Washington College’s Spring 2018 Concert Series begins on February 2 , 2018 and will include genres from chamber music to spirituals.
Each performance will be in Hotchkiss Recital Hall and begin at 7:30 p.m., except for the free concert on February 2, which will be held at noon. Tickets for all other performances are $20 (adults), $15 (non-WC College students/seniors over age 65/WC faculty and staff), and $12 (1782 Member). WC students and youth 18 and under are free.
On February 2, 2018 The Concert Series welcomes Trio Simpatico, which performs eclectic chamber music with an orchestral bent. Simpatico’s unusual instrumentation of clarinet, horn, and piano borrows from orchestral timbres. Audiences have remarked, that the trio “sounds like a whole orchestra.”
Simpatico’s members are Phyllis Crossen-Richardson (clarinet), Heidi Brown (French Horn), and Matthew Bachman (piano). All three are active performers and teachers in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore metropolitan area and have collaborated on many projects for the past six years.
On February 8, 2018 The Concert Series presents The Evolution of Negro Spirituals, a performance by lyric-dramatic baritone, Thomas Beard, accompanied by Julia Morris-Myers and dancer Leandria Gilliam. Beard is originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina. In 2003 he became the first African-American male singer to be chosen by tenor Placido Domingo to be a part of Washington National Opera’s Placido Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, working directly under the maestro’s tutelage. Beard has performed for U.S. senators, governors, and ambassadors in concerts at embassies and concert halls across the country. He was also invited to perform as special guest soloist by former First Lady Laura Bush at an invitation-only event at the White House.
There will be a reception after the concert.
On February 15, 2018 Washington College presents Lori Kesner (flute), Dan Shomper (cello), and Woobin Park (piano), performing works by George Crumb, Carl Maria von Weber, Bohuslav Martinu, and Astor Piazzolla. All three performers currently teach at Washington College.
An award-winning musician and scholar, Kesner enjoys a distinguished and active career as both a performing flutist and world music lecturer. As an experienced and actively sought orchestral flutist, she performs regularly with the Annapolis Symphony, Annapolis Opera, and Mid-Atlantic Symphony in Maryland. Shomper is a performer and teacher in the Washington DC/Baltimore/Annapolis area. The Baltimore Sun praised his virtuoso playing, masterful performance, and lyrical expression. Noted for her commanding stage presence and elegant musicianship, Park has appeared throughout the United States and South Korea with various types of solo and chamber recitals as well as collaboration with renowned orchestras.
On March 29, 2018 The Concert Series presents John Thomas (saxophone) and Teodora Adzharova (piano), performing a mixture of classical chamber works and jazz standards. John Thomas spans the chasm between the concert and jazz saxophone worlds. He is currently a lecturer in music at Washington College, teaching applied clarinet and saxophone as well as leading the Woodwind and Jazz ensembles at the college. Teodora Adzharova was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and began piano study at age 7. By the time she graduated from high school, she had won national and international competitions in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Macedonia, and the Czech Republic. She is currently the Peabody Accompanying Coordinator, and teaches piano at the Conservatory.
Individual tickets for these events can be purchased online with a credit card via EventBrite on the Concert Series website (washcoll.edu/concert), or with cash or check at the door. Inquiries and ticket holds can be sent to Debbie Reed at 410-778-7839 or concertseries@washcoll.edu.