The Cape Cod Conservatory Concert Band, directed by John P. Hagon, celebrates the music of American composers with a concert Sunday, May 19, from 3 to 4:50 PM, at Falmouth High School auditorium, 874 Gifford Street in Falmouth.

The event is free, but a $5 donation is suggested. No tickets or reservations are required.

The concert, aptly named “Americana,” is well timed for Memorial Day, featuring patriotic tributes, Broadway numbers, and a sprinkling of the new and unexpected. All the pieces were written in the 20^th or 21^st century.

One of the works is particularly special for conductor Hagon. “Scenes from a Battlefield” was originally written by his son, Sean Hagon, in honor of his father’s retirement from the 215^th Army Band of Massachusetts National Guard. John orchestrated Sean’s original score for concert band, so it is a true father-son collaboration. The music is reminiscent of a film score, with a lovely and haunting section following the battle. Sean studied film music at Berklee College of Music.

John is the retired chair of music education at Berklee College of Music. He also conducts the Cape Cod Community Orchestra.

“Fantasy on a Mountain Song” was written recently by composer William Himes. It is a rhythmic journey through some familiar American folk tunes, building to a quick-moving and rousing finale.

“Three Etchings” is a jazz-infused and lyrical piece by Sammy Nestico, the longtime composer and arranger for the Count Basie band. Early in his career, Nestico was a member of the US Air Force Band and the leader of Airmen of Note.

To honor the men and women who have served or are serving in the military, the band will play “Armed Forces Salute.” Veterans and family members of present and retired military service men and women will be asked to stand when they hear their service song.

There are some other great pieces on the program: “American Patrol,” “Selections from Ragtime,” and “Symphonic Dances from Fiddler on the Roof,” but Hagon is saving one of his favorites for last.

“I’ve conducted Carmen Dragon’s arrangement of “America the Beautiful” with many bands, and on many tours abroad with the 215th Army Band,” he said. “It’s a beautiful tribute to our country, and one of my favorite pieces for the concert band. We’ll play it Sunday if we get called back for an encore.”

It sounds like a great concert—and, if you go, I think it might be a good idea to clap long and hard–to call John Hagon and the Cape Cod Conservatory Band back for that encore!

“Clouds at Falmouth Heights” by Diana Lee

Diana Lee’s colorfully exuberant oil and acrylic paintings and softly muted pastels brighten the Maser Gallery at Falmouth Community Television (FCTV) through May 2.

In this video I did for FCTV, Diana gives us a tour of the exhibit and tells us the stories behind the paintings.

A longtime resident of Falmouth, Diana paints landscapes and seascapes, still lifes and portraits in both realistic and impressionistic styles. Her paintings are often inspired by nature: the beauty of the ocean, beach, and marshes predominates, but she also expresses the joy of a graceful floral arrangement, often using interesting vases, tea cups, fabrics, and other items she finds at estate sales and flea markets.

“Yellow Roses–New Beginnings” by Diana Lee

Diana enjoys bold colors; she uses the brush stroke and palette knife to show movement and action and to evoke emotion.

“Some of my favorite artists are Picasso, Bonnard, Van Gogh and Matisse. Painting is my passion and it gives great meaning and purpose to my life,” she said.

Diana received a diploma from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1978. She credits her mentors, Bill Flynn and Jack Clift, with being strong influences in her development as an artist.

After raising her family of four children, Diana returned to school in 2000. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art Education at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in the spring of 2003. She teaches while continuing to paint in her studio in Falmouth.

Diana has received numerous awards and recognition including being selected as an emerging artist by Cape Cod Life Magazine in 1996 and was featured in the magazine’s Arts Edition in June 2012. She also was included in an article in the Cape Women magazine in 1999. In 2012, Diana participated in a two-person show at Highfield Hall. She has taught classes and workshops at both the Falmouth Artist Guild and the Cape Cod Art Association.

“Hydrangeas and Tea Cups,” by Diana Lee

Diana is represented by Gallery 333, in North Falmouth, the Cataumet Art Center, in Bourne, and the Rowley Gallery, in Orleans.

