Piffaro Announces its 2017 Recorder Festival Date
(PHILADELPHIA) Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, will present its biannual Recorder Festival, a free showcase of the community’s young players, on February 4 at 7:30 pm at Settlement Music School, Mary Louise Curtis Branch, 416 Queen Street in Philadelphia. The event will be followed by a light reception. Attendees are asked to register at http://www.piffaro.org/recorder-festival or by calling 215-235-8469.
Performers will include the winners of the 2016 National Recorder Competition, Middle School Division, who will each perform a solo, and then play 4 pieces together:
Alexis Van Tassel (age 11, from Endicott NY, student of Barbara Kaufman)
Sridhar Shenoy (age 12, from Merion Station PA, student of Rainer Beckmann)
Robert Dorsey (age 11, from Colonia NJ, student of Paul Dorsey)
Ms. Van Tassel is an aspiring composer and will play an unaccompanied solo of her own creation. Ms. Sheny will perform 17th century variations on the popular tune “Greensleeves.” Mr. Dorsey’s selection will come from the modern age of video games: “Megalovania,” composed by Toby Fox for his game Undertale.
Ensembles of students from the following schools will also participate, and the evening will culminate with a mass ensemble performing simple Renaissance dances followed by a light reception.
Fountain Woods Elementary School Recorder Sinfonia (Burlington, NJ)
Directed by Miriam Arbelo (member, Philadelphia Recorder Society)
The School in Rose Valley Recorder Ensemble (Rose Valley, PA)
Directed by Jodie Levine Brown
The Hope Partnership School Recorder Ensemble (Philadelphia, PA)
Directed by Lourdes Cossich
The Fairmount Trio (Philadelphia, PA)
Directed by Joan Kimball
Francis Scott Key Elementary Recorder Club (Philadelphia, PA)
Directed by Kimberly Yocum
Fountain Woods’ teacher Miriam Arbelo says, “Even after more than 20 years teaching, my students inspire me. When I am tired and out of ideas, I look at my students and their eagerness and love of learning propels me forward. When I see and hear my students performing the music I taught them, and they are enjoying it, I remember why I got into this gig.”
Piffaro, whose education and outreach programs have been recognized by the American Recorder Society (Distinguished Artist, 2015) and Early Music America (Lifetime Achievement in Outreach, 2011), alternates Recorder Festivals, which provide an opportunity for kids to hear and appreciate the recorder as a viable instrument, with its National Recorder Competition, which provides a platform for the most accomplished young musicians in the country. The winner of the 2016 competition, Teresa Deskur of Vestal, NY, will perform alongside Piffaro’s musicians at its season finale, “Sacred Wind” (March 31-April 2).
Contact: Shannon Cline, Shannon@piffaro.org, 215-235-8469
What: Piffaro presents the 2017 Recorder Festival
When: Saturday, February 4, 2017
Tickets: FREE, but please register at piffaro.org/recorder-festival
