News

Guitar workshop and concert

Around The Cape
Gail McCarthy
Published: July 31, 2008

Guitarists who have performed around the world will come together on Cape Ann for an event titled "Artistry of the Guitar," which includes an afternoon guitar workshop and an evening concert.

The performance will feature internationally acclaimed fingerstyle guitarists Ken Bonfield, Peter Janson, and special guest Teja Gerken, who will play at the Blackburn Performing Arts center, at One Washington St. in downtown Gloucester, on Sunday, Aug. 3.

The workshop is offered at 4 p.m., followed by a concert at 8 p.m. The workshop and concert each cost $15; both can be attended for $25. Reservations can be made at 978-281-0680.

The concert will feature a range of guitar music including country blues, ragtime, folk, Celtic, jazz, classical, contemporary, and even rock inspired guitar slapping. The event is designed for guitar lovers and anyone with a passion for acoustic music.

The guitar workshop will cover topics such as alternate tunings, right and left hand technique, composition and performance. Guitarists of all skill levels are encouraged to participate. They will share the secrets of playing, writing, and arranging for the acoustic guitar.

Individually, Ken, Peter, and Teja have performed in the finest acoustic venues around the world, and their music has been heard by millions on radio, TV, and XM Satellite radio.

Producer and musician Will Hunt shared some background on Bonfield and Janson, who were introduced to each other in 2005.

"Unbeknownst to the two men, they had been talked about in the same breath for years by music reviewers like Bill Binkelman of Wind and Wire and were often played back-to-back on radio stations around the world. Given that the two were so closely tied musically, they were pleasantly surprised to find that they lived only about an hour from each other. Since their introduction, they have forged a strong relationship on and off the concert stage. This has translated to an often impromptu stage patter that amuses both the audience and the musicians," said Hunt. "Expect to be dazzled by their fretwork, charmed by their wit, and moved by their music."

Bonfield and Janson have been featured at venerable sites and have shared the stage with acoustic artists — many Grammy winners — of all kinds including John Mayer, Arlo Guthrie, Alex de Grassi, Adrian Legg, Ed Gerhard, Dakota Dave Hull and Bill Mize.

Free violin and piano recital

Violinist Andrea Dawson and Pianist Kenneth Saxon will give a concert on Saturday, Aug. 2 at 3:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Rockport at 4 Cleaves St.

They will perform Beethoven Sonata No. 5 in F Major, op. 24 ("Spring"); Dvorak Romance in F Minor, op. 11; and Brahms Sonata No. 1 in G Major, op. 78. Admission is free and the public is invited.

Dawson, is a member of the Stones River Chamber Players, Belle Meade Baroque, and the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra. She is assistant professor of violin at Middle Tennessee State University School of Music. She received her doctorate of musical arts from the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the coveted Performer's Certificate. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Mexico.

Saxon is the coordinator of Collaborative Piano at the University of Texas at Brownsville. He has performed in Italy, Singapore, Mexico and throughout the United States. In 2007 he was recognized as a Distinguished Musician by judges at the IBLA Grand Prize international music competition held in Ragusa-Ibla, Sicily.

Saxon's intense performances of 13 Preludes, Op. 32 by Sergei Rachmaninoff have garnered accolades in Mexico, the United States and Sicily. Saxon is the Coordinator of Collaborative Piano at the University of Texas at Brownsville. He holds a doctorate in piano performance from the University of Alabama where he was awarded a Graduate Council Fellowship.

Annual Striper tournament

Sign ups are now taking place for the annual Striper Tournament on Aug. 2. The rules and sign up information is at The Rhumb Line and registration needs to be done prior to the Aug. 2 event. The cost is $20 for adults and $10 for those under 17. There is a free t-shirt and cookout at The Rhumb Line at the 3 p.m. weigh-in. There was more than $1,200 in cash prizes awarded last year. Sponsors include Browns Yacht Yard. Winchester Fishing Co. Cape Ann Marina Sale and Service, Seaside Graphics Cape Ann Whale Watch, Capt. Bill's Whale Watch and Rule Industries.

Sculpture show opens at museum

The Cape Ann Museum will open an exhibition of work by sculptor James T. McClellan (1910 — 2005) on Aug. 2 with a public reception 3 p.m. The show runs through Oct. 19.

McClellan, was born in Haverhill and raised in Andover. He attended Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield and graduated in 1934 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He began to sculpt at the age of 21 and studied sculpture in Boston with Charles Hopkinson and in New York with Harvey Dunn. He attended the George Demetrios School of Drawing & Sculpture. He lived for a number of years in Folly Cove where he served as studio assistant to George Demetrios and where he met other notable Cape Ann sculptors including Walker Hancock and Paul Manship.

McClellan moved to Ipswich in 1947 after four years in the Army during World War II. Initially he worked in construction and helped to build the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge over the Annisquam River. He also worked in boat yards in Newburyport, Salem and Gloucester. By the mid-1960s he was sculpting full-time on commission from a self-built studio in the barn next to his Ipswich home.

McClellan created both indoor and outdoor installations in wood|including ebony, teak, antique mahogany, black walnut, cherry and apple|as well as in iron, stone, lead, ceramic, brass, gold leafing and polychrome. His subjects ranged from people and animals to remarkable creatures such as mermaids, dragons, griffins, phoenixes, sea monsters, and seahorses, all inspired by Norse and Greek mythology. He also worked with Gloucester's C.B. Fisk Organ Company, creating elaborately carved wood housings for organs.