The Maser Gallery is at FCTV, 310 Dillingham Avenue, Falmouth, MA.

Exhibit hours at the Maser Gallery are Sunday and Monday, 2 to 10 PM; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10 to 10 PM; and Friday 10 to 6 PM.

For more information, visit http://www.fctv.org or call 508-457-0800.

“Beach Day at Nobska” by Diana Lee

I  was not ready for today’s Healing Our City prayer service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. I was not ready to be resilient. I a little more time wailing, keening, and weeping over the tragic deaths of two young women and a boy and the many devastating injuries caused by the bombings at the Boston Marathon. I want to know that all the injured have medical care and insurance coverage that will see them through what may be a long treatment period, especially for those who lost a limb. And many will need counseling, even many with no physical injuries themselves. I want the perpetrators–apparently two carelessly malevolent young men–arrested.

But, like many, I watched the service. I was touched by Mayor Thomas Menino, rising from his wheelchair, his broken leg giving him an unspoken connection with the victims. “Nothing will take us down because we are here for one another,” he said, as he talked about the kindness shown by the many who came to the aid of the injured and the runners on Monday.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick was uplifting, saying, “We will recover and repair. We will grieve our losses and heal. We will rise and we will endure. We will have accountability without vengeance. Vigilance and not fear. And we will remember, I hope, long after the buzz of Boylston Street is back . . . that the grace this tragedy exposed is the best of who we are.”

President Obama spoke movingly of those who died, giving them life again in our hearts: Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell and Lu Lingzi. He was inspirational and determined, reminding us: “Even when our heart aches, we summon the strength that maybe we didn’t even know we had. We finish the race.

“And we do that because of who we are. And we do that because we know that somewhere around the bend a stranger has a cup of water. Around the bend, somebody is there to boost our spirits. On that toughest mile, just when we think that we’ve hit a wall, someone will be there to cheer us on and pick us up if we fall. We know that.”

Yo-Yo Ma expressed what words could not. He performed the hauntingly beautiful Sarabande Bach’s Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, a piece Ma also played following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Yo-Yo Ma talked about the meaning of the piece for “All Things Considered.” He said he thinks of the Sarabande as “a struggle for hope.”

“The falling motion of most of the notes is contradicted by periodic rising notes. In the last bar of the piece,” he is quoted as saying, “all but one of the notes rise and I think that represents the strength of the human spirit and, today, the spirit of Boston.”

I am feeling stronger, even resilient. I am thankful for today’s message of hope from the many religious leaders and government leaders who spoke, and from the singers and instrumentalists who gave us time to mourn and a message of hope.

Even those intimidated by poetry find the readings accessible and rewarding–sometimes we get a clearer idea of a poem from hearing the author read aloud it than by reading it ourselves, and the social atmosphere of the meetings allow attendees to share interpretations and responses to the poetry.

April is national poetry month, a good time to give Calliope a try, if you haven’t already. The April meeting is Sunday, April 21, from 3 to 5 PM at the library. Attendees are asked to donate $5 to fund a stipend for the poets.

Susan Donnelly, Mary Maxwell, and Dan Memmolo  are the featured poets on Sunday. Those wishing to share a poem of their own are asked to sign up for the Open Mike at 2:45 PM.

Susan Donnelly is the author of three poetry collections: “Capture the Flag,” “Eve Names the Animals,” which won the Morse Prize, and “Transit,” as well as three chapbooks.

Fred Marchant, author of “The Looking House,” describes Donnelly’s most recent collection:

“From Falluja to Donegal to Boston, and from yesterday’s worrisome MRI all the way back to memories of early childhood, ‘Capture the Flag’ rides on a vivid energy, an emotional or spiritual gumption, a ‘moxie’ that helps Susan Donnelly take an unflinching look at the mingling of suffering and joy, near and far, and in the process enables us to feel in our bones how we are all ‘spider-webbed’ together, and that a tug on one strand will set ‘each of the others / trembling.’ These are beautiful, aching, buoyant poems.”

Her poem, “Notice to Guests Before Taking a Shower” provides a glimpse into one of those small, but significant moments of everyday life. After noticing the “notice to guests” sign only after she took a shower, she writes:

I turn away, as always,

from finding out what it says:

watch for this    prevent that

maybe   don’t use this shower at all.

