40th Annual West Falmouth Library Annual House Tour—with Music!
West Falmouth Library holds its 40th Annual Winter House Tour and Boutique on Sunday, December 11, from 11 AM to 4 PM. The tour includes six historic and contemporary homes in West Falmouth and North Falmouth, all filled with unique features, interesting details, and design inspirations.
There is a Holiday Boutique featuring handmade gifts, decorations, and fresh greens arrangements at the library, as well as light refreshments, including backed goods from the Falmouth Village Café at the library and the West Falmouth United Methodist Church. A silent auction, which includes early-edition books by Mark Twain and Jules Verne, will be concluded at 4 PM.
New this year, thanks to ArtsFalmouth, are local musicians playing seasonal, classical, and contemporary music at the Library, the Methodist Church, and at two of the houses on the tour. ArtsFalmouth is an unbrella organization created to celebrate, sponsor and promote art events and artists in and around Falmouth.
Tickets are $30 for tickets bought in advance at the Library, West Falmouth Market, Woods Hole Market, Uncle Bill’s Country Store, Eight Cousins, New Wave Printing, and Village Trading Company, or $35 on the day of the tour.
The music schedule is as follows:
West Falmouth Library, 575 West Falmouth Library, West Falmouth
Left to right: Celeste Newman, Ava Warner, Shu-tong Murray, and Clara Preisig
11 AM to 12 PM: The Chappaquoit Cello Quartet is comprised of four school-aged students of West Falmouth cello teacher Nikki Patton: Celeste Newman, Clara Preisig, Shu-tong Murray, and Ava Warner. They will play a variety of classical and holiday musical.
12:15 to 1:15 PM: The Falmouth Academy String Trio includes Sam Graber-Hahn on violin, Lizzie Feldman-DeMello on violin, and Camden Emery on cello. This is a recently formed group under the direction of George Scharr. The trio will play a variety of classics, pop tunes, and holiday favorites.
Black Whydah Trio
1:30 to 2:30 PM: Black Whydah Trio, from the Lower Cape, is a lively multi-instrumental group whose members include Jean Sagara, John Best and Ellen Sullivan. They play an assortment of instruments, including cello, violin, guitar, mandolin, mandocello, cittern, hammered dulcimer, banjo, and more. The group has an eclectic sound and style, as each member brings a unique style. They will play folk and Irish music, New Age, world music, and their own original tunes.
West Falmouth United Methodist Church, 636 West Falmouth Hwy, West Falmouth
L’Esperance Mandolin Ensemble
11 AM to 12 PM: L’Esperance Mandolin Ensemble, directed by Josh Bell, plays classical and multicultural music, reflecting the diversity of the ages and backgrounds of its members. The group was founded in Rhode Island in 1994 and now includes more than 20 members in Rhode Island, Eastern Connecticut, and Southeastern Massachusetts. The group includes the full complement of mandolin-family instruments, including mandolins, octave mandolins, mandocellos, mandobasses, and guitars.
12:15 to 1:15 PM: Led by Kathy Johnson, Wassailers is an informal group of musicians from several Falmouth-area traditional music groups. They will play Christmas music on fiddles, pipes, whistles, flutes, guitars, mandolins, and cello.
Still Willow
1:30 to 2:30 PM: Still Willow is the mostly acoustic singer-songwriter duo of Kim Moberg and Ric Allendorf. Still Willow is influenced by a variety of genres, including folk, Americana, and a myriad of singer-songwriters, both old and new. Their original music expresses personal, but universal, themes of love, loss, renewal, and celebration, and their interpretations of cover songs reflect Kim and Ric’s own experiences.
Passacaglia
2:45 to 3:45 PM: Passacaglia is a quartet specializing in ancient music from the medieval and Renaissance eras. Their repertoire includes lute songs, madrigals, canzonas, recercadas and a variety of dance pieces from estampies to galliards. Passacaglia aims to transport listeners to another time and place, but also to bring ancient music forward, with fresh interpretations and an emphasis on cross-cultural connections. Members are Jan Elliott, winds; Lisa Esperson, percussion; Tom Hanna, lute; and Molly Johnston, viola da gamba.
101 Old Dock Road, West Falmouth
Guitar-Wedding
1 to 2:15 PM: Guitar-Wedding specializes in contemporary, pop, and traditional music for weddings and other occasions. Members include Denise Dias on flute, Aston Wright on guitar and Jaden Black on bass.
428 Wild Harbor Road, North Falmouth
Melissa Harris with piano students Keith Sisterson and Joe Watson
1 to 3 PM: Adult piano students Joe Watson of Mashpee and Keith Sisterson of N. Easton, along with Melissa Harris of the Melissa Harris Piano Studio of Cape Cod in Sandwich will perform a variety of classical, popular, jazz, blues, and holiday music. Melissa Harris specializes in adult beginners, including those starting their study of music in retirement.
Homes on the tour include:
With sweeping views of Buzzards Bay, Mark Snyderman’s home at 428 Wild Harbor Road in North Falmouth is ideal for enjoying time on the water. Pianists from Melissa Harris Piano Studio in Sandwich will perform here from 1 to 3 PM.
Linda and Samantha Pogue’s condominium in the Captain Caleb O. Hamblin house at 606 West Falmouth Highway #2 features a number of historic details.
Michael and Martha Terry restored an American Foursquare cottage built in 1901 at 67 Nashawena Street on Snug Harbor in West Falmouth.
The Mill House at 61 Nashawena Street in West Falmouth, owned by Joan Cribben, was originally the grain mill for the 1787 windmill in West Falmouth and is decorated with vintage pieces.
The home of Debbie and Giles Knight, located at 101 Old Dock Road on West Falmouth Harbor, was built in 2006 but was made to look old. The musical trio Guitar-Wedding will perform here from 1 to 2:15 PM.
Aline and Larry Ward rebuilt a home at 204 West Falmouth Highway in Saconesset Hills once owned by Arnold and Virtue Gifford.
For more information, visit www.westfalmouthlibrary.org.
Notes on The Arts 