Guilford, Vt. – Friends of Music at Guilford, now in its 53rd concert season, presents “Stolen Jewels,” its Midwinter Musicale, on Saturday, February 23, at 3:00 p.m. in the sanctuary of Guilford Community Church. Alison Hale, flute, and Christopher Lewis, piano, both busy teachers and guest artists, will perform four romantic duets transcribed for flute that were originally scored for other instruments with piano. The program of chamber favorites includes the Brahms Sonata in F minor for clarinet, the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata for Cello, the three Romances for Oboe by Schumann, and the Sonata in A Major for violin by Fauré.
These works were transcribed by two fine American flutists and two international superstars on the instrument: James Galway transcribed the Schubert, and Jean-Pierre Rampal tailored the Schumann for his own use. The Brahms was transcribed by Stephanie Jutt, a prize-winning, globe-trotting American performer with degrees from the New England Conservatory and an extra year of study with Marcel Moyse; she has published a number of transcriptions, including three Brahms sonatas, and is considered an inspiring “model for adventurous flutists everywhere.” The Fauré was transcribed by Robert Stallman, another NEC graduate and a Rampal student with a distinguished career as an internationally renowned soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and master teacher; he is considered the preeminent editor and arranger of music for flute, with over 70 pieces published to date.
Alison Hale went on to earn her M.M. and D.M.A. in flute performance from the Manhattan School of Music after graduating from Mount Holyoke. She spent the summer of 1980 on a fellowship at Tanglewood and made her New York City debut in 1982 at Carnegie Recital Hall as a winner of the 1981 Artists International Competition. She has performed at Lincoln Center and other major halls and cathedrals in New York since then, and has also concertized in Europe, South America, and elsewhere in the U.S. Currently a member of the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra, Portland Opera Repertory Theatre, Vermont Virtuosi Flute Ensemble, and Procter/Hale Duo, Alison is instructor of flute and director of the flute choir at Mount Holyoke College and also teaches at Amherst. She has performed live on Morning Pro Musica for WBGH in Boston, and has recorded on the Memory Lane label. In 2008, she was featured in “Alison Hale’s Golden Flute,” a FOMAG concert of solo works and duets with piano written especially for her by several regional composers.
Pianist Christopher Lewis has taught and performed throughout the United States, Italy, and British Columbia. He has given concerts in major venues such as Carnegie, Weill, and Alice Tully Halls (New York); Orchestra Hall (Detroit); Empire State Performing Arts Center (Albany, New York); Southern Vermont Arts Center (Manchester, Vermont); and Bennington Center for the Arts. A prizewinner at the American National Chopin Competition and the New York Leschetizky Society, he has made recordings for the Newport Classics label. He has held faculty positions at New York University as well as several private schools in New York City. He earned his B.A. from SUNY Purchase and has been an instructor at Bennington College since 2010. Chris was FOMAG’s organist for its 2006 Messiah Sing.
The $15 admission includes a warming teatime Soup Supper reception featuring homemade soups, hearty breads, appetizers, and desserts. The “Stolen Jewels” performance is underwritten in part by a grant from Powell Flutes of Maynard, Mass.
Guilford Community Church is at 38 Church Dr. in the Algiers village of Guilford, just over a mile south of Exit 1 off Interstate 91. For further information, contact the FOMAG office at (802) 254-3600 or office@fomag.org, or visit www.fomag.org.