It’s too late and I’m glad.

Seems I never want to learn

about any rule if it means

I’ll have to feel bad,

looking back, at having done

what chances are if I’d known,

if I’d read the notice,

I would have done anyway.

Donnelly’s poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Prairie Schooner, The Sun, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry and many other journals, textbooks and anthologies. It has been featured several times on Garrison Keillor’s Writers Almanac and on Poetry Daily. Donnelly lives, writes and teaches poetry in Cambridge. She reads her work regularly at libraries and reading series in the Boston area.

Mary Maxwell is the author of three volumes of poetry, “An Imaginary Hellas,” “Emporia,” and “Cultural Tourism.” She lives in Truro.

“Cultural Tourism” includes poems on past and present residents of the Outer Cape who have left their mark on the culture: Millay, Lazzell, Breuer, Mailer, Motherwell, Resika, and others. Maxwell writes: “Those who’ve committed themselves to a life of the imagination seem to have remained here as its perpetual inhabitants.”

James Dickey wrote, “Maxwell has a very good ear, a discriminating eye, and that most indispensable quality a poet must have, if she really is a poet: an original way of looking at things, a definite stance.”

In “Edward Hopper,” Maxwell describes some of the painter’s works. It begins:

Architecture is not the point, though his buildings do indeed tell

a wordless tale. The erect lighthouse lies upon nature’s bosom,

perched unsatisfactorily against her flattened dunes. And outside

the clapboard Cape, not foghorn husband or paired church bells

but a lone whippoorwill is heard at dusk by the dog, his bird-wife

complaining from a grove of locusts all grown from one taproot.

Maxwell’s poems have appeared in AGNI, The New Republic, Paris Review, Southern Review and many other journals. A winner of the “Discovery”/The Nation Award, Maxwell received a fellowship from the Carnargo Foundation in Cassis, France. She has also been a visiting artist and scholar at the American Academy in Rome. She has written a monograph about the painter Serena Rothstein titled “Discourse in Paint.”

Dan Memmolo has been described as “equal parts wiseacre and soothsayer,” writing with “a jazzy, appealing cockiness” that “sizzles with energy, humor, and insight.” He often provides a verbal soundtrack—the songs of Elvis, Marvin Gay, and Sinatra—as well as the music of Tchaikovsky.

In “Honky Tonk Night in America,” from his first book of poetry, “Fist City,” he provides a glimpse of a marital squabble, set to music. It opens:

You better move your feet, sings Loretta

from the radio on the kitchen counter

and as my wife pushes and pulls diced onions

in a pan, the sizzle keeping time with the song,

Miss Lynn continues, if you don’t want to eat

a meal that’s called fist city.

“Fist City” won the 2011 Holland Prize from Logan House Press. Memmolo is also the author of the chapbook, “Beat Surrender” (Main Street Rag) and his poems have appeared in numerous magazines, including, The Atlanta Review, Gargoyle, New York Quarterly and Southern Poetry Review. Memmolo has an MFA in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University and lives in Barrington, Rhode Island.

For more information, contact Alice Kociemba at calliopepoetryreadings@verizon.net or 508-566-1090.

The May poetry reading is Sunday, May 12, from 3 to 5 PM, and features poets Marjorie Block, Charles Coe, and Joyce Wilson.

West Falmouth Library is at 575 West Falmouth Highway (Route 28A) in West Falmouth.

For more information on Calliope’s readings, workshops, and other events, visit www.calliopepoetryseries.com or contact Alice Kociemba, director, at calliopepoetryreadings@verizon.net or 508-566-1090.

A Quick Look:

What: Calliope—Poetry at West Falmouth Library, with poets Susan Donnelly, Mary Maxwell, and Dan Memmolo

When: Sunday, April 21, 3 to 5 PM, 2:45 PM to sign up for Open Mic

Where: West Falmouth Library, 575 West Falmouth Highway (Route 28A), West Falmouth

Admission: $5 donation

From left to right: Laura Sonnichsen, concertmaster; John Yankee, music director; Robert Wyatt, pianist; and Fritz Sonnichsen, president of the FCPO. John Yankee is holding Robert Wyatt’s original copy of the sheet music for “Rhapsody in Blue,” by George Gershwin.

