Archive for August, 2011

Down East Brass

Rangeley Friends of the Arts has coordinated a joint venture with The Oquossoc Lady and Loon Lodge to bring the talented Downeast Brass to Rangeley for a unique evening on Tuesday, August 16^th.  Prior to arriving at the Loon Lodge dock aboard the historic boat (The Oquossoc Lady) for an 8:15 PM public concert, the brass quintet will stop at several private parties along the lake shore. Tickets ($10) for the 45 minute presentation of “Music From The Lake”, on the lawn of Loon Lodge are available at the Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce office on 6 Park Road or 864-5364.  Bring your chair or blanket and enjoy a gorgeous Rangeley sunset while listening to an evening of beautiful music.  Make reservations for an early dinner at Loon Lodge (865-5666) or just come for the concert at 8:15 PM; a cash bar will be available.

The Downeast Brass is comprised of five highly experienced musicians from Southern and Central Maine. They enjoy playing a wide range of styles, from classical to Dixieland, and from parades to wedding ceremonies. As music educators, they seek to reach audiences of all ages with original and entertaining programming.

Trumpeter Dwight Tibbetts recieved a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from the University of Southern Maine. He has his Masters in Music from the American Band College in Ashland, Oregon. He was a recipient of the Willie Maiden Award for excellence in composition and arranging. Dwight has taught instrumental music in grades five through twelve for thirty years in Augusta, Maine. He has performed throughout Maine, most recently with the Manchester Brass Quintet.  Also an accomplished pianist, Dwight arranges most of the music performed by the Downeast Brass.

Andy Forster has been an instrumental music teacher in the Messalonskee School District for eighteen years. He received his B.M. in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire and his M.M. in Instrumental Conducting from the University of Massachusetts. Mr. Forster has studied trumpet with John Foss, Robert Stibler, Walter Chesnut and Trent Austin. His conducting teachers include Stanley Hettinger, Malcolm Rowell, and Mark Russel Smith. His professional performing experience includes performances with the Downeast Brass Quintet, the UMF Wind Ensemble, the UMF Orchestra, the Bates College Orchestra, the Colby College Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble, the Al Corey Jazz Orchestra, the Brian Nadeau Big Band, the Mount Washington Hotel Jazz Orchestra, the Mayflower Hill Brass Quintet, the Brass Maineiacs, and numerous musical theater productions.

Mike Peterson teaches instrumental music in the Messalonskee School District. He received his B.M. in Music Education from the University of Maine, and his B.A. in Psychology from the State University of New York at New Paltz. He has studied trombone with Fred Heath, Hal Janks, and Fred “Moe” Snyder.

Mike was also the primary music director for the Waterville Opera House from January of 2005 through April of 2008, and was a guest music director at Colby College in January of 2007. In addition to the Downeast Brass, Mike performs with the Good-Time Sound barbershop quartet. He resides in Oakland with his wife, Amy, and their daughter, Rosemary.

Chamber Music Concert August 10, 2011

The Woodland Chamber Ensemble, which drew a large enthusiastic
audience last summer, will perform again on Wednesday, August 10, at
7:00 P. M. in the Church of the Good Shepherd.  Sponsored by the RFA
(Rangeley Friends of the Arts,) the concert will feature musicians Sue
Downes-Borko:flute, piano, and voice; Lee Lenfest: French horn; Helen
Plotkin: cello; Henry Plotkin: violin and viola;  Gail Russ: oboe,
clarinet, and English horn; and pianists Barbara Ulman and Andrea
Keirstead.

The concert encompasses compositions from the Baroque era
through the classical to contemporary.   Some of the music to be
presented includes Mozart’s trio for clarinet, viola, and piano; a
Haydn trio for flute, violin, and cello; a piece for flute, oboe,
viola, cello, and keyboard by Baroque composer Janitsch;  Gaubert’s
Tarentelle for flute, oboe, and piano — a perpetual motion depiction
of a myth about tarantulas; and compositions by Randall Thompson,
ensemble member Barbara Ulman, and several others.

About the Musicians:

Sue Downes-Borko received a Music Education degree from the
University of Massachusetts.  She has been a high school music
teacher in the state of Alaska, a staff accompanist for the College
of New Jersey, and a member of several flute quartets.   Sue is the
director of the Rangeley Community Chorus and has participated in
many local music productions.  Currently, she operates a private
lesson studio and is the Minister of Music for the Rangeley
Congregational Church.

Andrea Keirstead, of Farmington, studied social anthropology at
Harvard University.  She teaches at Mt. Blue Regional School
District, and has performed on the piano for many events in this
area.  Recently she was the pianist for Footloose in Rangeley.

Lee Lenfest is a retired civil engineer who completed 33 years
with the U.S. Geological Survey before moving north to enjoy the good
life Maine has to offer.  Lee has played horn with orchestras and
bands at duty stations in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, and Virginia.  He is
currently principal horn with the Augusta Symphony Orchestra and U.
of Maine – Farmington Concert Band, and has also enjoyed engagements
at Monmouth Theater and the Waterville Opera House.

Helen Plotkin grew up in a musical household, playing cello with her father (Henry) and other family members.   She studied at Swarthmore College, University of Michigan, and Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.   She spends her summers on Lake  Mooselookmeguntic with her family.  During the academic year, she teaches Biblical Hebrew and ancient Hebrew texts at Swarthmore
College, and she works as a rabbi-educator in the local Jewish community.

Henry Plotkin is a chamber music enthusiast who has played his violin and viola in ensembles in Rangeley as a summer resident and in his home in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.  He is a
physicist, and has served as science researcher and manager at the US Army Signal Corps, NASA, and UMBC (University  of Maryland, Baltimore County) while continuing his parallel musical avocation. After acquiring his Oquossoc home in 1992, he became a competitor in the Rangeley Fiddlers Contest, and later participated as a judge.

Gail Russ teaches instrumental music in Maine School Administrative District 58, which includes Phillips, Kingfield, Strong, Stratton and Salem.   Since moving to Maine in 2005, she has played oboe, clarinet, and English horn for the Camden Pro Musica Orchestra, Monmouth Theater, Lewiston/Auburn Community Theater, the Bangor Symphony, and other bands and orchestras in the area.   She says, “I have the best ‘job’ ever: children and music; I have been blessed!”

Barbara Ulman began piano lessons at age seven, and has had an active musical life.  She earned a B.A. from Harvard/Radcliffe, while also studying piano chamber music at the nearby Longy School of
Music.  In 1989 she completed a second B.A., in Music Theory and Composition, at California
State University, Fresno.  Off-season, she lives in the foothills near Yosemite  National Park. She has
spent summers on Rangeley Lake all her life, at a camp that has been in her family since 1915.   She plays chamber music for fun and for public performance, and also composes art songs and music for small ensembles and for chorus.

Tickets for the concert ($15) can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce and also at the door on August 10.   For further information, please call Barbara at 864-3629.