Pianist Hiroko Sakurazawa introduces a new concert series on Sunday, October 14 in a new venue that doesn’t even have a piano. “Organizing concerts in which I don’t perform has been a wish of mine since I was finishing music college in Japan,” she writes. “I wanted to see some different views of music and how we connect to music, not as a performer or an audience. After I heard local musicians playing the Schubert C Major Quintet at the Firehouse, I thought that might be the right place. Also, the wonderful Piano Plus! series is nearby, at the Olive Free Library, but it runs only March through May. I thought it would be nice to have another music series in this area. And I know there are many wonderful local musicians and music-lovers in this area who could support the series.
“George Tsontakis, one of our great local musicians and a friend, helped to find and contact these performers. Since there is no piano at the venue, George reached out to some of his friends, including harpist Nancy Allen [of the New York Philharmonic] and violinist Phil Setzer [of the Emerson Quartet]. Allen and [flutist] Carol Wincenc have performed in this area at Maverick and the Ulster Chamber Music Series, and they kindly agreed to perform for our series because of George’s connection. I am grateful that we could have such distinguished performers here ‘in the middle of nowhere.’
“The Anello String Quartet [coming in November] accepted our offer because of George and the Emerson Quartet connection. But they also seek to have any opportunity to perform in public, since they have just started their promising career as a string quartet. We told all our performers that we have an enthusiastic audience. Also, it will be a beautiful foliage season, and they can ‘smell the roses’ in the Catskills. Finally, we pay them, and we will have a nice reception at the venue after each concert, which the audience is welcome to join.”
Alarm Might Sound begins its initial season this Sunday, October 14, with a distinguished trio including two members of the New York Philharmonic. For those unfamiliar with the venue, it can be found going south on Route 28A out of Boiceville, then taking Route 213 for just under a mile to the corner of Mill Road. As a last-minute addition, Wincenc will play “Kokopeli” by Katherine Hoover, the noted composer and flutist who died last month.
Alarm Might Sound: The Gossamer Trio, Sunday, October 14, 3 p.m., $12, Olive Fire Department, 1 Mill Road, Olivebridge; (845) 657-3311, alarmmightsound@gmail.com.
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