It was bitterly cold outside, as millions of people watched the trembling masters perform John William’s score “Air and Simple Gifts.” A few minutes after the applause abated that sunny day, Barack Obama formally took the oath of office as president of the United States.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gabriela Montero

Montero, a key participant in that historic inaugural ceremony, is bringing her musical talents to a warmer venue this week – the Austin Peay State University Concert Hall in the Music/Mass Communication Building. She takes the stage at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 8, as part of the Clarksville Community Concert Series.

Montero’s performance is the second in a series of five outstanding concerts coming to town thanks to the Clarksville Community Concert Association. The CCCA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting musical performances of high merit to Clarksville-Montgomery County. The CCCA is partially funded by the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts.

Montero, a Venezuela native, has earned an esteemed reputation in the world of classical music over the years. The first portion of the show will consist of her performing pieces by Johannes Brahms and Alberto Ginastera. After a brief intermission, she will enthrall the audience with her notorious improvisational skills. According to her Web site, www.gabrielamontero.com, the pianist “often invites her audience to participate in asking for a melody for improvisations. They ask for themes from a Mozart symphony to ‘Star Wars.’” Audience members should be prepared to sing the theme if she does not know it.

“Because improvisation is such a huge part of who I am,” Montero said, “it is the most natural and spontaneous way I can express myself. I have been improvising since my hands first touched the keyboard, but for many years I kept this aspect of my playing secret.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Her “secret” talent will be exposed on Thursday, and tickets to the performance are free for APSU students, $12 for all other students and $25 for everyone else.

Information about the concert series is available online at www.clarksvillemusic.org.

The Todd Hill Orchestra has been entertaining for twenty-four years. The Orchestra has been featured at a number of venues, ranging from Mississippi Casinos to upscale Concert Halls. The vast majority of the musicians in the Orchestra have been members for more than fifteen years, eight members have served over twenty years.

The Todd Hill Orchestra

The musical numbers they played were upbeat, with that crisp clean sound that is the signature of the Big Band Era. The Brass Section raised the roof on the concert hall, at least once or twice during the evening. Director Todd Hill played the Piano, and for most of the evening provided vocals when needed. Derek Jones provided the vocals for one number, during the rest of the evening he played either the Alto Sax or the Clarinet, he also had several outstanding sax solos.

A number of the Orchestra members were former Austin Peay students, and one lead trumpet player Richard Steffen is a faculty member in the APSU Music Department.

If you missed the show last night, the Todd Hill Orchestra graciously allowed me to provide the following video of them performing Dizzy Gillespie’s A Night in Tunisia.

Click here to view the embedded video.

They also have a CD available at their web site, http://toddhillorchestra.com/Home.html

The show was the first of a series of five outstanding concerts that are being brought to town by the Clarksville Community Concert Association (CCCA)

The CCCA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting musical performances of high merit to Clarksville-Montgomery County. The CCCA receives funding by the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, series subscriptions, corporate donors, private contributions, and ticket sales.

Gabriela Montero

The next concert in the series is set for October 8th at 7:30 p.m., and features the lovely and talented pianist Gabriela Montero. She along with Cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and clarinetist Anthony McGill played at the Obama inauguration. The song by John Williams was pre-recorded due to the extremely cold weather.

Montero frequently interacts with the audience during her performances, to the point of asking them to suggest a melody, then improvising the song for them. “When improvising,” Gabriela says, “I connect to my audience in a completely unique way – and they connect with me. Because improvisation is such a huge part of who I am, it is the most natural and spontaneous way I can express myself. I have been improvising since my hands first touched the keyboard, but for many years I kept this aspect of my playing secret. Then Martha Argerich overheard me improvising one day and was ecstatic. In fact, it was Martha who persuaded me that it was possible to combine my career as a serious ‘classical’ artist with the side of me that is rather unique.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

I hope to see you there!

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The Orchestra, which has been performing throughout the mid-south for the last 24 years, takes the stage at 7:30 p.m., Aug. 31 in the APSU Music/Mass Communication Building. Once the lights go down, the up-tempo and nostalgic sounds of 1930s and 1940s America will ring through the auditorium as they perform classic arrangements from great bandleaders such as Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman.

The Todd Hill Orchestra

Monday’s show, however, is only the first in a series of five outstanding concerts coming to town thanks to the Clarksville Community Concert Association. The CCCA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting musical performances of high merit to Clarksville-Montgomery County. The CCCA is partially funded by the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts.

