Laughter, Tears, and Sleep
LILAC 94 with Rose Chancler: Two Harps and Piano

After an incredibly wonderful return to live Hand House concerts in April, we next want to welcome Lilac 94 to our concert stage for two concerts on June 11/12. Duo harpists Kathryn Sloat and Christina Briar were originally scheduled to appear last year, so we are particularly eager to finally get to hear them live, especially with our ‘new’ Russell Ames piano. We look forward to seeing you all there- thank you all so much again for the continued support. The title of our program comes from an ancient Irish folk myth relating to the emotional power of the harp and its ability to invoke gaiety, ease sadness, and sooth a person’s anxieties into sleep, which always seems like a good way to start things off.

This past year has been fraught with many emotional swings, and the music in this concert will most certainly cover them, soothing the spirit with both hope AND harps. And as the world continues to emerge from the Covid pandemic, we look forward to a return to the everyday and the joyful through our aspirations and dreams. The cornerstone piece in this concert is called Somnium by Puerto Rican composer Ivan Rodriguez, which portrays the uncertainty of longing while reminding us that “the future can be better than the now and the yesterday.” From the balance and clarity of César Franck’s Prelude, Fugue, and Variations to the dazzling chaos of Rebecca Larkin’s The Juniper Tree and the contrasting tone colors presented by piano and harp in Kincaid Rabb’s Switchback Daredevils, we look forward to exploring together the very wide range of emotions from our shared human experience of this time and beyond.

OUR PROGRAM

• The Juniper Tree by Rebecca Larkin – 2 harps
• Prelude, Fugue, Variation by César Franck – 2 harps
• Snowdrift by Sean William Calhoun – harp & piano [Calhoun is an Eastman alum]
• Switchback Daredevils, Kincaid Rabb harp & piano
• Somnium by Iván Enrique Rodríguez – 2 harps World Premiere
• Over the Stone by Karl Jenkins, 3 movements for 2 harps and piano
• A new piece by Jinhee Han – American Harp Society commissioned work world premiere

LIVE at the Hand House in Elizabethtown, NY
Saturday, June 11th, 2022, 7:00 PM EST
Sunday, June 12th, 2022, 3:00 PM EST

Reservations only.
Proof of Covid-19 vaccination and masks required.
Details below!

Piano by Nature will provide the most up-to-date guidelines on the PBN website to ensure our concertgoers will be as safe as possible, and we ask that you please stay in contact regarding any new developments along the way.

We will follow our traditional format of a Saturday night concert at 7PM and a Sunday afternoon concert at 3PM. The doors will be open at 6:15 on Saturday and 2:15 on Sunday, and we encourage attendees to arrive early to avoid lines at check-in. We will require that our attendees show proof of vaccination and wear masks at this time.

Tickets $20/person. Reservations are required and may be made by email (pianobynature@gmail.com) or by phone (518-962-8899) and seats will be obtained on a first-come-first-served basis. There will be no walk-up seating available.

PBN is committed to serving our dedicated community, so when possible we will provide video recordings of the live concerts on our website throughout the season for those of you who choose to enjoy them at home. Thank you again for your awesome and continued support–and see you soon at the Hand House.

Learn more about the concert program and the performers at pianobynature.org.   

Also Coming Up in June: The Coda Concert