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Tag: Musicopia

Musicopia Inspires Young Musicians in Philly

Thanks very much to Denise Kinney for making the drive up from Philadelphia this afternoon to talk with us at WWFM – The Classical Network about Musicopia, an organization that creates opportunities for young people to experience, learn, perform, and appreciate music. Kinney is the organization’s executive director.

As an added bonus, it was great to be able to enjoy a rare visit from, and conversation with, Maestro Mark Laycock, back in Princeton to help promote Musicopia and to tell us about his new composition written specifically for its young performers.

Laycock’s “Musicopia! Suite for String Orchestra” will be given its world premiere as part of a free concert, which will take place this Saturday at 5 p.m. at The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, 1904 Walnut Street, in Philadelphia.

Best wishes to Denise, Mark, and Musicopia!

May 9, 2018
Laycock’s “Musicopia” Premieres in Philadelphia

Sweet! Mark Laycock’s new work, “Musicopia! Suite for Orchestra” will receive its world premiere in Philadelphia this Saturday.

Laycock should be a familiar name to music-lovers in Central Jersey. He was music director of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra for over two decades, and has returned to Philadelphia and Princeton in recent years to lead memorable concerts with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Westminster Symphonic Choir, given in honor of the 100th birthday of humanitarian, philanthropist, and patron of the arts William H. Scheide, was filmed and broadcast nationally as part of PBS’ “Great Performances” series.

Now living in Berlin, a base that allows easy access to the orchestras of Europe, Laycock has developed a quiet sideline as a composer. He has written a Flute Concerto, a Concerto for Saxophone Quartet, and the work he considers his magnum opus, “Via Dolorosa,” scored for vocal soloists, English horn, double chorus and orchestra.

“Musicopia!” is named for the Philadelphia-based organization that provides opportunities for young people to experience, learn, perform, and appreciate music. Young performers will debut Laycock’s suite on this Saturday’s concert, which will take place at 5:00 at The Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, 1904 Walnut Street.

Learn more about the new piece and the organization’s worthy mission as I am joined by Laycock and Denise Kinney, executive director of Musicopia, this afternoon at 4:08 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

May 9, 2018
English Chamber Orchestra Plays Mozart in Philly

One of William H. Scheide’s final acts of musical beneficence will be made manifest this Tuesday, when Mark Laycock conducts the English Chamber Orchestra at the The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

The program will include Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante in E-flat Major, K. 364, and the Symphony No. 29 in A Major, along with English composer Robin Holloway’s “Ode for Four Winds and Strings” and Sir Edward Elgar’s “Serenade for Strings.” The event will mark the English Chamber Orchestra’s first appearance in Philadelphia.

Proceeds from the concert, which will coincide with the 248th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, will benefit the Philadelphia-based non-profit organization Musicopia. Musicopia is devoted to providing music education and opportunities to the young, with the intent to inspire lifelong involvement in music and the application of related skills to all aspects of a child’s life.

For more information, visit http://www.musicopia.net.

Also, feel free to read my article in today’s Trenton Times:

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2015/01/classical_music_english_chambe.html

PHOTO: Judith Scheide will be presenting the English Chamber Orchestra, in memory of her late husband

January 23, 2015
Remembering William Scheide Bach Scholar

Princeton philanthropist, humanitarian and Bach scholar William H. Scheide died on November 14, 2014.

To mark what would have been Scheide’s 101st birthday today, WWFM commissioned me to put together a two-hour tribute, complete with interviews with those who knew him best, including oboist and recorder virtuoso John Burkhalter, conductor Mark Laycock, pianist and associate director of the Scheide Fund Mariam Nazarian, former Scheide librarian Wlliam Stoneman, WPRB radio personality (with a capital “P”) Teri Noel Towe, Bach scholar Christoph Wolff, and of course his wife, Judith Scheide.

The program will also feature rare recordings of the Bach Aria Group, an ensemble Scheide founded in 1946 and directed for over 30 years. The Bach Aria Group included as regulars or guests such musical luminaries as Eileen Farrell, Carol Smith, Jan Peerce, Maureen Forrester, Jennie Tourel, Norman Farrow, Marian Anderson, Mack Harrell, William Warfield, Julius Baker, Robert Bloom, Maurice Wilk, Oscar Shumsky, Bernard Greenhouse, Yehudi Wyner, and so many others. Robert Shaw even conducts one of the recordings.

There’s also an excerpt from a rare radio broadcast which originally aired in 1948, with Scheide explaining the mission of the group, and a private recording of Scheide at the piano, playing Chopin, at the age of 92.

In addition to his Bach research and rare book collecting, for which he is justly celebrated, Scheide aided not only Princeton University and Westminster Choir College of Rider University, but any number of charitable organizations, to promote education, health, civil rights, relief from poverty and hunger, and the general welfare of mankind.

The next Scheide benefit concert, with Laycock conducting the English Chamber Orchestra at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts on January 27, will benefit the music and education program, Musicopia.

The station has been promoting this tribute to an embarrassing degree, so it’s a good thing I finished editing it shortly before 8:00 this morning, after an all-nighter fueled by burritos and Dunkin’ Donuts tea.

It’s only seconds away. Tune in to http://www.wwfm.org at 12 ET for “William H. Scheide: A Job Well Done.” If you miss it, I’m told it will be posted on the station website. I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if it is also rerun at some point. The title is stolen from the eminently quotable Towe.

The opening is brilliant, if I do say so myself. It may get less so as the two hours grind on. It remains to be heard.

Priceless photos of the Bach Aria Group here:

http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/BAG-2.htm

January 6, 2015

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