McClellan's work has been exhibited widely in the Northeast. He was a member of the Copley Society of Boston, and was awarded the Prix de Rome twice. On Cape Ann, McClellan is probably best known for his carved wooden doors which for several years served as the entrance to the Sawyer Free Library, as well as a figurehead that once hung on The Ship Restaurant on Route 1 in Saugus.

For information call 978-283-0455 or visit www.capeannmuseum.org.

Cape Ann Museum has concert

Cape Ann's resident chamber music ensemble, Music at Eden's Edge, will present a concert at Cape Ann Museum on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 8 p.m. as part of its Summer Chamber Music Series. High Summer Suggestion: Mostly Viennese celebrates the elegant musical art of Vienna. The concert balances passion, depth and delight in two classical Piano Trios, Mozart E Major, K. 542 and Haydn C Minor.

"Juxtaposed with the fiery and bold Strauss Cello Sonata, this program presents a multi-faceted profile of Vienna's rich musical life, from its own Haydn and Mozart to the influential late German Romantic, Richard Strauss," according to a press release. The performing artists are Emmanuel Feldman, cello; Maria Benotti, violin; and Paul Orgel, piano.

The museum will open at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of the performance so that audience members will have the opportunity to visit the galleries and special exhibitions. Admission is $20, $18 for museum members/seniors/students. A rate of $65 is offered for families. Reservations are required and seats can be reserved by calling the museum at 978-283-0455.

Beaux Arts Ball

The Rocky Neck Art Colony will host its annual Beaux Arts Costume Ball on Wednesday, Aug. 13 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at The Studio Restaurant at 51 Rocky Neck Ave. in Gloucester.

The theme is "Flower Power." Prizes will be awarded for outstanding costumes. Costumes are optional. A DJ will spin songs for all ages, hors d'oeuvres are included, cash bar available. A silent auction will be held and the doors open at 6:30 p.m. the night of the Ball to preview auction items which includes artwork, jewelry, services and more. Tickets are available at the shop, Imagine at 43 Rocky Neck Ave., or call 978-282-1346 to reserve. Tickets will be sold at the door the night of the ball.

Souls of the Sea

Three popular North Shore musicians, Allen Estes, Sal Baglio and Matt Leavenworth, will be picking their guitars and fiddle and singing aboard the Schooner Thomas E. Lannon on Thursday, Aug. 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on a sunset cruise around Gloucester harbor. They will play tunes from their Souls of the Sea CD. The Lannon sets sail from Seven Seas Wharf, next to the Gloucester House Restaurant. Go to www.schooner.org or call 978-281-6634 for information and reservations.

Final shows of "Going to St. Ives"

This is the final week of "Going to St. Ives" at Gloucester Stage Company. The show centers on the lives of two powerful women, an affluent English doctor and the mother of an African dictator, which become irrevocably intertwined in a plot, which will follow them to the end of their lives.

The drama, written by the award-winning playwright Lee Blessing, features Gloucester resident and Academy Award nominee Lindsay Crouse and Elliot Norton Award Winner Jacqui Parker. The show, directed by Eric Engel, runs through Aug. 3 in the air-conditioned theater at 267 East Main St. in East Gloucester.

For reservations or information, call the box office at 978-281-4433 or visit www.gloucesterstage.org.

Meet: Anastas, Gibson and Philbrick

Peter Anastas, Gregory Gibson, and Rodman Philbrick will discuss a literary sense of place in their writings at a special event on Thursday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. in the Rockport Public Library. This program is part of the Summer Literary Series jointly sponsored by the Friends of the Library, Toad Hall Bookstore, and the Rockport Public Library. The next event in this series will take place on Aug. 14, when award-winning author Julia Glass will discuss her forthcoming book, "I see you everywhere." All events are free and open to the public. The library is handicapped accessible.

Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front

Author Todd DePastino will give an illustrated talk on the World War II cartoonist Bill Mauldin at a free Gloucester Lyceum event tonight at 7 p.m. at the Sawyer Free Library.

Mauldin was an army infantry sergeant who rocketed to fame at age 22 with his popular feature "Up Front." Week after week, Mauldin defied army censors, German artillery, and General George Patton's pledge to throw him in jail. His work ran in hundreds of homefront newspapers. There, readers followed the stories of Willie and Joe, two wise-cracking 'dogfaces' whose mud-caked uniforms and army slang bore witness to the world of combat.

DePastino is the author of "Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front" and editor of "Willie & Joe: The WWII Years," a collection of Mauldin's World War II cartoons. He is also the author of "Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America" and editor of "The Road" by Jack London. He has a Ph.D. in American History from Yale University and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and elsewhere. For information call 978-281-9763.

Old Cold Tater on Sunday

The free 2008 Summer Concert Series continues on Sunday at the Antonio Gentile Bandstand in Stage Fort Park with local favorites the acoustic bluegrass masters Old Cold Tater at 7 p.m.; The Cape Ann Community Band takes the concert stage on Sunday, August 10 at 7 p.m.; Country and western favorites John Penny Band bring a country flair to the Bandstand on Sunday, August 17 at 7 p.m. and The rhythm and blues rock of Overdrive closes the concert series on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m.

The Compaq Big Band has been rescheduled on Wednesday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m.

There is ample free parking for all concerts at Stage Fort Park. For further information call 978-281-0543.

Around Cape Ann is a column devoted to events happening on Cape Ann and artists from Cape Ann performing elsewhere. If you would like to submit an item, contact reporter Gail McCarthy at 978-283-7000, ext. 3445 or gmccarthy@ecnnews.com, or fax to 978-281-5748.