On Oct. 8, the series will bring pianist Gabriela Montero to town. The Venezuela native previously performed at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

This Jan. 10, 2010, Nikolai Massenkoff, star of the Massenkoff Russian Folk Festival will bring his unique vocal talents to APSU.

A little more than a month later, on Feb. 22, the Gateway Chamber Ensemble, made up of many of the area’s leading musicians, will perform a program consisting of milestone works of both the past and present.

The series comes to a close on April 10, when the Joel Frahm Jazz Quartet stops by APSU. Frahm was recently selected in DownBeat Magazine’s Critics Poll as a “Rising Star” in the category of tenor saxophone.

Tickets to Monday’s performance by the Todd Hill Orchestra are free for APSU students, $12 for all other students and $25 for everyone else.

Information about the concert series is available online at www.clarksvillemusic.org.

The series kicks off at 7:30 p.m., on Monday, August 31st in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall with the Todd Hill Orchestra. Also appearing this year is Gabriela Montero, The Massenkoff Russian Folk Festival, The Gateway Chamber Ensemble, and closing out this years series in April 2010 is the Joel Frahm Jazz Quartet.

The Todd Hill Orchestra

The Todd Hill Orchestra presents the absolute best music of the Swing Era with original arrangements of the great bands such as Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman, along with more modern interpretations of standards from the great American “songbook,” and the contrasting swinging and romantic vocals by the leader.

When: 7:30 p.m., Monday, August 31, 2009

Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique improvisational gifts have won her a quickly expanding audience and devoted following around the world. Born in Caracas Venezuela, Gabriela gave her first public performance at the age of five. She performed at the inauguration for President Obama. In both recital and after performing a concerto, Gabriela often invites her audience to participate in asking for a melody for improvisations. They ask for themes from a Mozart Symphony to Star Wars. Gabriela says, “Because improvisation is such a huge part of who I am, it is the most natural and spontaneous way I can express myself. I have been improvising since my hands first touched the keyboard, but for many years I kept this aspect of my playing secret.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, October 8, 2009

Massenkoff Russian Folk Festival

Nikolai Massenkoff, Star of the MASSENKOFF RUSSIAN FOLK FESTIVAL was born in the White Russian community in Shanghai, China. He escaped Communism, and at the age of three, he was placed in St. Tichon’s Orphanage, founded by St. John of Shanghai Russian Orthodox Orphanage. It was there he had his first musical experience, singing and chanting. He went on to culminate a B.A. in Music (Voice), Drama and Speech. Nikolai studied with operatic greats from Juilliard, Villa Schifania, American Institute of Music and participated in the Tchaikovsky International Voice Competition in Moscow, Russia. In 1975, Nikolai founded the MASSENKOFF RUSSIAN FOLK FESTIVAL, a festival of Russian music song and dance because of love for his Russian heritage.

Click here to view the embedded video.

When: 3 p.m., Sunday, January 24, 2010

Gateway Chamber Ensemble

The Gateway Chamber Ensemble is a new and exciting ensemble providing the Clarksville and University communities with professional level performances of milestone works of both the past and future. Making use of a flexible instrumentation, the ensemble is based around Austin Peay State University’s outstanding faculty and includes many of the area’s leading professional musicians.

When: 7:30 p.m., Monday, February 22, 2010

Joel Frahm Jazz Quartet

Born in Racine, WI in 1969, Frahm attended the Mason Gross School for the Arts and earned his B.A. in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music. He Released three highly regarded CDs on Palmetto: “The Navigator”, “Don’t Explain” (with Brad Mehldau), and “Sorry No Decaf.” “Don’t Explain,” his latest, was the number one jazz release for radio in the United States for two consecutive weeks in 2004, according to jazzweek.com. Joel was also recently selected in DownBeat Magazine’s Critics Poll as Rising Star in the category of tenor saxophone.

Click here to view the embedded video.

When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 10, 2010

Become a member

Yearly Membership

A Value Subscription Package consisting of tickets to each of the five concerts (Purchased on or before August 31, 2009)

• Family: (includes up to four children) $300
• Adult: $100
• Youth: (18 and younger or *non-APSU student with ID) $50

Individual tickets to the concerts *

• Adult: $25
• Youth: (18 and younger or *non-APSU student with ID) $12

*APSU students with valid ID admitted free to series concerts

About the Clarksville Community Concert Association

The Clarksville Community Concert Association under the auspices of Mid-Cumberland Arts League, is a nonprofit 501 (c-3) organization dedicated to presenting musical performances of high artistic merit in Clarksville-Montgomery County and promoting interest in and enjoyment of live concerts through community outreach and education.

