Phebe Craig - harpsichordist

Phebe is an amazing musician who combines virtuosity and humor in her work. She will be playing with Maria Caswell and Heidi Wilcox on the "A" program, as well as a solo set chosen from the vast number of "A" Baroque compositions for solo harpsichord. One of my favorite CDs is her collaboration with Katherine Westine, a 2 harpsichord collection titled "Beside Themselves" and recorded on the KATastroPHE Record Label. Very fun!

the A team at work

A calm minute during a grueling rehearsal...

Wait, that 's not gruel......crab, salad, etc......

Such a tough rehearsal....

Who?

the famed Rudy Romero will be performing on the "C" concert.......along with other Alphabet Players.

And that will be at the Glaser Center on March 5.

More info will be along soon................

the quest

It's a challenge to find music this way! "A" doesn't have many famous composers but we have found some good pieces. Arriaga, who was called the Spanish Mozart (...I am told by someone here who has an amazing memory for facts and details) wrote 3 string quartets. And he died before he turned 20! We previewed them on Silvertrust, a great online resource, and have decided to do the 2nd one. It's very fun, sometimes seeming like early Beethoven, sometimes Schubert, but basically Arriaga.
We're still trying to come up with interesting venues. Any ideas out there? So far, we have an art center, a museum and a church.
Does anyone know of an unused retail space? or a rustic outbuilding? Or??

The Traveling Alphabet

"A" will be in Sebastopol. On January 10th we will kick off this series at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Some of the composers? Arne, Arensky, Arriaga, Abel, Ariosti and a longtime favorite.....Anon.

In making lists of composers some letters have been surprisingly difficult! "N" for example. Nielsen of course...but who else? And "Q"we will have to pair with either R or P because we will NOT have an all Quantz concert!!

This is getting quite curious!

The B Concert!

The B concert is set up!

It will be February 7 at Petaluma Historical Museum.

Marilyn Thompson, Roy Zajac and Judiyaba will play B-list composers...you know; Bach, Beethoven, Brahms.....and....Bernstein!

and yes, the Museum is on B Street! (even though the official address is 4th Street) It's a gorgeous old Carnegie Library building with a wonderful piano.

The Next Project!

We're planning a concert series for 2010-2011. Just a little project.....24 concerts in 2 years. Actually a romp thru the alphabet. January of 2010 will have all composers whose name starts with A, February B, etc.

The concerts will be at different venues, with different artists, and might be anything from period instruments to mini-operas, to different classical ensembles.

AND. Here's the good part. At every concert we will distribute cards with the letter of the concert. Save them, and whoever has the closest thing to a full alphabet, in December of 2011, will be taken to a meal at Chez Panisse. (2 concerts will double up on letters)

AND. We would love your ideas for venues and repertoire.