2013-2014 Concert Series
Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 3:00 p.m.
The Swing Legacy
The Swing Legacy’s seven acclaimed jazz musicians, six instrumentalists and a vocalist, provide the authentic style, elegance and
excitement of a big band. Through their original arrangements of traditional big band swing music they produce a “big band sound” that
makes the group’s sound larger than its size! The Swing Legacy’s music is both great dance music and interesting concert jazz, and it functions
professionally as a concert jazz ensemble and a dance band. Its members are known for their impeccable musicianship and powerful swinging beat.
A Boston-based group, organized in 1991 by Henry Francis, The Swing Legacy plays throughout New England... and beyond. Their CD’s have received many complimentary
reviews, and two songs have been used in national TV spots and network TV shows. They consist of Boston’s finest and most experienced big band swing jazz musicians.
Cognizant of Middletown’s talented musicians’ contributions to the swing era, the guest performers are looking forward to a nostalgic afternoon of swing.
Saturday, March 1st, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.
D’ANNA FORTUNATO, mezzo-soprano
PETER H. BLOOM, flute
MARY JANE RUPERT, piano and harp
*This concert only will be at Church of the Holy Trinity, 381 Main St., Middletown*
D’Anna Fortunato is a noted mezzo-soprano. Her career has included appearances with the New York City Opera and many other American companies. She has sung with most of the major orchestras and at prominent festivals. A sought-after voice teacher, Fortunato is on the faculty of New England Conservatory of Music. In 2006, she was a Grammy nominee for best classical vocal recording.
Peter H. Bloom, flute, tours widely in North America, Europe and Asia and appears on 35 CDs. He has performed at such noted venues as the National Gallery in London, Goethe Institute in Bangkok, New Zealand School of Music, and the New York Flute Club. His career ranges from historical performances to premieres of new music. He is also a noted jazz artist.
Mary Jane Rupert, acclaimed as a concert pianist and harpist, has performed from Carnegie Recital Hall to Beijing Concert Hall. She has also appeared with symphony and chamber orchestras across the United States. Rupert concertizes with flutist Bloom in the duo “2”, which has toured Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Saturday, April 5, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.
WEST HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA in “Ellis Island”
An event of important and exciting dimensions will take place in Middletown when the West Hartford Symphony Orchestra performs “Ellis Island -The Deam of America”, a multimedia production with live narration by actors with images from the Ellis Island archives. The piece was commissioned by the Bushnell in Hartford and written by Peter Boyer for the opening of the Bushnell’s new Belding Theater in 2002 at which time the Hartford Symphony premiered it. It was overwhelmingly successful! The orchestra will also play Dvorak’s familiar “New World Symphony” as part of the April 5 program.
The 70-member West Hartford Symphony Orchestra was co-founded in 2001 by a West Hartford resident, Richard Chiarappa, who was born and grew up in Middletown.
Presently the orchestra’s resident musical director and conductor, Chiarappa is also a long-time music teacher at West Hartford’s Kingswood Oxford school. His extensive musical background includes 102nd Army Band , Hartt School of Music graduate education , and 11 years as conductor/music director of the Bristol Symphony Orchestra, among many other experiences and achievements. It’s a homecoming!