NORWICH – Please join The Monday Evening Musical Club on Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. for the second concert of the season. The program will feature distinguished organist/pianist Anne Franco of Oxford, along with several special guest artists, in an evening of ‘music on the light side’. The evening will include rhythms and melodies of various dance forms showcased in 4-hand piano works by Dvorak, Schubert and Brahms, and on into the 20th/21st century with a work by Norman Dello Joio. Along the way, works by JS Bach, Beethoven, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and more, will be featured in solo and chamber works.
Anne Franco, retired Professor Emerita at Concordia College in Bronxville, holds degrees from Ithaca College and Columbia University. She has performed as duo pianist, accompanist, and in various chamber ensembles throughout her career. Her guests include Patricia Houghton, who is Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Theresa’s Church in New Berlin, as well as a busy piano and voice teacher. Susan Franco, choir director at the Methodist Church in Oxford, is a retired Guidance Counselor at the Oxford Academy, and a longtime Monday Evening Musical Club member. Roberta Rowland-Raybold, organist, is Dean of the Oneonta chapter of the American Guild of Organists (AGO), organist and choirmaster at Christ Episcopal Church in Cooperstown, and an active performer, organ teacher, and speaker in the field of sacred music. She is also a composer, researcher and proponent of organ history and restoration. David Gibson, cellist, moved to Gilbertsville in 2010. He holds degrees from Julliard and Yale, and was a professor in the Electronic Arts Dept. as well as conductor of the RPI Orchestra at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1994-2010. He has performed throughout the US and Europe and has been a private cello teacher for over 30 years. David Kirsch, clarinet, is recently retired from the Norwich City School District. He has conducted many community choral groups in our area, and is currently a Deacon at St. Paul’s in Norwich.
Monday’s concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the United Church of Christ, 11 W. Main St. in Norwich. As always, The Monday Evening Musical Club program is free and open to the public. The Club accepts free-will donations, all of which go into its scholarship fund. Scholarships are available to Chenango County high school seniors planning to major in music in college; applications and auditions are announced in April.