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.

American composer Samuel Barber (1910-1981) spent formative summers of his youth at the Lake George estate Homeland under the guidance and influence of his aunt, contralto Louise Homer, and his uncle, composer Sidney Homer.  In 2010, the Sembrich plans to bring the music of this American master back to the shores of the lake that so influenced him all those decades ago.  Join us for a season-long commemoration of the centennial of his birth

Barber’s initials are used to indicate A SUMMER OF BARBER special event

2010 Sembrich Season Schedule —————

MADAME SEMBRICH’S TRAVELLING TEA SET

Wednesday, June 16 at 1:30 pm, $10

A Talk, Tea-tasting and Book-signing with Michael Harney of Harney & Sons Fine Teas

Come to the Sembrich to see Madame Sembrich’s travelling tea set on special display and to hear Michael Harney of Harney and Sons Fine Teas, one of the country’s leading authorities on the subject, talk about different teas (white, green, oolong & black), how they taste and why, with a little history, science and lots of fun thrown in.  Followed by a lakeside tea-tasting and book signing.

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YOUNG PERFORMERS SHOWCASE

Saturday, June 19 at 2 pm, FREE

The annual spotlight shines again on up-and-coming performers of the North Country in this popular yearly showcase concert featuring some of the region’s most promising young musicians.

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SEAGLE COLONY SEASON PREVIEW

Wednesday, June 23 at 1:30 pm, $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.  Sample selections from the Seagle’s 2010 exciting summer season, which includes performances of “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hello Dolly!” and “Carousel.”

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LAKE GEORGE OPERA APPRENTICES

Saturday, June 26 at 7:30 pm, $25

Barber’s “A Hand of Bridge” and other selections from American Opera

Lake George Opera has a rich and proud history celebrating the potential of opera as an American art form.    Join Young Artists program director John Douglas and the Lake George Opera Apprentice singers for a performance of Barber’s opera-in-miniature, “A Hand of Bridge” and for a tribute to former festival director, David Lloyd, featuring memorable moments from American Opera, including scenes from “Susannah,” “The Ballad of Baby Doe” and “Vanessa.

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BARBER: SUMMER OF 1927

Thursday, July 1 at 7:30 pm, $10

Barbara Heyman, author of the award-winning “Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music” brings us back to the summer of 1927, through a recently transcribed diary detailing the young composer’s 17^th year on Rogers Rock, where Barber and other students from the Curtis Institute of Music worked at a club on the north end of the lake. Come for this entertaining, informative portrait of the artist as a young man, retracing the influential summers that set young Barber on course for a career on the international music scene.

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 SILVER BAY ENSEMBLE

Wednesday, July 7 at 1:30 pm, $10

Each summer since 1998, the Silver Bay Ensemble, under the leadership of violinist Martin Meade, has been a part of the Sembrich summer music series. This season, the fine Ensemble returns to the studio in a program of selected chamber works, including a Trio by Jean Baptiste Loiellet.

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KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915

Saturday, July 10 at 7:30 pm, $20

An Evening of American Lyric Songs and Arias

with soprano Megan Weston

and pianist Michael Fennelly

Lyric soprano, Megan Weston, heard in previous seasons in traditional bel canto arias of singers Jenny Lind and Marcella Sembrich, turns her attention to American repertoire in this concert featuring “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”, Barber’s rhapsodic setting of James Agee’s nostalgic prologue to his novel “A Death in the Family”.  Also included on the program are Barber’s Opus 13 songs, “Sure on this shining night” (James Agee), “A Nun Takes the Veil” (Gerard Manley Hopkins), “Nocturne” (Frederic Prokosch) and “The Secrets of the Old” (W.B. Yeats), as well as a set of arias from American opera.  Pianist Michael Fennelly takes a solo turn with a performance of Barber’s dynamic, exciting suite, “Excursions” for piano.

