#PickoftheWeek | Live music is everywhere this weekend! Here’s the skinny
BY QEDC It's In Queens
There are many chances to listen to live classical music in the borough this weekend.
The fun will kick off with Destination Italy at Flushing Town Hall on Friday, March 23, at 7:30 pm.
The Queens Symphony Orchestra, which features several dozens of instruments, will take the audience on a musical journey through Il bel Paese’s cultural landscape. Attendees can expect to hear Schubert’s Overture in the Italian Style D. 590, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons featuring violinist Kinga Augustyn.
The following day, March 24, has two competing concerts at 7 pm.
The Queens Consort, which performs 17th century pieces on period instruments and in baroque style, will present Dance Music for the Sun King at The Church-in-the-Gardens in Forest Hills. The program is heavy on tunes composed for the French court of Louis XIV, an art fanatic who was lovingly referred to as the “Sun King.” Performers include Claire Smith Bermingham, Dan McCarthy, Emily Hale (violins), Margret Hjaltested (viola), Anneke Schaul-Yoder (cello), and Aya Hamada (harpsichord).
The Baroque Era is noted for church music with solo voices that contrasted with choruses and orchestras. It is also when the sonata, suite, and concerto grosso grew in popularity.
Meanwhile over at Sunnyside Reformed Church, viola players Nora Krohn and Nick Revel will offer modern and traditional selections with Derin Oge on piano. Krohn, who lives in Sunnyside, has indicated that she plans to explore the viola’s imaginative possibilities via solo and collaborative work during this recital.
Those who can’t make the first three events can head to Tomb Sonnets: Voice and Viols from Across the Centuries at The Secret Theatre in Long Island City on Sunday, March 25, at 2 pm. The afternoon will be heavy on ditties by Italian Renaissance masters from the Sonnet Age, including Luca Marenzio, Philippe Verdelot, Jacques Arcadelt, and Cipriano de Rore, but the centerpiece is the world premiere of Martin Kennedy’s Tomb Sonnets, three short works for viol consort and countertenor. Ryland Angel, a Grammy-nominated British counter-tenor, is the guest vocalist.
And now for something totally different.
Music lovers who prefer modern genres can catch Piano Men: A Tribute to Elton John & Billy Joel at Queensborough Performing Arts Center in Bayside on Saturday, March 24, at 8 pm. Broadway veterans Craig A. Meyer and Donnie Kehr (below photo), accompanied by backup singers and The Rocket Band, will do “Crocodile Rock,” “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” “Uptown Girl,” and “Movin’ Out” among other hits.
Plus, Broadway stars will present pieces from popular children’s musicals and animated films at Queens Theatre in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on March 24 and March 25 at 3 pm on both days. Geared toward youngsters, a Q&A session will follow the performances.
Top image: Queens Theatre; bottom image: Queensborough Performing Arts Center; gallery photo: The Queens Consort
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