DECEMBER, 2012 Ð JANUARY, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 


MPRO Celebrates 50th Year Anniversary

 

 

 

At the conclusion of a very successful Holiday Concert on December 8th ,  MPROÕs celebration of its 50th year anniversary came to fitting climax when founding music director Bill Barnhart was  led to the podium to conduct Good King Wenceslas.  Then Angela Owen,  MPROÕs second music director, led the orchestra in God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.  Finally, third and current music director, Fred Palmer, mounted the podium to conduct We Wish You A Merry Christmas.  It was memorable event!

 

After the concert, Bill Barnhart, Angela Owen and Fred Palmer met with some of BillÕs longtime friends from Stanford days who now live in the Palo Alto area.  Bill described his experiences singing with the Roger Wagner Chorale in Los Angeles during the 1950s and what it was like working under the direction of the ChoraleÕs director.  Bill, Angela and Fred also talked about the changes that have occurred over the last fifty years in regard to MPRO as well as recorder playing and its performance in general.  Of particular interest was the high level of current amateur playing and the impact of modern technology on the availability and distribution of music as well as its use as a practice tool.  It was clear that Bill thoroughly enjoyed getting reacquainted with his friends and sharing stories with them.  It was also wonderful for Angela and Fred to meet some of the people who had known Bill when he was forming and directing MPRO.        


 

ConductorÕs Corner

 

Dear members of the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra,

 

I want to thank those who took part in the December 8 holiday concert for a fine performance that was not only a resounding success but also a fitting way to celebrate MPROÕs fiftieth season and pay tribute to the orchestraÕs founder, Bill Barnhart, and Angela Owen, who succeeded him as its music director.  It was wonderful to have both of them in the audience so that they could hear how the orchestra has grown musically over the last fifty years and to once again play under their direction during the Christmas carol sing-along.  I would also like to thank those who added a special touch to the orchestraÕs sound. These include Irene Beardsley on keyboard, the members who doubled on krummhorns and Bill Lazar who played dulcien and viola da gamba.

 

And now, here are some of the highlights for the second half of the orchestra's 2012-2013 season:  MPROÕs spring concert will be scheduled early in January.  You will be informed of the date and location as soon as reservations for the performing venue have been confirmed.  On Saturday, January 19, Claudia Gant’var will be directing a workshop for MPRO.  You will find details about the workshop in this issue of Upbeat. Claudia Gant’var has enjoyed a successful international career both as a recorder soloist and teacher.  Originally from Columbia, she now resides in the Bay Area, and this is a wonderful opportunity to work with an exceptional artist and musician who specializes in early music and the recorder.  I encourage everyone in the orchestra to take advantage of what promises to be a unique, interesting and musically rewarding experience by attending this workshop next month.  I am also pleased to announce that Irene Beardsley will be playing keyboard with the orchestra at its upcoming spring concert.  She will also be with us at the January 9 meeting, and since this will be one of the few opportunities to rehearse the music that calls for keyboard with all forces present, I encourage everyone to attend that evening.  Music for the second half of the orchestraÕs 2012-2013 season will include an antiphonal canzona by Giovanni Gabrieli and the Concerto Op. 6, No. 2 by Arcangelo Corelli as well as the following music from the first half of the season:  Psallite, Unigenito by Michael Praetorius, Adieu ces bons vins de Lannoys by Guillaume Dufay and Impressions Around G by Nancy Bloomer Deussen.

 

Listed on the next page is the music for the orchestra's first three meetings of the New Year.  Please note that there will be sectional seating for the Gabrieli Canzon Septimi Toni, with those in Coro Primo sitting on the right as they face the conductor and those in Coro Secundo on the left.  Please observe this seating arrangement when you choose your place at the beginning of the meetings on January 7 and February 6. 


Please note as well that bass viola da gamba will be needed at all three meetings, sopranino recorder on January 7 and January 23, krummhorns and dulcien on January 7,  great bass recorders on January 23  and   contrabass recorders on January 7 and February 6.

 

 

January 9

Gabrieli:  Canzon Septimi Toni

Praetorius:  Psallite, unigenito

Corelli:  Concerto Op. 6, No. 2

 

January 23

Dufay: Adieu ces bons vins de Lannoys

Bloomer Deussen: Impressions Around G

Corelli:  Concerto Op. 6, No. 2

 

February 6

Gabrieli:  Canzon Septimi Toni

Bloomer Deussen: Impressions Around G

Corelli:  Concerto Op. 6, No. 2

 

 

I look forward to seeing you at these upcoming meetings and working on this music with you.  Please let any of your friends who play early instruments know about the orchestra's varied activities and invite them to attend an MPRO meeting, workshop or concert.

 

Sincerely,        Fred Palmer

 

 

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Richard Geisler

 

Dear Friends,

 

Although some of you likely have heard this sad news, I wanted to be sure that you had learned of the death of AROW founder Richard Geisler.  Many of us knew him personally through our participation in his recorder orchestra, and this news undoubtedly comes as a shock. It is through Richard and AROW that many of us came to know one another, experience the joy of playing and performing in a large ensemble and allowed us to grow as musicians.  His creative talent for music selection and arrangement was nothing short of amazing.  Over the years, under the name of Village & Early Music Society he developed an extensive catalog of self-published arrangements of folk, traditional, popular and even classical music for recorders and other instruments, infused with love, sentimentality and humor. He also lovingly self-produced CD recordings of each AROW concert series which have become treasured mementos for former members of the orchestra.

 

Greta Haug-Hyrciw                     

 


 

 

 

MPROÕS Workshop Ð Saturday, January 19

 

The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra will present a workshop on Saturday, January 19, 2013 from 9:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 330 Ravenswood Avenue in Menlo Park.  (See the enclosed flyer.)  The workshop will feature the music of Spain and colonial Latin America from the 16th to the 18th centuries.  The workshop will be directed by Claudia Gant’var, who has a Concert Diploma in recorder from the Conservatory of Music in Geneva, has served as professor of early music studies at the University of Columbia in Bogat‡ and is the founder of the ensemble La Esfera Armoniosa.  She has performed throughout Europe as well as in Latin America.  For further information please contact Liz Brownell at 650-223-7139.

 

 


The Board: President: Amy Booth;  Treasurer: Leslie Pont;  Membership: Chris Flake;  Publicity: Mary Jeanne Fenn; & Marguerite Dilley;

Newsletter Editor:  Dick Davies;  Music Sales: Laura Gonsalves;  Graphics: Mary Ashley;  Webmaster:  Dan Chernikoff; 

Workshop Coordinator: TBD;  Consort Coordinator: TBD;  Hospitality: Stevie White & Claire Heinzelman;   Historian:  TBD; 

Music Director: Fred Palmer.       MPRO  website: < http://www.mpro-online.org >

 

 

 

 

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