June 16, Young Performers Showcase, 2:00 pm, FREE

June 20, Michael Harney tea-tasting & talk, 1:30 pm, $15

June 22, THE RED VIOLIN benefit with Elizabeth Pitcairn, violin, 6:30 pm, $30

June 27, Seagle Colony Preview, 1:30 pm, $15

July 7, Erika Buchholz Vocal Concert, 7:30 pm, $25

July 9, FILM: “Kolya,” Bolton Free Library, 7:30 pm, FREE

July 11, “Titanic” the Broadway musical, a talk and performance, 1:30 pm, $11

July 14, “From the Carpathians to the Appalachians,” Concert with Daniel Szasz, violin, 7:30 pm, $25

July 16, FILM: “Brasslands,” Bolton Free Library, 7:30 pm, FREE

July 18, Balkan Dance Party with the Raya Brass Band, 7:30, $15

July 20, Seagle Colony Children’s Opera, 10 am, FREE

July 23, FILM: “Eugene Onegin”, Bolton Free Library, 7:30 pm, FREE

July 25, “The Firebird” with the Puppet People, 10 pm, FREE

July 28, “From the Bards of Ireland,” 4 singers, flute, piano & narrator, 7:30 pm, $25

August 1, Silver Bay Ensemble, 1:30 pm, $10

August 4, “Lizzie Borden at 8 o’clock” (new play), 7:30 pm, $25

August 9, Bel Canto Institute Singers, 7:30 pm, $20

August 12, Concert with Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra, 7:30 pm, $25

August 13, FILM: “Tango,” Bolton Free Library, 7:30 pm, FREE

August 15, La Cumbiamba eNeYe, Music from South America,  1:30 pm, $15

August 22, “Titanic and the Band that Played On” multimedia talk and performance, 7:30 pm, $20

August 25, Concert with the Hyperion String Quartet,  7:30 pm, $25

August 27, FILM: “Monsoon Wedding,” Bolton Free Library,  7:30 pm, FREE

September 1, Christopher Johnson Piano Recital,  7:30 pm, $30

September 14-15, “Unsinkable Women: Stories and Songs from the Titanic,” Wood Theater, 7:30 pm, $26

Join us lakeside for an interactive discussion of tea and its presence throughout all forms of the arts, including literature and, of course, music. A tea tasting will be included.

The award-winning playwright of “Old Wicked Songs”. Moderated by Mark Fleischer, Artistic Director of the Adirondack Theater Festival.

Foreign Composers as Exiles, Visitors & Residents in the U.S.
A talk by distinguished NYU professor Michael Beckerman

When Bartók arrived in the United States he was one of hundreds of composers from Europe who lived, worked, composed and made their homes here. Whether in the orange groves of Florida, the shores of Mamaroneck, the studios of Hollywood or the Adirondack Mountains, composers arrived, left, stayed as visitors, residents, and many as eventual citizens. Some experienced this as a brilliant new life, others as intolerable exile, and still others as something in between. Using Bartók’s American experience as the core, this lecture expands outward in both geographical and chronological directions to put it in a broad context. Underwritten by Ann Zagoreos

Wednesday, September 14, 7 pm

Members Appreciation Night, Free-to-members

OUT OF THIS WORLD!

FILM: “Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey” (1994)

A documentary on the strange mysterious life of Leon Theremin, from his invention of the first electronic synthesizer to his capture by Soviet agents in the 30’s.

Followed by a brief concert/demonstration

With Jason Smeltzer, theremin and Wayne Smith, piano Selections include music by Rachmaninoff, Puccini, Alban Berg and Charlie Chaplin. An exclusive “for-members-only” event

November 15, 2011
“The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond” (2009) To mark the centennial of the birth of the American master playwright, Tennessee Williams, 1911-1983.

When I saw a new film with a screenplay authored by none other than Tennessee Williams, I was seized by a feeling of joy. For this giant of stage and screen to resurrect in the year 2009 seemed nothing less than a victory over death. And so it is. For LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND is not a fragment, a poor shadow; it is a legitimate addition to the Williams pantheon. Wealthy aunts, pretentious debutantes, personal ruin, mental illness, the cruelties of society, they’re all here, and towering over it all, Williams compassion and poetry. He writes again of his lost world, and we experience the lost world of Williams himself once more. It’s a kind of miracle.
- John Patrick Shanley, Pulitzer prize-winning author of the play “Doubt”

December 13, 2011
“Doubt” (2008) Set in 1964, this film, based on Director John Patrick Shanley’s play of the same name, centers on a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him of abusing a student. Starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman.    “’Doubt’ has exact and merciless writing, powerful performances and timeless relevance. It causes us to start thinking with the first shot, and we never stop. Think how rare that is in a film.” Roger Ebert

