Arts & Entertainment

Concert Series Begins on Monday at Winchester Community Music School

Winchester Community Music School faculty recital series begins September 20 with all Chopin celebration.

Winchester Community Music School's Faculty Recital Series opens on Monday, September 20 at 7:30 PM with a piano recital featuring John Kramer.  The concert will be held at WCMS in Nichols Performance Hall, 407 Highland Ave., Winchester.  A "Meet the Artist Reception" immediately follows the recital.  Admission is free and open to the public.  The 2010-2011 WCMS Recital Series is presented thanks to the continued and generous sponsorship of the Winchester Rotary Club.

The concert is a celebration of Chopin's 200th birthday.  Mr. Kramer will present a variety of Chopin's waltzes, nocturnes, ballades, preludes as well as the Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49 and Scherzo No. 4 in E Major, Op 54.

Frédéric Chopin was born in Poland in 1810.  A renowned child-prodigy pianist and composer, he grew up in Warsaw and completed his musical education there.  He settled in Paris and supported himself as a composer and piano teacher, giving few public performances.  Chopin led an interesting life in the early 19th century, centered around academia, aristocrats, and fellow artists of the time.  He died in Paris at the young age of 39.  All of Chopin's works involve the piano.  His works are technically demanding but emphasize nuance and expressive depth.

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John Kramer is a composer and pianist based in Boston, Massachusetts.  He has performed and had his music performed in and around Boston, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and throughout New England. 

Recent commissions include music honoring the 40th anniversary of the South Shore Conservatory and music for the Arlington-Belmont Chamber Chorus.  He was awarded the 2008 Vincent Brown Silliman prize for his choral setting of the e.e. cummings poem i thank You God.  In 2010, he was named alternate finalist by the Longfellow Chorus for his setting of A Poet's Calendar by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Mr. Kramer has recorded a CD of solo piano music, Orange Earth/Blue Ether, which is now available through CDBaby.com and ITunes.  Although he has written extensively for the piano, organ, and choir, Mr. Kramer has written many chamber works as well. 

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Some of his recent compositions include Trio for Two Violins and Piano and music for choir and brass quintet.  He is the Music Director at the Winchester Unitarian Society and teaches at the Winchester Community Music School and the South Shore Conservatory.  He is a graduate of Bates College and the University of Iowa.

This event is the first of the School's popular Faculty Recital Series of eight concerts presented for the community.  Upcoming concerts include Noralee Walker, viola on October 18 and Rieko Tanaka, classical piano on November 22.  WCMS is pleased to have the Winchester Rotary Club as the continuing sponsor of this wonderful community program.  For further information on this and other WCMS recitals, call 781-721-2950 or visit their website at www.winchestermusic.org. 


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