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 THE PRIMA DONNA AND THE PAINTER

Wednesday, July 14 at 1:30 pm, $5

 A Lecture by Professor Neil A. Chassman

 The Intersection of the Art of Peter Schwarzburg

and the Estate of Marcella Sembrich  

The 20^th century American artist Peter Schwarzburg found on Lake George, in Bolton Landing and at the estate of Marcella Sembrich inspiration for his profound thinking and for his painting. He executed nearly one hundred works from scenic Sembrich point facing the Lake and the Sagamore Hotel.  Professor Chassman will guide us through an unforgettable visual journey through the works of Mr. Schwarzburg, who combined distinctly American and European traditions with a striking freshness and a powerful, sensitive individuality

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JACK AND THE BEANSTALK, Seagle Colony’s Children’s Opera

Friday, July 16 at 10 am, Bolton Central School, FREE

This operatic re-telling of the classic fairy-tale story combines music from Gounod’s opera Faust with the story’s larger-than-life characters and the message that love and friendship are more important than materials goods.  This 30-minute show will be sure to please audiences of all ages.

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Davydov/Fanning Cello and Piano Duo: “Influence and Inspiration”

Saturday, July 17 at 7:30 pm, $20

Barber was deeply inspired by his studies of the works of Bach, Chopin and Fauré.  This concert by the Davydov/Fanning Duo will illuminate these important influences in Barber’s music in a program that includes Nocturnes for solo piano by Chopin, Faure and Barber and sonatas for cello and piano by Debussy and Barber. Of special interest is a performance of Ernest Stires’ “Pieces of Eight” for cello and piano.  Stires, who was Barber’s cousin (and who himself mentored Trey Anastasio, lead guitartist for the rock band PHISH) always acknowledged the profound inspiration he derived from Barber’s music.

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BARBARIAN PRINCESS:

Martha Graham, Barber & “Cave of the Heart”

Wednesday, July 21 at 1:30 pm, $5
A Video Lecture with Aaron Sherber, Music Director of the Martha Graham Dance Company

Martha Graham’s 1946 dance “Cave of the Heart”, set to a commissioned
score by Samuel Barber, portrays the story of the sorceress Medea, who Graham described as a “barbarian princess.”

Join  Aaron Sherber, music director of the Martha Graham Dance Company, for a
discussion of the relationship between music and dance in this powerful
work.   A video screening of the complete ballet performed by
the Martha Graham Dance Company follows.

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 A WEEKEND WITH EVELYN LEAR

In the tradition of Madame Sembrich, internationally celebrated soprano Evelyn Lear comes to the studio in the role of master teacher to the young vocalists of RESONANZ, an intensive training program for singers out of Albany, founded by Metropolitan Opera mezzo soprano, Heidi Skok and featured recently in Classical Singer magazine. Weekend events include:

Saturday, July 24 at 1 pm: MASTER CLASS, $10

Saturday, July 24 at 7:30 pm: CONCERT featuring the SINGERS of RESONANZ, $20

Sunday, July 25 at 1 pm:  Video presentation & MASTER CLASS, $10

SEATING IS LIMITED FOR ALL EVENTS.

Make reservations early.

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A HOMER FAMILY REUNION

Featuring the Hyperion String Quartet, Baritone Christopher Herbert

With guest artist, Sarah Liebowitz, piano

Saturday, July 31 at 7:30 pm, $25

Barber biographer Barbara Heyman writes:

“Aiding and abetting Barber’s mission were his maternal aunt, the famous opera singer, Louise Homer and her husband, the composer Sidney Homer.  Homer is one of the heroes in Barber’s story: the wisdom and optimism that he transmitted to his nephew for more than twenty-five years fostered Sam Barber’s mission, supported his inclination to adhere unwaveringly to the Romantic style, and inspired the direction of his intellectual development.  It is rare that a mentor can sustain his influence for as long as Homer did.”

We pay tribute to this profound influence of the Homers in this special concert featuring the Hyperion Quartet and baritone Christopher Herbert in performances of Barber’s String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11 (the centerpiece of this quartet is the famous “Adagio for Strings”), “Dover Beach” and a movement from Sidney Homer’s Piano Trio, performed by Homer grand-daughter, pianist Sarah Liebowitz.

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OLD GLORY, NEW GLORY: THE FORGING OF AMERICAN OPERA

A Lecture by Barrymore Laurence Scherer

Wednesday, August 4 at 1:30 pm, $5

Starting in the early days of the Spanish Conquistadores, opera has made a persistent effort to set down roots in the New World.  This presentation, including many recordings, both rare and surprising, will trace American Opera’s long, hard, but ultimately successful road from the 17th to the 21st centuries.  Along the way we will hear selections from both familiar and unfamiliar operas by American composers, revealing the many streams of inspiration that have blended to create a distinctive American School.

