BRATTLEBORO — Windham Orchestra invites the community to help welcome the first day of spring with a program of lunch and music at the Latchis Theatre on Thursday, March 20.
The event, dubbed “A Magic Garden,” a benefit for Brattleboro Senior Meals and Meals on Wheels programs, is directed by Maestro Hugh Keelan, who promises a colorful, diverse collection of musical gems.
An extended program will be held March 22 at an evening concert in Chester.
The program includes premières of works by local composers Jeff Stamler and Dan Seiden; performances by brilliant young soloists - and Windham Orchestra 2014 Youth Concerto Competition co-winners - Alexander Yakub on violin and Nathaniel Steele on cello; Bach's Baroque masterpiece “Brandenburg” Concerto No. 1 featuring violinist Peggy Spencer and oboist Jessica Moreau; and Ravel's exquisite, playful “Mother Goose Suite.”
Stamler, born and raised in New York, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied philosophy, and Benjamin N. Cardozo Law School, where he was a law review editor. Now an attorney, he's at work on a book about Rudolf Steiner, the cultural philosopher, and is a ski instructor at Mount Snow. He moved to Brattleboro in 2000 and renovated a home on Western Avenue, where he lives with his daughters, Allie and Lindsay.
Originally from New York City, Putney resident Dan Seiden is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer. He has a B.A. from Brown University with a music concentration, a certificate in music education from the University of Vermont, and teaches music at Putney Central School.
Windham Orchestra's 28th Annual Concerto Competition for young musicians was held in early February. Emerging from the highly competitive field were co-winners Nathaniel Steele, 14, (cellist) and Alexander “Sasha” Yakub, 17, (violinist) who attend high school in Deerfield and Amherst, Mass., respectively.
Steele, featured in both the Thursday and Saturday concerts, will perform Camille Saint-Saëns's “Cello Concerto No. 1” allegro molto. Yakub is also featured on Saturday, and will perform Saint-Saëns's “Introduction and Rondo capriccioso.”
Concertgoers at the Thursday performance are invited to bring their lunch or reserve a delicious, prepared boxed lunch to be enjoyed during the concert. Options include either Thai chicken salad or tofu “egg” salad sandwiches, with salad, dessert, and a beverage. For the full menu visit www.bmcvt.org.
Admission is $15 ($10 seniors) for boxed lunch and concert; $10 ($8 seniors) for the concert without a boxed lunch. For ticket and lunch reservations, call Brattleboro Music Center at 802-257-4523. Boxed lunches must be reserved by noon on Wednesday, March 19.
On Saturday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m., Windham Orchestra heads north for an extended concert in Chester's Green Mountain High School auditorium. Name your ticket price, from $5 to $65, for open seating. Proceeds benefit the orchestra.