Marty Luther
In a bittersweet reunion the Concordia Chamber Players’ principal musicians will return to New Hope on Sunday, April 10 to perform their season finale at the Stephen Buck Theater. The announced program featuring works by Dvorak, Martinu and Bartok will be enhanced with a work by local composer, Robert Maggio, dedicated to the fond memory of Concordia’s long-time board member, Marty Luther, the energetic and passionate lover of the arts, whose sudden passing has saddened all who knew him.
“The variety of the works selected for the concert would certainly have pleased Marty,” noted Concordia’s vice president, Lisa Gladden-Keyes. Martinu’s duo for violin and viola will highlight the popular Carmit Zori, violinist whom the Dallas Morning News recently called “sensational,” and Robert Rinehart, principal violist for the New York Philharmonic who performed at Carnegie Hall with Joshua Bell in December.
Then Bela Bartok’s Contrasts for Violin, Piano and Clarinet will quickly change the pace with what best can be described as a potpourri of Hungarian folk music, Romanian dance with Bulgarian and Greek melodies. Calvin Wiersma, violinist with the Manhattan String Quartet and founder of the Meilora Quartet, pianist Gail Niwa, winner of the International Chopin Competition, and clarinetist, David Krakauer whose artistic contribution as a klezmer clarinetist has been compared to that of Jimmie Hendrix on the electric guitar and John Coltrane on the saxophone will perform this demanding and complex combination of rhythms and cross-rhythms.
Dvorak’s Piano Quintet, although little known, is considered by many to be one of the greatest chamber compositions ever written. Michelle Djokic, cellist and Artistic Director of the Concordia Chamber Players will lead the ensemble in this truly moving and memorable collection of melodies.
The performance will begin at 3 PM in the Stephen Buck Theater at the New Hope-Solebury High School, 180 West Bridge Street in New Hope. Admission is $20 and tickets can be purchased at the door. Children accompanied by adults are always admitted free to Concordia’s concerts.