Capital City Concerts presents FRENCH CONNECTION on SUNDAY, January 21 at 3PM

Capital City Concerts presents FRENCH CONNECTION on SUNDAY, January 21 at 3 PM at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier. 

Montpelier, VT - This tribute concert to Louis Moyse, the guiding force behind Capital City Concerts, features Moyse's leading protege, Vermonter and Grammy-nominated flutist Karen Kevra, with her longtime collaborator Washington, DC pianist Jeffrey Chappell. They will open the concert with Michel Blavet's exquisite Sonata ”L'Henriette,” Poulenc's beloved Sonata for flute and piano, as well as a short composition of Louis Moyse. The second half of the program relies on audience participation. At intermission, a menu/ballot of the ten works from Louis Moyse's collection Flute Music by French Composers will be distributed. Based on written descriptions of each piece by such composers as Gabriel Fauré, Georges Enesco, and Cécile Chaminade, audience members will cast their ballots for the pieces they would like to hear during the second half of the program.

From 1860-1950 the Paris Conservatory dominated music education in Europe. In order to graduate, students were required to play public examinations called Concours that included works commissioned annually by leading French composers. A successful examination resulted in the Premier Prix or first prize, as is considered the equivalent to a doctoral degree in the US. "Louis compiled and edited this collection of ten virtuoso works in 1973, which is the most widely published collection of flute music," explains flutist Karen Kevra. "These are compact works in two parts, slow and expressive followed by demanding technical bravura. These brilliant and beautiful pieces were literally designed to prove the flutist's mettle."

Pianist Jeffrey Chappell has earned his place as a favorite on Capital City Concerts through his impressive piano performances over nearly two decades. He has performed as piano soloist with major symphony orchestras including those of Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston, and Indianapolis. His many appearances with the Baltimore Symphony include concerts at Carnegie Hall and Wolf Trap, and a substitute for Claudio Arrau on four hours’ notice, playing the Brahms Second Concerto. He is on the faculties of Goucher College and The Levine School of Music. On this concert, Chappell will perform Ravel's exquisite Jeux d'Eau for solo piano.

This concert is sponsored in part by Coldwell Banker Classic Properties, Montpelier Rotary, the National Life Group Foundation, with media sponsorship from Vermont Public Radio.

For more information and to charge tickets ($15-$25) go to www.capitalcityconcerts.org. Montpelier tickets may also be purchased (cash or check only) in person at Bear Pond Books, Montpelier. The concert will also be performed on January 19 at 7:30 PM at the Brattleboro Music Center.


CALENDAR LISTING:
Capital City Concerts presents FRENCH CONNECTION on SUNDAY, January 21 at 3 PM at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier.

This tribute concert to Louis Moyse, the guiding force behind Capital City Concerts, features Moyse's leading protege, Vermonter and Grammy-nominated flutist Karen Kevra, with her longtime collaborator Washington, DC pianist Jeffrey Chappell, performing works of Blavet, Poulenc, Ravel, and other French composers.  At intermission a menu/ballot of the ten works from Louis Moyse's celebrated collection Flute Music by French Composers will be distributed. Based on written descriptions of each piece audience members will cast their ballots to determine the second half of the program.

For more information and to charge individual tickets ($15-$25) go to www.capitalcityconcerts.org. Montpelier tickets may also be purchased (cash or check only) in person at Bear Pond Books, Montpelier. The concert will also be performed on January 19 at 7:30 PM at the Brattleboro Music Center.