Pianist Robert Wyatt, an accomplished Steinway Artist and noted Gershwin scholar, will perform Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” with the orchestra. Wyatt is co-editor of “The Gershwin Reader,” the director of music at Highfield Hall in Falmouth, and he lectures and performs throughout the US.

From its soaring and sultry opening clarinet glissando through its richly varied piano cadenzas and lyrical themes, to its infectious rhythms and brassy exuberance, “Rhapsody in Blue” captures the vitality and excitement of New York City in the 1920s, melding jazz and classical music into a whole new genre.

In Gershwin’s words, it is “a musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, of our metropolitan madness.”

Robert Wyatt

Wyatt brings musical virtuosity and historical understanding to this performance. He tells the story of how Gershwin composed the freeform rhapsody in less than 40 days for “An Experiment in Modern Music,” a concert pulled together by conductor Paul Whiteman “to prove that jazz was elegant and sophisticated enough to play in a classical recital hall.”

The February 1924 premiere not only brought the decidedly American genre of jazz into a new era of “respectability,” it also secured Gershwin’s reputation as a composer and introduced the world to what became one of the most popular of all American concert works.

“I’ve always loved this piece,” Wyatt said, “and it is wonderful to have the opportunity to play it with the Falmouth Chamber Players Orchestra. They play with great quality, and the spirit of this group is invigorating.”

The FCPO has expanded its orchestra for this special concert, adding a bass clarinet (Karen Sanborn), “vernacular” instruments, such as a banjo (played by Richard Gregory Allen of Three Cats and a Dog) and adding a second percussion player (Michael Dunford).

The concert will open with a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, the “Pastorale,” a work selected by Laura Sonnichsen, concertmaster and vice president of the orchestra.

“The 6^th Symphony has always had special meaning for me,” said Ms. Sonnichsen, who has even used its opening measures on her cellphone to identify her husband’s calls.

“Most challenging are the intricate dynamics and nuances within each measure,” she said. “Beethoven is the master; we are hopefully the interpreters and conveyors of what he had in mind.”

Laura’s husband Fritz Sonnichsen, violinist and president of the orchestra, said, “The symphony was somewhat of a departure for Beethoven. For him to have specified musical feelings in relation to nature was sort of a breakthrough. Beethoven loved nature and took walks every day, and he did a lot of his composing on his walks.”

“People love this symphony,” said Mr. Sonnichsen.  “The little bird calls may be the initial attraction, but as you listen, you hear a whole lot more.”

One of the central works in the classical repertoire, the symphony premiered in 1808 as “Pastoral Symphony, or Recollections of Country Life.” It is the only one of Beethoven’s symphony’s to include descriptive titles identifying what he wanted to convey through the music. The first movement, for instance, is called “Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country.” The second, “Scene by the brook,” includes the famous birdcalls: the flute as nightingale, the oboe as quail, and two clarinets for the cuckoo. There is a merry peasant dance, followed by a thunderstorm of great intensity, playing the cellos against the string bass. The symphony ends with “cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm.”

To round out the program, and looking to make effective use of the trombone players who had been added for “Rhapsody” and Symphony No. 6, John Yankee included on the program the Overture from “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The trombone’s slow, sonorous chords are said to represent the solemn knocks on the Masonic temple door.

“The Magic Flute” premiered in 1791, just a few months before Mozart died. It is considered one of the greatest works in operative literature, and the overture is full of energy and good cheer.

The Falmouth Chamber Players Orchestra includes a mix of amateur and professional musicians from across Cape Cod. The orchestra performs original versions, not reductions, of, primarily, Baroque and classical music.

“We have come a long way,” said Yankee. “The work ethic in this group is amazing. We don’t just run through pieces; we dig into them, and dig inside them, and really try to develop skills that will take us to the next level. The musicians listen and connect with each other, and they justifiably take pride in what they accomplish together.”

