2011-2012 Concert Series
Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 7:30 p.m.
NEWPOli - Southern italian Folk Ensemble
At last the celebrated NEWPOLI will come to Middletown! It will open our
2011-2012 Concert Series. The music of these exceptionally talented young performers is an exciting journey through time, culture and musical styles. The South of Italy has a colorful past with influences from diverse cultures.
All of these influences can still be heard in the traditional melodies and
rhythms of the pizzica, tarantella and in other musical styles of the South.
NEWPOLI, guided by its passion for playing, singing and researching, introduces the joy and beauty of the music while recounting the ancient stories and rituals described in the lyrics. The group has been enthusiastically received in the United States and abroad since its formation in 2003.
Sunday, February, 12 2012 at 3 p.m.
The New England Jazz Ensemble
The 16-piece New England Jazz Ensemble is composed of regionally based artists with the goal of perpetuating the uniquely American large jazz ensemble as an art medium. Although this group is noted for featuring original and contemporary jazz arrangements and compositions, in this concert the New England Jazz Ensemble will also pay tribute to Middletown's musicians' many contributions to the Big Band Era and play and sing selections of that time. This will be an afternoon to remember!
The group was founded in 1991 by trumpeter Mike Jones, and has been led since then by music Director Walt Gwardyak. Concerts have been given throughout New England, and in other areas of the United States and abroad.
2011-2012 Opera Series
Sunday, November, 6, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN
This beloved French opera takes the real life of German poet, E.T.A. Hoffmann, and makes him the title character of three, fanciful stories of failed love. The result is one of the grandest and most expressive of all 19th-century French operas — achieving a combination of emotional
depth and musical brilliance that only the finest opera composers ever equaled. Presented with English supertitles.
Friday, March 16, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
COSi FAN TUTTE
COSi FAN TUTTE is the perfect opera for those who prefer their laughter
sandwiched with a slice of wry, is a deliciously ironic look at the foibles of love. We begin with two sisters, their fiancés, and a bet—Will the women be faithful? Thus we enter a world of disguises and trickery in which the women—and Love itself—are put to the test. Mozart's genius turns a farce into a scintillating blend of thought provoking humor. Presented with English supertitles.
Friday, May 11, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
OTEllO (Othello) By Giuseppe Verdi
What happens when a man listens to his worst fears? Even the strongest man can be destroyed by jealousy and rumor. In Verdi's re-telling of Shakespeare's play, often considered his greatest opera, the warrior Otello returns home from battle to find the treacherous Iago, who pretends to be his friend, spinning a web of deceit and lies. Otello
begins to doubt the faithfulness of his beloved wife, Desdemona, and caught between evil whispers and the voice of his own heart, he must decide what – and who – he believes. Presented with English supertitles.
