2 concerts this week offer choral, instrumental programs

The Skidmore Community Chorus and the Vocal Chamber Ensemble will present its spring concert at 8 p.m. Friday, April 19, featuring a program of songs inspired by love and destiny. The vocal groups will be accompanied by orchestra and there will be a short opening presentation by the Skidmore Brass Ensemble.

Under the direction of Katie Gardiner, the concert will feature Argento’s “I Hate and I Love,” a song cycle for chorus and percussion based on the Latin poetry of Catullus; Vaughan Williams' “In Windsor Forest” adapted from the opera Sir John in Love; and Brahm’s “Shicksalslied,” meaning ‘song of fate’ in German. Additional pieces include Fauré’s “Pavane,” and William’s “Falstaff and Fairies” and “See the Chariot at Hand.”

The Skidmore Community Chorus consists of more than 100 voices, including faculty, staff, students, and community members. The Vocal Chamber Ensemble, a select group of 20 singers drawn from the chorus, performs a wide range of repertoire from all periods, including madrigals, part songs, choral works, and operatic ensembles.

Admission for the April 19 concert is free for students and children, $8 adults, and $5 seniors and Skidmore community. For advance reservations please click here or call the Zankel box office (518) 580-5321 for more information. The Zankel Music Center is wheelchair accessible and offers listening devices for the hearing impaired. For more information, please click here.

Flute concert to feature Martinson

Faculty member and alumna Shelley Smith Martinson will present a flute concert at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, in the Zankel Music Center. Patricia Hadfield will provide piano accompaniment.

Martinson has performed with Sinsonia Golf Coast, Panama City Pops Orchestra, the Muncie Symphony Orchestra and Lake George Chamber Orchestra, appearing as a soloist for the latter, as well as for the Skidmore College Orchestra and University of Akron Symphony Orchestra.

She currently serves as a guest professor and instructs the Music Department’s chamber music students. She holds a doctorate of music in flute performance with a certificate in world music from Florida State University. She obtained a master’s degree in performance and music history from the University of Akron and a B.A. in music from Skidmore College. Having performed in noteworthy symphonies nationwide as a concerto soloist, Martinson has also appeared in numerous regional and national conferences, including the Florida Flute Association and National Flute Association Conventions. She has premiered more than a dozen new works for solo flute and chamber ensembles and also studies and performs on Baroque flute.

Her previous teaching appointments include Skidmore’s Summer Flute Institute, the University of Akron, Ball State University, and Florida State University and its Summer Music Programs.

Admission for Martinson’s April 20, 2 p.m. concert is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. For advance reservations please click here or call the Zankel box office (518) 580-5321 for more information. The Zankel Music Center is wheelchair accessible and offers listening devices for the hearing impaired. For more information, please click here.