KHBH-Together in Music is STOKED to be back in Blue Hill for a week-long residency, where we are discovering the many connections between Classical chamber music and jazz. Directors Hannah Collins and Clara Lyon can’t believe their good luck in being joined by fantastic and multi-faceted musicians Thomas Bergeron (trumpet-Atlantic Brass Quintet and Springfield Symphony, and Director of Chamber Music at Deerfield Academy), and Samuel Adams (pianist, bassist, and composer: recently the composer-in-residence of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra).
We arrived in Blue Hill late last night, just in time to see a million stars come out. The heavy, vibrant stillness of the forest was just what we needed to ease our travel-weary selves. Our morning began with a visit to the fantastic Bucklyn Coffee (house-made roasts! great conversation!), followed by terrific breakfast sandwiches at our office-away from campus, the Blue Hill Co-Op.
Cross pollination and inspiration between classical and jazz composition is a long-standing tradition, and we had a blast in our morning rehearsal, examining the well documented territory of Ravel’s fascination with the blues via the Violin and Cello Duo and the Violin Sonata, as well as tackling for the first time some jazz-influenced arrangements of Couperin (Adams), Scriabin (Bergeron) and Takemitsu (Bergeron).
We enjoyed a visit to the 8th Grade Band at Blue Hill Consolidated School in the afternoon, where our cherished collaborator Mr. Bill Schubeck is prepping the students for their year-end concert next week. The students are making good headway with “Hymn to the Fallen,” from the movie Saving Private Ryan, and it was a fun treat to hear Thomas’s story of how this piece inspired him to get serious about the trumpet as a young student.
Rehearsals ran far into the night, with lobster rolls from the Fishnet, an afternoon espresso at the outstanding Blue Hill Wine Shop (office-away-from campus with all the excellent wine, cheese, bread, coffee, and friends with excellent musical tastes that you’ll ever need if you sail to Greenland from here*) haddock chowder at Marlintini’s, rounded out a great start to the week.
Stay tuned to our activities and silly antics to see where we’ll be tomorrow. And don’t forget to come to our shows: we can’t wait to play music for you!
Tuesday May 29, 4pm at Blue Hill Public Library: Interactive Childrens Concert
Tuesday May 29, 7pm at Kneisel Hall: The Music History of Blue Hill
*this event is co-sponsored by the Jonathan Fisher House, the Blue Hill Historical Society, Bagaduce Music, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and Kneisel Hall
Thursday May 30, 4pm at Parker Ridge
Friday May 31, 7pm main stage performance at Kneisel Hall
*or anywhere else for that matter