The goals of the CCCA are achieved with support from the Austin Peay State University Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, subscriptions, corporate donors, private contributors, as well as ticket sales.

The organization is operated by an all-volunteer board of directors and officers consisting of subscribing members from the community.

Heidi Krutzen

The Clarksville Community Concert Association presented the fourth of five concerts at Austin Peay State University on March 6, featuring Trio Verlaine.

Trio Verlaine features Lorna McGhee on flute, Heidi Krutzen on Harp and David Harding on Viola. The program included Serenade Op. 23 by Ludwig von Beethoven, Sonata for Flute, Harp and Viola by Claude Debussy, and Trombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel. the performance concluded with Piazzola’s Le Grand Tango.

The series will conclude April 3 with a performance by the John Proulx Trio.

For more information, call 931-221-7876 or 931-221-7810.

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Trio Verlaine

The  Clarksville Community Concert Association will present  Trio Verlaine in concert on Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.   in conjunction with the Mid-South Flute Festival being held at Austin Peay State University.

Trio Verlaine will perform a classical concert with flute, harp and viola on Friday, March 6,  at 7:30 p.m.  Trio Verlaine will perform a classical concert with flute, harp and viola.

The members of Trio Verlaine are drawn together by friendship and a strong desire to further this unusual instrumental combination first dreamed of by Debussy. Members are Heidi Krutzen, principal harp CBC Radio Orchestra and Vancouver Opera, David Harding, professor of viola and chamber music, UBC, and Lorna McGhee, former co-principal flute BBC Symphony Orchestra, London.

They have appeared at many of North America’s finest chamber music festivals and series, including the Oregon Bach Festival, Music in the Vineyards, Sitka Summer Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains, Music in the Morning and Festival Vancouver. Trio Verlaine can be heard frequently on NPR in the U.S. and CBC radio in Canada. In addition to standard repertoire, Trio Verlaine’s exploration will include arrangements of works suited to this rare combination and the commissioning of entirely new works.

Trio Verlaine recently had the honor of being granted a commission from Seattle Chamber Music Society. The new trio by American composer, Jeffrey Cotton, will be premiered at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival in 2008. Other upcoming highlights include a BC tour with guests Jonathan Crow (former Montreal Symphony concertmaster) and Matt Haimowitz (international cello soloist) as well as numerous summer festival appearances.

The Clarksville Community Concert Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting musical performances of high artistic merit and promoting interest in and enjoyment of live concerts throughout the community.

Advanced tickets may be purchased for any of the concerts listed. Subscriptions for up to five concerts are also available for individuals of groups. For more information about advanced tickets, contact Sharon Nass, (931) 647-7288.

Imani Winds coming to APSU

Imani Winds will perform at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 23, in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall. Since 1997, this Grammy-nominated wind quintet has taken a unique path, carving out a distinct presence in the classical music world with its dynamic playing, culturally poignant programming, genre-blurring collaborations and inspirational outreach programs. With two-member composers and a deep commitment to commissioning new work, the group is enriching the traditional wind quintet repertoire while meaningfully bridging European, American, African and Latin American traditions.

In the previous season, Imani Winds performed extensively with jazz icon Wayne Shorter, culminating in a summer European tour of jazz festivals in Vienne, France, Lubeck, Germany, Kongsberg, Norway, Copenhagen, Denmark, Limerick, Ireland, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands. In 2008-09, the group will play several engagements with the Shorter Quartet, including dates at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Is Sanat Art and Culture Centre in Istanbul.

The Clarksville Community Concert Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting musical performances of high artistic merit and promoting interest in and enjoyment of live concerts throughout the community.

Advanced tickets may be purchased for any of the concerts listed. For more information about advanced tickets or purchasing a subscription, contact Sharon Nass, (931) 647-7288.

A little night music by stellar performers Beegie Adair Trio, Dennis Solee, Keri Alkema, Imani Winds and Trio Verlaine headline a season of classical and pop music.

The Austin Peay State University Department of Music and the Center of Excellence for Creative Arts is proud to announce the venue for the Clarksville Community Concert Association’s 2008-09 Concert Series. The series begins at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 15 in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall with the Beegie Adair Trio with Dennis Solee.

Entertainment News writes, “Beegie Adair is one of the finest piano players in the world.” Adair has recorded 24 CDs, ranging from Cole Porter standards to Frank Sinatra classics to romantic World War II ballads. She has accompanied such legendary performers as Chet Atkins, Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash and also worked with Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore, Mama Cass Elliott and Peggy Lee. Beegie Adair is accompanied by drummer Chris Brown, one of the most sought after drummers in the South and a veteran of the Maynard Ferguson Ensemble and bassist Roger Spencer, who has played with the Les Brown Band, Ray Conniff, the Page Cavanaugh Trio and Pete Jolly.

