, more sure, more harmonious. That we will answer, with your help and participation, Martin Luther King’s challenge: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’ “

The Phil (and I think you sense this when we perform) is a community of friends. Friends who love to play and share their music. Is there a person on the planet who does not love music of some kind? Music – and especially live music - has the capacity not only to enervate and lift up, but also to help heal divisions and bring together folks from the most diverse backgrounds. After the assassination of President Kennedy, the conductor and composer of West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein, wrote: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” The Phil unreservedly embraces Lenny’s and MLK’s call…

You will find our program for next season on our website. You’ll see there music for everyone, from the at once pensive and wild Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, to the rarely heard Gaelic Symphony and Piano Concerto by New Hampshire’s own Amy Beach; to more Nutcrackers, and our Holiday Pops.

We so look forward to connecting with you again, to sharing our passion with you. Live!

Mark Latham

Music Director

April 2020

An excerpt from the article "Remembering Tomie dePaola" by Keith Spiro. Full article available here.

During the early 2000s I was the photographer for the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra. Most all the action took place on one side or the other of Hanover Street, utilizing the Odd Fellows building with its gilded-age manually-operated elevator doors for rehearsals and the elegant Palace Theatre for performances. In 2004, during their 100th season, I actually got to meet Tomie dePaola and to work with him and NHPO conductor Anthony Princiotti as I took photos of their rehearsals for the Children’s Holiday Concert which took place at the Capitol Center for the Arts, in Concord.

"TnT (Tonie & Tony)" Photo/Keith Spiro.

From the series of photos I took during the dress rehearsal came powerful images of both men deeply engaged in their respective crafts working in total synchronization without actually seeing each other. I used a framed and autographed print as a key part of a photo exhibition of that amazing time.

Read the full article