Category Archives: Guest Appearances

September 2017 Concert Recap

We began our autumn engagements last month with one final round of rehearsals and a concert at Central Connecticut State University on September 19-21, which concluded our artist residency from 2016-2017.

What a fulfilling experience to work with composition faculty Brian Kershner and Charles Menoche bringing their pieces to life! These CCSU premieres are now available to watch streaming on our YouTube channel.

With composition faculty Brian Kershner (left) and Charles Menoche (right) after the Sept. 21 premiere of their new works at CCSU.

The weekend after CCSU found us at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, on September 29, where we presented a workshop on entrepreneurial chamber music for the music industry students and performed a concert on the university’s Friends of Music concert series. We really enjoyed engaging with the students and community members in this lovely college town; everyone we worked with was generous and enthusiastic about new music and our instrumental combination. Thanks to department chair Mary Hellmann for inviting us!

With Chowan University music faculty Mary Hellmann and Ben Thorburn after our concert on Sept. 29.

Apple Orange Pair in Florida!

Fort Lauderdale from the air!

While we didn’t get to go to the beach, we nonetheless enjoyed our quick weekend trip to Fort Lauderdale. It was an honor to be invited to perform on Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church’s Sunday afternoon concert series, and CRPC’s organist Chelsea Chen was a fabulous host.

with Chelsea Chen at Coral Ridge

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, for those unfamiliar with it, is known around the US (and outside the US) for hosting world-class musical events, as well as employing world-class artists. Diane Bish, “the first lady of the organ” who popularized organ music on TV through her program “The Joy of Music,” served for many years as organist in residence at CRPC. It was truly an honor to be invited to perform a full-length concert at this very large, very well-known church in south Florida!

Inside Coral Ridge Presbyterian’s main sanctuary

Coral Ridge’s famous 300-foot tower

As you can see, the sanctuary is enormous! The church is equally renowned for its unique architectural style as it is for its music. Due to acoustics and the small nature of our group (only two instruments and no organ!), we performed our concert in the smaller chapel.

Apple Orange Pair performing in Coral Ridge’s chapel

We were impressed at how large our audience was, even though we were in a smaller space, and we even got to meet some young harpists who heard about our concert thanks to the Harp Column and their private teachers!

With young musicians from the audience!

The day before our concert, when we weren’t rehearsing, we ventured into Coral Gables nearer Miami to get a taste of south Florida living. Colleen had picked up a last-minute gig at the Biltmore to cover for a friend who was getting married that weekend. It was super fun to put on a fancy dress and play a historic gold Lyon and Healy harp (from 1915) for the tea at the Biltmore for a few hours! Afterwards, we met up with a friend from Connecticut Summerfest who happened to be in Miami the same weekend and we explored the local taco scene. Delicious!

Colleen subbing for tea at the Biltmore

As you can see, we had a great time in Florida. We hope to be back again some day soon!

Violin for Vasculitis concert

Before our 2013-2014 season opens, Apple Orange Pair will be collaborating in this special concert to benefit vasculitis on July 30 in New Haven:

July 30, 2013 at 7:30pm
Violin for Vasculitis: An Evening of Music to benefit the Vasculitis Foundation
In collaboration with professional violinist and vasculitis survivor Allison Lint
Venue: Christ Presbyterian Church / 135 Whitney Ave.

If you haven’t seen us perform recently, we’d love to see you at this concert! Not only will you get to hear the wildly creative piece, “Roland,” that Michael Weinstein-Reiman wrote for us last year, but you’ll also be regaled by music ranging from Mozart and Brahms to electronic music performed by the composer himself. And need we mention that it is for a really great cause? The concert is FREE, the musical portion is 50 minutes long, and you’ll have an opportunity to learn more about vasculitis, meet survivors, and mingle with the performers afterwards. We’re hoping for a good turnout from the medical community as well as local music lovers, so spread the word!

For more information about Violin for Vasculitis, check out the event’s Facebook page (you can RSVP there), the organization’s Facebook page, and the Vasculitis Foundation.

Emily and Colleen in residence at Maine music festival, July 2012

Emily and Colleen have both been selected for artists’ fellowships this summer at the Atlantic Music Festival in Wateville, ME. This young music festival strongly focuses on chamber music and the performance of new pieces by composers in residence at the festival each summer. We are eagerly looking forward to our time there, as (obviously) both chamber music and new music are causes near and dear to our hearts as apple orange pair! (And while we are excited about giving performances of AOP commissions while there, we also anticipate playing wonderful chamber music with new colleagues. Think Debussy’s Danses, harp fans, or perhaps the Brahms Horn Trio…)