Q: What do a Renaissance murderer, an injured 19th century pianist, and a harpist convicted of forgery and counterfeiting by the French government all have in common?

A: They are all INFAMOUS COMPOSERS! Learn more about their lives, and hear apple orange pair‘s original transcriptions of their musical output, at our next concert on MAY 28. A brief narration of these composers’ crazy antics will accompany our performances of music by Carlo Gesualdo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Louis Vierne, Robert Nicolas Charles-Bochsa, and Robert Schumann. We will also be presenting a new piece for horn and harp specially written for us by composer Russell Nadel.

INFAMOUS COMPOSERS is happening at 135 Whitney in New Haven at 7:30pm on Saturday, May 28. We’d love to have you join us for this especially fun evening of music-making and storytelling! Suggested ticket price is $15/adult, $5/children and students.

apple orange pair enjoyed having a small but energetic audience for our March 5 “Sweet Treats” concert. With a program centered around short Romantic nuggets for harp and horn, pieces like the Gliere Nocturne and the Ravel Pavane perfectly soothed the troubled soul amidst the gloom of winter. During intermission, the audience was also treated to guest speaker David Finley’s video presentation of songs from Schubert’s Winterreise as context for listening to AOP’s own transcription and performance of these songs. The reception was wonderfully replete with decadent desserts.

Thank you to all of our our fans and friends for helping make this concert even more fun than our first! We look forward to seeing you again in May.

We are eagerly anticipating presenting our second concert program in New Haven! This concert of Romantic-era goodies (which you can read about in our January 21 post) will also feature guest speaker David Finley, who will be giving a pre-concert talk at 6:30pm before the concert begins at 7:30. David is a highly acclaimed lyric tenor who also teaches music history and voice at Naugatuck Valley Community College and Sacred Heart University. We are excited and very thankful to have him join us!

Although it was a cold and windy night outside, the ambience inside was warm and cozy for Saturday’s benefit concert. Thank you to Jim and Joann for sharing your beautiful house with us, and thanks as well to Dagmar for the delicious desserts! Guests were treated to music by Gliere, Ravel, and Boieldieu as they sipped champagne, and the decadent Prince Regent torte made its appearance just in time for selections from Schubert’s Winterreise. Linzer cookies, tea, and coffee helped round out the evening.

We greatly enjoyed this chance to present a preview of our March 5 concert in this intimate, special atmosphere. Donations will be taken to the Food Bank on February 22.

We will be presenting an all-Romantic-music program on March 5 at Christ Presbyterian Church, 135 Whitney Avenue, in New Haven. Selections range from the “simply sweet” to the “dark and stormy,” representing the many poetic and sensual fixations of 19th century composers such as Camille Saint-Saëns, Franz Schubert, and Emmanuel Chabrier. We will be providing a short musical commentary prior to the concert, and the concert will be followed by a dessert reception. (And if you want a “foretaste” of this concert’s music, consider coming to our house benefit on February 19!)