Admission is by donation. The suggested donation is $15 for adults and $5 for children and students. For more information, visit www.falmouthchamberplayers.org or call Mr. Sonnichsen at 508-274-2632.

The video interview with John Yankee, Robert Wyatt, and Fritz and Laura Sonnichsen, below, provides additional information, and an excerpt from “Rhapsody in Blue.”

“Monks Cove,” by David F. Kelley, currently on display at the Maser Gallery.

“An Exhibition of Recent Pastels” by David F. Kelley is at the Maser Gallery at Falmouth Community Television from through January 31, 2013, with an opening reception on Sunday, January 13, from 3 to 5 PM.

A serious artist for most of his life, Kelley has worked professionally as a graphic designer and illustrator in publishing, pro sports, and technology, always finding time to paint and experiment with different styles of art, from abstract to impressionistic to more representative, and using a variety of media.

He discovered pastels about seven years ago and has won numerous awards and recognition for his work, both on the Cape and nationally.

According to Kelley, “Creating art is not easy, but if blessed with a degree of talent and strong motivation, you can fly over the speed bumps that impede your way to self-discovery. Motivation and belief is critical, because without it, you can think and talk, but not do. True motivation and belief in self is the critical gift that keeps you on track during the worst of storms and aids in the discovery, enjoyment and sharing of the gifts you’ve been given.”

Kelley talks about his art work, technical aspects, and the creative process in this video about his Maser Gallery show:

This is a wonderful show full of vibrant , energetic abstracts, colorful vistas, and interesting people. And yes, I am one of David’s subjects, “the flutist.” Enjoy this lovely show.

For more information about David F. Kelley, visit his website at www.DavidKelleyOriginals.com. call him at 508-566-1252, or email him at at dfkelley@pair.com.

Maser Gallery exhibit hours are Sunday and Monday 2 to 10 PM; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 10 AM to 10 PM, and Friday, from 10 AM to 6 PM.

The Maser Gallery is at 310 Dillingham Avenue in Falmouth.  For more information, visit fctv.org or call 508-457-0800.

John Murelle’s vocal students performed songs of Richard Rodgers at First Night Chatham on December 31 at the First Congregational Church of Chatham. In addition to John’s regular students (including my daughter Gabbe Rowland), there were two former students of John’s: Matt Astone, now in his senior year at Westminster Choir College, and Lily Mae Harrington, who dropped out of Westminster Choir College last fall (2011) to compete in the Glee Project for a chance to appear on the television program, “Glee.” “The Glee Project” ran weekly last summer, with one hopeful contestant tearfully eliminated each week. Lily Mae made it almost to the end. She was home for Christmas and New Year’s, but has decided to remain in L.A. to try to make it as an actress.

I taped the whole concert for Falmouth Community Television (FCTV), and you can watch it here:

I also made a separate video of Gabbe’s gorgeous performance of “If I Loved You,” which you can see here:

The Solstice Singers celebrated their 20th anniversary with “To Drive the Cold Winter Away,” on the winter solstice, December 21 and 22, at the Woods Hole Community Hall. The Solstice Singers were joined by the early music ensemble, Passacaglia; the youth chorus, Les Enfants du Soleil; and the sword dancing troupe, the Vineyard Swordfish.

It was a splendid, colorful, and engaging performance by all. Rather than try to describe it, I will share it with you. This is the video I took of the event for Falmouth Community Television. Enjoy!

The hall was decorated in medieval-looking tapestries.

Passacaglia: Tom Hanna on lute, Molly Johnston on viola da gamba, Jan Elliott on recorder, and, behind Molly, Lisa Esperson on percussion.

Les Enfants du Soleil

The Vineyard Swordfish

A freelance artist and writer, szuplat creates a wide range of art, including commercial logos, hand-painted signs, children’s illustrations, cartoon portraits, and oil and acrylic paintings. She has kept journals for years, both for writing and for drawing, and has selected an assortment of representative sketches that she has done: at home, school, and while traveling.

Garison Weiland is a former illustrator whose work has appeared in many national publications. He began painting in oils a year or two ago; this is his first show in this medium.