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CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON PIANO RECITAL:

“From Beethoven to Barber”

Saturday, August 7 at 7:30 pm, $25

After enthralling Sembrich audiences with his “Chopin and the Bel Canto tradition” and “Franz Liszt: A Spiritual Journey,” American concert pianist Christopher Johnson returns to explore his most epic musical journey yet — “From Beethoven to Barber.” The program begins Beethoven’s brilliant and heroic “Waldstein” piano sonata — a work that represents the height of the Classical tradition.  Departing from this Classical tradition, Debussy’s “Clair de lune” emanates a complete change of color and prepares Ravel’s “La Valse” — a complex work representing the mysterious birth, glamorous apex, and tragic decay of the “Viennese Waltz” through the eyes of a French composer just following the First World War.
Sitting alone in the second half like a monumental symphony, Samuel Barber’s Sonata for Piano is without doubt, the most celebrated piano sonata ever written by an American composer.  The sonata alone represents an epic musical journey, as this Neo-Romantic blockbuster gleans inspiration from traditions not only Germanic and French, but Russian and South American as well.  From the tragic and poignant first movement to the mysteriously haunting third movement, the music points to the inevitable direction of Barber’s great climatic showdown and pianistic legacy — the fourth movement, a virtuoso, four-voice fugue.

Visit Christopher Johnson’s Website

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BEL CANTO SINGERS

Wednesday, August 11 at 7:30 pm, $20

Each summer the Sembrich is proud to welcome the young artists of the Bel Canto Institute to present a 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.

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SUMMER MUSIC: Melodic Masterworks for Winds

Sunday, August 15 at 7:30 pm, $25

Featuring Wind Players from the Philadelphia Orchestra:

David Cramer, flute, Richard Woodhams, oboe, Samuel Caviezel, clarinet,

Jeffrey Lang, horn and Mark Gigliotti, bassoon

With David Pasbrig, piano & Philip Kates, violin

Two melodic masterworks of twentieth-century wind repertoire, Barber’s “Summer Music” and Poulenc’s “Sextet for winds and piano” along with Barber’s “Canzona” for flute and piano and Mozart’s exquisite “Quintet in E-flat Major” are featured works on this program, showcasing the brilliant winds of the “Fabulous Philadelphians.”

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VIDEO: “Copland and the American Sound”

This operatic re-telling of the classic fairy-tale story combines music from Gounod’s opera Faust with the story’s larger-than-life characters and the message that love and friendship are more important than materials goods.  This 30-minute show will be sure to please audiences of all ages.

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CANTORES MINORES
Friday, August 20 at 7:30 pm, Location To Be Announced,  Donation

The Warsaw Archdiocesan Cathedral Men’s and Boys’ Choir

David Troiano, tenor soloist

Michael Oczko, accompanist

Joseph A. Herter, conductor

Following their celebrated appearance in Bolton Landing in the summer of 2001, the voices of Cantores Minores return to the region for a program of Polish and American music, including works by Chopin, Moniuszko, Gorecki, Paderewski, Mikuli and Giannini.

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MARY ANN McCORMICK, Mezzo-soprano:

A Tribute to Louise Homer

Saturday, August 28 at 7:30, $20

Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Mary Ann McCormick returns to the Sembrich to pay tribute to famed contralto Louise Homer in a recital that will focus on the composers and repertoire in which Homer was well known, including German lieder, American art song and operatic arias.  Also featured will be “Hermit Songs” by Homer’s nephew, Samuel Barber, a cycle of songs based on a collection of verse by medieval Irish monks.

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TO BE SUNG ON THE WATER

An Evening of American Choral Music with the Lyric Consort

Saturday, September 4 at 7:30, $25

Join us lakeside to conclude this summer of music with Barber’s “To Be Sung On the Water,” “Sure on this Shining Night” and selections from “Reincarnations” along with a survey of other notable American choral works, rendered by the superb a cappella voices of this highly-praised vocal ensemble.