Music Department presents

2012 WINTER CONCERT

Sunday, January 15, 2012 @ 2:00 p.m.

First Congregational Church, 135 Main St., Thomaston, CT 

 PIERCE CAMPBELL JAZZ TRIO

The Fine Arts Connection of Thomaston Music Department will present the first of two free winter concerts featuring the Pierce Campbell Jazz Trio.  The concert will be presented on Sunday, January 15, 2012, in the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church, 135 Main St., Thomaston, CT at 2:00 pm. Refreshments will be served, and there is no charge for the concert.  All ages are invited to attend, and the church is handicap-accessible.  Funding for this concert has been provided by the Thomaston Savings Bank Foundation.

Pierce Campbell is honored to have been appointed to the position of Connecticut State Troubadour by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism for 2007 Aand 2008, making him Connecticut's official musical ambassador for those years!  As a solo artist, Pierce plays original folk, Celtic, sea songs, American folk, pop classics and jazz.  He is a singer/songwriter playing acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo, bass and harmonica.  Pierce sings and plays mandolin & guitar with the Irish Ballads group, The Kerry Boys.  He also plays tenor banjo, guitar and is the vocalist with the New Orleans style jazz band, The Funky Butt Jazz Band.  Pierce also performs with Tony Pasqualoni on acoustic bass as the Pierce Campbell Jazz Duo, performing jazz classics from artists like Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett along with more modern tunes from Stevie Wonder, Nora Jones, Bill Withers and even some originals!

The Fine Arts Connection of Thomaston, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting people to the arts, primarily in the areas of Music, Arts, and Photography.  They have sponsored the summer concert series in Seth Thomas Park for many years,  The 2012 summer concerts season will begin on Monday, June 25, 2012 with Opening Night.  For further information visit www.fineartsconnection.org, or call Carol Pytel, Director of the Music Department, at 860-283-4937 after 4 pm.

Music Department presents

2012 WINTER CONCERT

Sunday, April 22, 2012 @ 2:00 p.m.

First Congregational Church, 135 Main St., Thomaston, CT 

 ROSEWOOD CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

The Fine Arts Connection of Thomaston Music Department will present the second of two free winter concerts featuring the Rosewood Chamber Ensemble.  The concert will be presented on Sunday, April 22, 2012, in the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church, 135 Main St., Thomaston, CT at 2:00 pm. Refreshments will be served, and there is no charge for the concert.  All ages are invited to attend, and the church is handicap-accessible.  Funding for this concert has been provided by the Thomaston Savings Bank Foundation.

The Rosewood Chamber Ensemble (Barbara Hopkins, flute; Judy Handler, guitar) is in its fourth season of entertaining audiences with their programs based on the stories and people of the early United States. The Greater Boston Flute Association wrote about their Boston concert, "The pieces were played with great style and joy, resulting in a captivating performance." Their repertoire ranges from familiar Stephen Foster songs and lively dances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the classical music beloved by John Quincy Adams. Particularly interesting are the background stories they tell about the period, historical figures, the music, and the flutes. Barbara plays these concerts on historical flutes, including authentic Asa Hopkins flutes, made in Litchfield, CT circa 1830. Two of these flutes are made from rosewood, and that combined with the rosewood in Judy's guitars inspired the name Rosewood Chamber Ensemble. They have received grants from the Evelyn Preston Memorial Fund and have performed at venues including the Adams National Historical Park, Yale Musical Instrument Collection, and the National Flute Association Convention.

Award winning flutist Barbara Hopkins is a cousin of the early American woodwind maker Asa Hopkins, who lived and worked in Litchfield, Connecticut. She moved to Hartford to play in the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, having no idea that Asa Hopkins existed, or that her ancestors were from Hartford. She has "come home" in a way she never dreamed of. Also the flute teacher at the University of Connecticut, she has released several CDs including Telemann Methodical Sonatas, Vol. 1, Short Concert Pieces for Flute and Piano, and Andersen Etudes, opus 15. The Flute Network praised her Telemann recording as, "full, rich, and highly musical." The best selling Short Concert Pieces disc is in its third printing. She has her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, and is using the research skills she developed in her doctoral studies to find scores of nineteenth century American music. Barbara has been a top prize winner in the National Flute Association Competition and the New York Flute Club Young Artist Competition, and was awarded a fellowship to Tanglewood Music Center, where she had the honor of playing principal flute under Leonard Bernstein. She earned her Master of Music from The Mannes College of Music, and her Bachelor of Music at The Hartt School.

Judy Handler received a Bachelor of Music degree from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati and a Master of Music degree from The Hartt School. She also earned a Certificate from the Vila-Secai Salou Conservatory in Spain and a Diploma of Merit from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Italy. She has given concerts and workshops at numerous venues throughout the United States including the University of Arizona, Commons Theater in Chicago, the Boston Classical Guitar Society and the Guitar Salon in New York. As co-founder of the Connecticut Classical Guitar Society, Judy helped develop one of the largest groups of its kind in the United States. Judy performs nationally with her husband, guitarist/mandolinist Mark Levesque. They have received critical acclaim for their CDs, Passion, Two Guitars Live! and Acoustic Blend. They are also featured on five CDs produced by the Connecticut Classical Guitar Society.

The Fine Arts Connection of Thomaston, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting people to the arts, primarily in the areas of Music, Arts, and Photography.  They have sponsored the summer concert series in Seth Thomas Park for many years,  The 2012 summer concerts season will begin on Monday, June 25, 2012 with Opening Night.  For further information visit www.fineartsconnection.org, or call Carol Pytel, Director of the Music Department, at 860-283-4937 after 4 pm.