WRUU, Savannah Music Local and Sustainable: Interview with Dave Lake
Kathleen Turner, Leah Dutton, and myself joined Dave Lake of WRUU about our Sept. 26th Concert for Bach Ascending. You can read about the concert here: https://wp.me/p5e5DG-13
and hear the interview: https://www.wruu.org/broadcasts/53386
Through the Looking Glass! Bach Ascending Concert Sept. 26, 2024, 7 p.m.
On September 26, 2024 I will join the amazing Kathleen Turner playing oboe and Leah Dutton on cello plus Michelle Meece, soprano. Michelle will embody Anna Magdalena Bach as we recreate the Bach household salon at the intimate performance space of 6 E. State St, Savannah, Georgia called Through the Looking Glass. We will play works inspired by or specifically named in Anna Magdalena’s Notebook of 1725 as well as other works that inspired J.S. Bach, or were inspired by him, including works by Vivaldi, Couperin, Moricone, and more.
Westfield Center Guest Presenter at Cornell CCHK Workshop
July 30-August 2, 2024: I was delighted to be invited to do a presentation at the Cornell Center for Historic Keyboards under the auspices of the Westfield Center for Keyboard Studies with my Hood Acker replica of an 1816 Nannette Streicher fortepiano. Attendees at the Workshop included many piano technicians wishing to learn about early pianos as well as students of and performers on early pianos. I gave a slide presentation and discussion of the place of a piano like my replica both within the Stein/Streicher piano building legacy and instruments of today, along with views into the process of construction. I then played 3 compositions by Nannette Streicher on my piano that demonstrated how it reflected well the Stein/Streicher touch and tonal aesthetic choices and design.
Hilton Head Symphony League Musicale Performance April 21, 2024
I was invited to give a private concert and talk as part of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra League’s Musicale Series so I a took my 2009 Anne Acker Flemish Double harpsichord to Hilton Head, SC into a lovely private home to give a presentation with talking and performing to a very appreciative and music-loving audience of about 60 members of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra League. A number of them showed up to help bring in the harpsichord, and then take it back to my van as rain started and storm clouds loomed!
Works included ranged from the earliest published, to variations on an Elizabethan bawdy song, to Elizabeth Jacquet, to Scarlatti and more.
While knowledgeable about music, like many such otherwise educated and curious people, they knew little about how harpsichords work and their history. They were most appreciative and we had a good time!
Pre-Concert Lecture for Concert by Jory Vinkour for Bach Ascending April 12, 2024
I was honored to give the pre-concert lecture for my dear friend’s Jory Vinikour’s brilliant performance at the dedicatory concert of the Richard Kingston double manual harpsichord acquired in 2023 for Bach Ascending programming.
Bach Ascending Bach Marathon Judge, February 24, 2024
Anne had the honor and pleasure of serving as a judge for the Annual Bach Marathon organized by Bach Ascending at the Lutheran Church of the Ascension in the historic district of Savannah! A variety of students and professionals played works by Bach on varied instruments and/or vocally, utilizing piano, harpsichord, guitar, flute, and violin. Ages covered the spectrum from very young to in the 80s! It was a pleasure to spend several hours listening. The other judge and myself came to a quick decision for the winners of the various categories: Most Promising Young Artist (17 and under), Most Creative Performance, and Best Performance Overall.
Author’s Note in children’s book about Beethoven and Nannette Streicher by Laurie Lawlor
Back in 2020, I answered an email and then had a long phone conversation with a marvelous award winning children’s book author, Laurie Lawlor answering questions about Nannette Streicher, Beethoven, Nannette’s pianos, my friend Margaret Hood, and Margaret’s last replica of a Streicher piano that I completed.. Much to my surprise, I received an email from Laurie that the book was being published this month and I was in the Author’s Note. She asked for my address so she could send me an advance copy. I was stunned to find an entire page devoted to Margaret and me! The book itself is fantastic! Laurie’s research is up to date and thorough. She amazingly took the wealth of accurate information and made it into a beautifully told book suitable for children with marvelous and period and instrument accurate illustration by Rebecca Statlandler. What Music! The Fifty-Year Friendship Between Beethoven and Nannette Streicher, Who Built His Pianos, for readers age 6 and up, is being released October 23 by Holiday House.
Lecture Recital at Verdier House, Beaufort, SC Nov. 6, 2023
Anne will be presenting a lecture recital at the historic John Marks Verdier House in Beaufort, SC at 3 pm on Nov. 6, 2023. She will be playing the ca. 1826 Robert & William Nunns square piano she restored for Verdier House several years ago. Music featured will be works by English and American composers that are period appropriate to the instrument and the house.
Sustaining Keyboards Conference Sept. 15-16, 2023
Anne was delighted to be an invited speaker at the amazing conference Sustaining Keyboards, Sept. 15-16, 2023 held at Cornell University, hosted by the Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards and the Westfield Center for Historical Keyboards Cornell. She enjoyed being housed in the comfortable guest suite at Bethe House, a student dormitory. Anne’s topic was “It’s a Material World”. The talks were scintillating, the company amazing, and the music sublime, an event to remember!
Concert with Friends on Nantucket July 20, 2023
Anne was delighted to be invited to play a concert with friends and amazing viola da gamba players Marcy Brenner (fellow Savannah Baroque member) and Nantucket native and amazing Mollie Glazer. The performance was held in the lovely sunporch of the Nantucket Community Music Center at 56 Centre St. in the heart of the old town at 7 pm. Works by Bach, Vivaldi, Jacquet, and Marais were played for an enthusiastic audience. 