Category: Internship Program

By No Means the Dog Days: First Class Entertainment at Collington in Early August

contributed by Marian Fuchs

In the first two weeks of August 2018, Collington residents were treated to all kinds of great entertainment.

On one afternoon and two evenings we were treated to a evening of total pleasure:  Summer’s Lease:  Songs, Sonnets and Scenes from the Bard, put on by a cast of dozens from the Drama Committee.  Below are Musical Director, Marilyn Haskel, and Director Tim Sabin, in front of the charming set built by Grant Bagley and Don Collins.

For the production program, including the words of the songs and sonnets, and a background piece by Tim Sabin, click here.

The following week, Glen Johnson introduced the community to one of his former students, Chip Reid, a national correspondent for CBS News, speaking on From Obama to Trump:  How Life has Changed for Political Reporters.  This telegenic and fluent speaker charmed his packed audience, and aroused a series of interesting questions that kept us for much longer than expected.

There were two excellent and very different concerts.   In the Sunday afternoon series, the audience enjoyed listening to the Transatlantic Duo of Alexander Paperney (balalaika) and Vladimir Friedman (guitar and vocals).   Their music varied from Mozart and Bizet to Russian folk music, with tango music from Brazil in between.

Sponsored by our two departing summer interns, there was a concert in the short Beethoven series given by some highly talented young musicians from U Maryland.  It was given to a packed house on a Friday afternoon.

Above are Molly Jones, Cello, Andrew Welch, Piano, and guest player, Lewis Gilmore on Clarinet.   The three together played a Brahms trio;  Molly and Andrew together gave us some delightful variations by Beethoven on a tune written by Handel, and finally a Sonata for cello and piano by the same composer.

The young woman in black on the right was introduced only as “Ria”, and is one of the two replacement music interns Collington will be hosting from September.

Residents who braved to off-and-on-again rain one Saturday got to enjoy the Doxoe jazz music of the Kollington Kats, while sipping cocktails in the courtyard or Clocktower.  Below a picture of some of the Kats swinging at an earlier gig.

Meet Today’s Women Musicians​

In keeping with Collington’s celebration of Women’s History Month, I promised to speak with our artist in residence, Samantha regarding a music program.  We met and that was that!  She corralled 5 of her friends (local and out of towners) to educate and perform for our community.  The packed auditorium was astounded!

Below you will find the program broken into 4 parts, each presenting a set from the musicians.

Now meet the Women who represent the future of music!

Part 1 – Ruth Bright is a collaborative pianist based in the Washington, DC area. She is currently studying at the University of Maryland School of Music, pursuing her MM in collaborative piano.   In addition, Ruth is an active choir director and accompanist for three community churches.  She is also a co-founder of OperaTerps, and is currently serving as Artistic Director of this pioneer undergraduate opera company.

Part 2 – Sequina Dubose is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in vocal pedagogy at the University of Maryland.  She has numerous opera credits performing traditional and new roles around the country.  She has also toured as a soloist with The American Spiritual Ensemble and sang alongside famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.  In addition to her personal academic and artistic pursuits, she serves as Director of Development for ArtsCentric, a non-profit theater company she helped to found in the Baltimore area.

Part 3 – Tiffany Lu is a third-year Doctoral student in conducting at the University of Maryland. She has conducted many orchestras including the University of Maryland Repertory orchestra and symphony orchestra. She is assistant conductor of the Capital City Symphony, conducting associate of the Monteux School and Music Festival, interim music director of the Wilmington Community Orchestra in Delaware, among other commitments.

Part 4 Marina Murayama Nir and Rob’n Delaine – Marina organizes events in the DIY music and art scene in Philadelphia.  She is a writer, music educator and performer.  Her interests lie in bringing together artists of varying disciplines and in building spaces that nurture and support people of color, gender-marginaliaes, and queer creatives.  Marina is a contributor and co-curator of the social justice art blog, Culturework, and is a facilitator at Girls Rock Philly.

Rob’n Delaine is a 23-year-old Philly native.  She’s a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and feminist.  Her music touches on a wide range of issues from mental health to politics and her influences span a variety of genres and artists.  She released her debut EP “Westbound” last September.

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The original videos were posted by Richard Zorza.

Sounds of Beethoven in the Ivy Room

 

 

Tuesday, October 10, residents were treated to duo delights performed by our University of Maryland student intern residents, cellist Samantha Flores and clarinetist Matt Rynes.  They serenaded over 30 residents for about 30 minutes with 2 Beethoven duets.  Everybody loved to hear them, and with good reason.  Read at the bottom of this post for more information on what the two will be up to here in the next few months.

Matt has played the clarinet for about 15 years and is studying for a PhD in Clarinet Performance, and Samantha is a 2nd year Masters student in Cello Performance.  They will be here until next summer but meantime have much planned for our residents.

We can look forward to more short performances in the Ivy Room by them as well as other University of Maryland music students.  Later in October Samantha and Matt are planning a larger and longer performance in the Auditorium.  This will include other musicians (students as well as faculty and professionals) and last about an hour.  Keep your eyes open for flyers and news in the Courier.  These longer performances will also become a more regular feature.

Both Samantha and Matt are also available for music lessons in clarinet, cello and beginner string instruments.   A music reading class, lectures and workshops are also on the horizon.  Clearly both these talented musicians have great affection for Collington and our residents and we reciprocate.