January 10, 2012

“Me and Orson Welles” (2009)  In 1937, a high school boy happens upon the yet-to-open Mercury Theater and is recruited by its mercurial founder, Orson Welles, to play a small part in the director’s ground-breaking production of “Julius Caesar.”   “A joyful period charmer about that moment on the cusp: before a boy becomes a man and another man becomes a mythological figure.”  Austin Chronicle

February 14, 2012
“Paris, Je T’aime” (2006) (“Paris, I Love You”)    For Valentine’s Day, the lives of dozens of lovers, friends and strangers intertwine along the streets and thoroughfares of Paris in this compilation film featuring segments by eighteen different directors.     “A connoisseur’s delight: two hours of short films celebrating the most romantic city in the world.” Empire Magazine

March 13, 2012
“The Wind That Shakes the Barley” (2006)  Film-maker Ken Loach’s uncompromising depiction of the “troubles” in Ireland, from the ruthless occupation of the British “black and tans,”  to short-lived freedom,  to the civil war which followed setting brother against brother.  “Gripping, powerful, heart-breaking.” Philadelphia Inquirer

April 10, 2012
“A Night to Remember” (1958)   On April 10, 1912, the Titanic set out on its ill-fated maiden voyage. Now, 100 years to the day, we commemorate the tragedy with a screening of this 1958 British production. Filmed with a documentary-like immediacy, “A Night to Remember” remains the definitive dramatization of that fateful week in 1912.

The Sembrich is delighted to announce that the world famous Tamburitzans of Duquesne University will be returning to the Wood Theater on March 10, 2012. This dynamic 32-member music and dance ensemble last appeared in the North Country in 2008 in a special performance marking the 150th anniversary of Marcella Sembrich’s birth.

June 27, 2010
“Everyone Says I Love You” (1996) Woody Allen’s breezy musical comedy, filmed on location in Manhattan, features an all-star cast, song classics from the 20’s and elaborate Busby Berkley-like musical numbers choreographed by Graciela Daniele.  “Successfully revives the musical comedy in a thoroughly delightful fashion.” ReelViews

July 11, 2010
“Mao’s Last Dancer” (2010) The epic true story of a boy’s inspirational journey from poverty in rural China to international stardom as a world-class dancer.  Premiere North Country screening.  “A masterpiece!” Rex Reed, New York Observer

August 1, “The Man Who Would Be Polka King” (2009) Following its Krakow premiere and festival showings across the U.S., Polish-American film-maker John Mikulak brings his comic-tragic documentary on the immigrant experience and the American Dream to Bolton and will be on-hand for a post-screening discussion on the making of the film.  “Hotter than a well-cooked kielbasa.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune

August 15, 2010
“An American Rhapsody” (2001) The gripping true story of a young girl separated from her family during their flight from Communist Hungary in the 50’s; a part of our week-long exploration of Hungarian music and culture and the refugee experience in the U.S.  “A powerful account of the universal search for identity and the meaning of ‘home.’” Chicago Tribune

August 28,2011
“The Last Station” (2009) Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren star in this splendid adaptation of Jay Parini’s historical novel.
“Two love stories — one at the end of Tolstoy’s turbulent 48-year marriage, the other at its beginning — intersect at a rail station.” -Moving Pictures Magazine.
“A film that is, like Tolstoy himself, witty, moving and grand.”  -St. Paul Pioneer Press

2011 SUMMER SEASON Weekends with the Masters

Saturday, June 11, 2:00: Young Performers Showcase , FREE
This noncompetitive opportunity to gain performance experience brings together some of the region’s most promising high school and college students for an afternoon of vocal and instrumental music, both classical and popular.  Join us for this annual season opener which hearkens back to a time when the bay echoed with the sounds of youthful voices rehearsing and presenting their own recitals here in Madame Sembrich’s lakeside teaching studio.

Wednesday, June 15,1:30: A Lakeside Tea-tasting and Talk
“Tea & the Arts”, $20  with Donnalynn Milford of SensibiliTeas
Join us lakeside for an interactive discussion of tea and its presence throughout all forms of the arts, including literature and, of course, music. A tea tasting will be included.

Wednesday, June 22, 1:30: Seagle Colony Preview, $10
Seagle Music Colony is the oldest summer vocal training program in the United States and the premier opera and musical theatre producing organization in the Adirondacks.  Selections from the Seagle’s 2011 exciting summer season include performances from Brigadoon, Cosi Fan Tutte, The Tales of Hoffmann and The Pirates of Penzance.

Wednesday, June 29, 1:30: “Teens in Opera:” A Talk and Performance, $10  with vocal instructor Andres Andrade & members of the Citywide Youth Opera of NY
New York City Vocal Instructor Andres Andrade presents an overview of teenage opera singers throughout history with performances of operatic selections by members of Citywide Youth Opera, a training program for singers age 14 to 21.