The Beegie Adiar Trio’s special guest, Dennis Solee, is an accomplished saxophone, flute and clarinet player who has accompanied Natalie Cole, Sammy Davis Jr. and Bob Hope.

Keri Alkema

Mezzo-soprano Keri Alkema will perform Friday, Nov. 21, at  7:30 p.m.  Alkema has been praised by the New York Times as “being an excellent female lead” and for having “an appealing brew of dark and creamy colors in her mezzo, which she yields with an incisive musicality.”

During the current season, Alkema plays Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther for a return engagement with the Chautauqua Opera, joins the Metropolitan Opera roster in its production of Die Walküre, covering the role of Siegrune and sings Handel’s Messiah with the Tucson Symphony. In Winter Park, Fla., she will be heard in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Florida Bach Festival and in Mozart’s Requiem with the Delaware Symphony. She also will offer a recital in Oberlin, Ohio, under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation.

In the 2006-07 season, Alkema made her New York City Opera debut as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, and her Naples Opera debut as Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly.  She sang Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Florida Bach Festival and Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia Symphony. She also participated in Opéra de Montréal’s Annual Gala concert.  In addition, Alkema gave a solo recital under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation in Winter Park.

Imani Winds will perform at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. Since 1997, this Grammy-nominated wind quintet has taken a unique path, carving out a distinct presence in the classical music world with its dynamic playing, culturally poignant programming, genre-blurring collaborations and inspirational outreach programs. With two-member composers and a deep commitment to commissioning new work, the group is enriching the traditional wind quintet repertoire while meaningfully bridging European, American, African and Latin American traditions.

Imani Winds

In the previous season, Imani Winds performed extensively with jazz icon Wayne Shorter, culminating in a summer European tour of jazz festivals in Vienne, France, Lubeck, Germany, Kongsberg, Norway, Copenhagen, Denmark, Limerick, Ireland, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands. In 2008-09, the group will play several engagements with the Shorter Quartet, including dates at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Is Sanat Art and Culture Centre in Istanbul.

Trio Verlaine

Trio Verlaine will perform a classical concert with flute, harp and viola on Friday, March 6, 2009, at 7:30 p.m.  Trio Verlaine will perform a classical concert with flute, harp and viola. The members of Trio Verlaine are drawn together by friendship and a strong desire to further this unusual instrumental combination first dreamed of by Debussy. Members are Heidi Krutzen, principal harp CBC Radio Orchestra and Vancouver Opera, David Harding, professor of viola and chamber music, UBC, and Lorna McGhee, former co-principal flute BBC Symphony Orchestra, London.

They have appeared at many of North America’s finest chamber music festivals and series, including the Oregon Bach Festival, Music in the Vineyards, Sitka Summer Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains, Music in the Morning and Festival Vancouver. Trio Verlaine can be heard frequently on NPR in the U.S. and CBC radio in Canada. In addition to standard repertoire, Trio Verlaine’s exploration will include arrangements of works suited to this rare combination and the commissioning of entirely new works. Trio Verlaine recently had the honor of being granted a commission from Seattle Chamber Music Society. The new trio by American composer, Jeffrey Cotton, will be premiered at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival in 2008. Other upcoming highlights include a BC tour with guests Jonathan Crow (former Montreal Symphony concertmaster) and Matt Haimowitz (international cello soloist) as well as numerous summer festival appearances.

The 2008-09 concert series concludes at 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 3 with a performance by the John Proulx Trio. Proulx is a sought-after pianist, vocalist, recording artist and Grammy-winning composer in the Los Angeles area. Proulx’s debut CD, with legendary musicians Chuck Berghofer and Joe LaBarbera, was recently released on the Max Jazz label on Aug. 1, 2006.  He has performed with many others including Anita O’Day, Mark Murphy and Marian McPartland. Proulx currently plays in the Mike Barone, Randy Aldcroft and Kim Richmond big bands and loves interacting with the pool of great jazz musicians in Los Angeles.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Clarksville Community Concert Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting musical performances of high artistic merit and promoting interest in and enjoyment of live concerts throughout the community.

Advanced tickets may be purchased for any of the concerts listed. Subscriptions for up to five concerts are also available for individuals of groups. For more information about advanced tickets or purchasing a subscription, contact Sharon Nass, (931) 647-7288.