Clear skies on Sunday, with temperatures in the lower 60s. It looks like the Guild for Early Music may have lucked out again, weather-wise, for this weekend’s Early Music Festival at Hamilton’s Grounds For Sculpture. The event will take place on Sunday, from 12:30 to 5 p.m. ET.
For the tenth year, the Guild will present music of the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Early American eras at the Seward Johnson Center for the Arts, performing on often exotic stringed and wind instruments. In recent years, the event has grown to encompass two auditoriums. Representatives of the Guild will also stroll the grounds in costume.
Over 150 of Johnson’s outdoor sculptures are currently on display, including a 26-foot tall, 36,000 pound likeness of Marilyn Monroe, captured in her iconic pose atop a subway grate from “The Seven Year Itch.” Johnson’s three dimensional recreations of famous paintings like Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party” continue to be popular attractions.
WWFM’s Alan Kelly, host of the early music program “Distant Mirror” (which can be heard Fridays at 10 p.m.) and David Osenberg, recipient of this year’s ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Radio Broadcast Award for his program “Cadenza” (which can be heard Thursdays at 10 p.m.), will emcee the afternoon of mini-concerts. WWFM, of course, can be heard at 89.1 FM or online at http://www.wwfm.org.
Autumn is a lovely time to visit GFS, established by Johnson on the site of the former New Jersey State Fairgrounds, with its 42-acre sculpture garden, replete with fountains, peacocks and turning leaves.
The event is free with admission to park. Read more about it in my preview in today’s Trenton Times:
http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2014/10/classical_music_guild_for_earl.html