Wednesday, July 6, 1:30: “The Consul”, FREE, a video screening of a production of Menotti’s gripping Pulitzer Prize-winning Cold War tragedy
A birthday’s eve video screening of an early television production of Menotti’s gripping Pulitzer Prize-winning Cold War tragedy. Presented courtesy of Video Artists International.

Thursday, July 7, 7:30: MENOTTI’S 100^th BIRTHDAY, 25 an Evening with Opera Saratoga, including a performance of Menotti’s “The Telephone.”
An Evening with Opera Saratoga, including a performance of Menotti’s effervescent opera buffa “The Telephone.” Underwritten by Ann Zagoreos.

Wednesday, July 13, 1:30: WORLD MUSIC WEDNESDAYS!, $10
Kofi and Sankofa African Drum and Dance troupe, preceded by an 11 am drum circle and young persons’ workshop
The Kofi and Sankofa Drum and Dance troupe will bring the thrilling sounds, customs and culture of Africa to The Sembrich lakeside. This program is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program and Warren County (administered locally by LARAC, the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council).

Friday, July 15, 10 am: Seagle Colony Children’s Opera,  FREE   “Billy Goats Gruff” at the Sagamore Resort
This charming operatic retelling of the fairy tale story was put together by John Davies and features music from operas by Mozart, Donizetti and Rossini. Seagle Colony’s childrens operas are a great way to introduce young people to the operatic art form while entertaining them at the same time.  Appropriate for ages 5 and up. Underwritten by Bolton Recreation and The Sagamore.

Wednesday, July 20, 1:30: A Conversation with Jon Marans, $5, The award-winning playwright of “Old Wicked Songs” , Moderated by Mark Fleischer
The award-winning playwright of “Old Wicked Songs”. Moderated by Mark Fleischer, Artistic Director of the Adirondack Theater Festival.

Thursday, July 21, 7:30: “Old Wicked Songs”
$20 A staged reading of the play by Jon Marans
A staged reading of the play by Jon Marans. With Kenneth Tigar as Professor Josef Mashkan and Kenneth Ferrigni as Stephen Hoffman. Directed by the playwright.

Friday, July 22, 7:30: Schumann’s Dichterliebe, $20
with Adam Cannedy, baritone and Dror Semmel, piano
Also included on the program: Schumann’s Kreisleriana for solo piano.

Saturday, July 23, 7:30: “Old Wicked Songs”, $20, a staged reading of the play by Jon Marans
A staged reading of the play by Jon Marans. With Kenneth Tigar as Professor Josef Mashkan and Kenneth Ferrigni as Stephen Hoffman. Directed by the playwright.

Saturday, July 30, 7:30: Christopher Johnson Piano Recital, $25, Includes Liszt’s transcription of Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony
Season after season, pianist Christopher Johnson illuminates the classics by combining impressive virtuosity with insightful commentary.  Each year he is greeted with enthusiastic ovations and sell-out crowds. This summer, Mr. Johnson will pay tribute to a pair of Masters, performing a transcription for piano by Franz Liszt of the most famous masterwork of all, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Underwritten by Rebecca Smith & Michael Coffey, Barbara & Peter Cossman, Betty Spinelli & Joe Stanek, Lisa & Tony Hall.

Wednesday, August 3, 1:30: Silver Bay Ensemble, $10
The Silver Bay Ensemble has been a part of the Sembrich summer music series since 1998, bringing with them varied imaginative repertoire, talented guest artists and an exemplary spirit of music-making.  Under the leadership of violinist Martin Meade, the Silver Bay Ensemble serves in residence for the summer at nearby Silver Bay Association, where they perform regularly at weekly recitals, daily evening vespers and at Sunday morning worship services.

Wednesday, August 10, 7:30: Singers from the Bel Canto Institute, $20
The Sembrich is proud to welcome the young artists of the Bel Canto Institute to present their annual concert of songs and arias at the studio museum following their four weeks of vocal study abroad in Florence, Italy, under the expert guidance of Institute founder, Jane Klaviter.  The Bel Canto Institute offers to today’s generation of young singers the same type of intensive instruction that Madame Sembrich championed decades ago, here in her teaching studio on Lake George. 

Friday, August 12, 1:30: “After the Storm: the American Exile of Bela Bartók”, FREE, a documentary film
This moving documentary chronicles Bartók’s time in America, creating some of his finest work while battling poverty and sickness.

Saturday, August 13, TBA: A Bus Tour to the Bartók Cabin, $52, Excursion through the high peaks with stops at the Bartok Cabin in Saranac Lake
This special excursion through the high peaks includes stops at the Saranac Laboratory Museum and the Bartók Cabin in Saranac Lake and concludes with a concert by the Lake Placid Sinfonietta at the Lake Placid Arts Center featuring Bartók’s “Rumanian Folk Dances.”