Szuplat and Weiland talked about their art and the process of sketching and painting for a video I did for FCTV. You can view that video here:

The show may also be seen on FCTV (Channel 13, Falmouth, MA) on these dates:

12/20/2012 at 6:30 AM
12/21/2012 at 7:27 AM
12/22/2012 at 8:00 AM
12/23/2012 at 12:30 PM
12/27/2012 at 6:30 AM
12/28/2012 at 7:27 AM
12/29/2012 at 8:00 AM

The Maser Gallery is at FCTV, 310 Dillingham Avenue, in Falmouth. Exhibit hours are Sunday and Monday, 2 to 10 PM; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 10 AM to 10 PM; and Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM. For more information, visit fctv.org.

McCarthy’s cast of eight versatile women (including herself, in a late substitution) and one remarkable man is very well chosen. In individual monologues, each actor portrays an unusual character or circumstance with humor, empathy, and quirkiness. The monologues are not, at least on the surface, related, though one can find deeper themes if one looks: light and darkness, for instance, or the slender line separating “normal” behavior from madness.

McCarthy opens the show with “Fifteen Minutes,” a monologue in the form of pre-show chatter by a nervous actress to an unseen person in the dressing room. McCarthy is effervescent in the role, as the actress complains about directors she has worked with and wishes to know more about the audience sitting in the darkness. In the end, she self-confidently takes her place in the light.

Liz Liuzzi is up next in “Lamps.” She plays a charming elderly woman (“mad as a March hare”) obsessed with lamps and the patterns of light and darkness she creates with them, “each lamp, a pool of warmth.” This is a haunting piece, funny and imaginative.

“Clear Glass Marbles” is the most poignant of the monologues; in it Jeanny Wishingstone is a grieving daughter who shows us not only deceased mother’s eccentricity, but also how she savors that eccentricity and allows it to comfort her in her loss.

Cathy Ode performs “Audition” with a remarkably well-behaved live cat. This actress is certifiable, as she offers classic and contemporary options to those she is auditioning for, one involving a dreadful fate for the cat. Ode is outrageous and mesmerizing. The cat is calm under pressure.

High school student Shannon Lindlau is a young Appalachian snake handler who serves tea to her tattered dolls in “Handler” as she enthralls with stories of encounters with poisonous snakes. “Snakes know how you feel. You can fool a person but you can’t fool a snake.”

In “Dragon,” Jennifer Marshall prays to St. Margaret to survive her agonizing labor and for her child (whom she envisions as a dragon) to live.

The only male actor in this show is Jared Hagan as “The Twirler. “Talking With…” is intended as an all-female show, but McCarthy knew Hagan would be just right for this part, and he is. His performance is both endearing and hilarious; dressed in sparkles, he recounts his baton-twirling triumphs and the spiritual aspects of twirling. “People think you’re a twit if you twirl,” he recounts, in deadpan. “But the secret for a twirler is the light.”

Carol McManus is a battered, but gloriously optimistic, homeless woman who yearns to live at McDonald’s in “French Fries,” not only for the peace it offers at night, when no one else is there, but for its plastic utensils. They are, in her vision, God’s proof of eternity: “If there is plastic, then there has to be eternity.”

In “Marks,” Janet Preston gives a moving performance as a woman who “did as she supposed she might be told” until she was 35. She was unmarked by life, until an attacker cut her on the cheek with a knife, leaving a scar. People begin to look at her differently;  the scar gives her confidence, and a new approach to life.

“Talking With…” was the 1982 winner of the American Theatre Critics Association Award for Best Regional Play. ”Jane Martin” is a pseudonym for an anonymous Kentucky playwright assumed to be Jon Jory, playwright and former artistic director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville, considered one of the top regional theaters in the country. Jory has denied being Martin, but has directed premieres of Martin’s shows. Whoever the author may be, this show is both entertaining and thought-provoking, and this production is well-worth seeing.

“Talking With…” continues tonight and tomorrow at the Black Box Theater, Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, in Cotuit. Performances are tonight at 8 PM and at 2 PM tomorrow (Sunday, December 16). Tickets are $12. For tickets, call 508-428-0669 or visit artsonthecape.org.