Sunday, August 14, 1:30: “Bartók in the Adirondacks” , $5, A talk by distinguished NYU professor Michael Beckerman
7:30: A concert by Philip Kates,$20, his colleagues from the Philadelphia Orchestra and the, Hyperion String Quartet
When Bartók arrived in the United States he was one of hundreds of composers from Europe who lived, worked, composed and made their homes here. Whether in the orange groves of Florida, the shores of Mamaroneck, the studios of Hollywood or the Adirondack Mountains, composers arrived, left, stayed as visitors, residents, and many as eventual citizens. Some experienced this as a brilliant new life, others as intolerable exile, and still others as something in between.  Using Bartók’s American experience as the core, this lecture expands outward in both geographical and chronological directions to put it in a broad context. Underwritten by Ann Zagoreos.

Wednesday, August 17, 7:30: WORLD MUSIC WEDNESDAYS
$20, Jake Shulman-Ment Quintet (klezmer ensemble)
The Jake Shulman-Ment Quintet will present an evening of traditional gypsy and klezmer music with an ensemble comprised of violin, trumpet, accordion, string bass and cimbalom (or tsimbl in Yiddish), a beautiful East European hammered dulcimer.  Following in Bartók’s footsteps, Jake was recently in Romania collecting folk music.

Saturday, August 20, 7:30: A Vocal Recital with Lucille Beer, contralto, $20, Works of Mahler, Copland, Brahms and Debussy,with Michael Clement, piano
Mezzo-soprano Lucille Beer has received critical acclaim for her performances in opera houses and in concerts internationally and in the U.S., including the Metropolitan Opera, The New York City Opera and the New York Philharmonic. Her recital will feature Gustav Mahler’s Five Rückert Lieder as well as song selections of Schubert, Brahms, Fauré and Debussy.  Pianist Michael Clement is an experienced accompanist and vocal coach who has frequently collaborated with Ms. Beer in numerous recitals in the Capital Region.

Wednesday, August 24, 1:30: Hyperion String Quartet Open Rehearsal, FREE

Saturday, August 27, 7:30: An Evening with the Hyperion String Quartet , $25

Saturday, September 3, 7:30: Thomas Pandolfi Piano Recital, $25, Music of Liszt, Scriabin, Chopin and Gershwin
The young American pianist Thomas Pandolfi, who will make his Sembrich debut on Labor Day weekend, is an exciting virtuoso who, with each passing season, is becoming more and more sought after by audiences worldwide, and showered with superlatives by critics for his passionate artistry and amazing technique.  Mr. Pandolfi will offer a salute to Franz Liszt in this, the bicentennial year of his birth. He’ll perform works by Chopin and Scriabin and he’ll conclude with a rendering of the perennial American favorite, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Partially underwritten by Barbara & Peter Cossman.

Wednesday, September 14, 7 pm:  Members Appreciation Night, FILM: “Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey” (1994), Followed by music for theremin and piano, with Jason Smeltzer and Wayne Smith. An exclusive “for-members-only” event
A documentary on the strange mysterious life of Leon Theremin, from his invention of the first electronic synthesizer to his capture by Soviet agents in the 30s. Followed by a brief concert/demonstration with Jason Smeltzer, theremin and Wayne Smith, piano, selections include music by Rachmaninoff, Puccini, Alban Berg and Charlie Chaplin. An exclusive “for-members-only” event.

*At Bolton Free Library

At Bolton Free Library, 7:30

Monday, June 21st:  “Moonstruck” (1984)

This enchanting comedy by Patrick Shanley  features  Cher, Puccini’s “La Boheme” and a passing glimpse of Marcella Sembrich’s portrait  in the lobby of the Metropolitan Opera.

Monday, July 5th: “La Boheme” (2009)

If “Moonstruck” left you yearning for more of Puccini’s masterpiece, then come to this sumptuous recent screen version, starring the reigning “Golden Couple” of today’s opera world, soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazon.

Monday, July 19th: “Mad Hot Ballroom” (2007)

Follow urban 5th graders through the steps of the foxtrot, tango and rumba en route to the NYC all-city ballroom dancing competition and revel in observing their progress as they mature into young ladies and gentlemen along the way.

Monday, August 2nd: “Pride and Prejudice” (2005)

Kiera Knightly portrays heroine Elizabeth Bennett in this glorious screen adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet is featured on the film’s memorable soundtrack.

Monday, August 16th:  “Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?” (2002)

Long-haul truck driver Teri Horton takes on the art establishment in her quest to authenticate what may be a Jackson Pollock painting worth over 50-million dollars. Produced by Don Hewitt of “60 Minutes” fame.

Monday, August 30th: “The Chorus” (2006)

In tribute to the late summer visit to Bolton by the Polish boys’ choir, we conclude our series with this uplifting French film, a tale of the redemptive power of music set in a post-WWII reform school.