December 26, 2011 - Listen with New Ears in the New Year at the January Bach’s Lunches
CONCORD, NH – The Bach’s Lunch Series, running from November through June, offers free, informal lunch-hour lectures the first Thursday of every month and a related concert the following Thursday in the Music School’s Recital Hall, 23 Wall St., downtown Concord. On January 5th, Margaret Fletcher will present a lecture titled “Listening with New Ears: A Meditative Journey.” The following Thursday, January 12th, pianist Gregg Pauley will perform: “Music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Prokofiev: Old Favorites, New Insights.” Both the lecture and concert begin at 12:10 p.m. and end by 12:50 p.m.
In her January 5th lecture, Ms. Fletcher, a teacher and practitioner of meditation as well as an experienced amateur musician, will ask “what is it like to approach each piece of music, or better yet, each moment, afresh?” Musicians and meditators share a unique challenge and opportunity: to find what is new and alive each time as they approach what seems to be familiar, in life and in music. Begin the new year by considering and practicing the art of listening with "beginner mind." As part of her lecture, Ms. Fletcher will lead a brief guided listening meditation and invite the audience to practice during the week. Return the following week on January 12th for the Bach’s Lunch concert, which will begin with a short listening meditation. The audience is invited to hear Gregg Pauley's program – featuring the music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Prokofiev – with new ears.
The Bach’s Lunch Series received a 2007 Best of NH Award from New Hampshire Magazine, named as an Editor's Pick - “best place to bring a brown-bag lunch.” The Bach’s Lunch Series is sponsored by The Timothy and Abigail B. Walker Lecture Fund and The Couch Trusts, TD Bank, N.A., Trustee. Call 603-228-1196 for information, or visit the website www.ccmusicschool.org
About the speaker/artist:
Margaret Fletcher teaches mindfulness meditation at Concord Hospital's Center for Health Promotion. She is the founding director of WellAware, whose mission is to foster health, well-being and effectiveness for individuals, companies and organizations, through the cultivation of mindfulness. Margaret is working toward professional certification in mindfulness training, through the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Center for Mindfulness. She has her 200-hour RYT in Ashtanga Yoga and teaches yoga philosophy and meditation at Living Yoga Studio in Concord, NH. Margaret was invited to share the dharma through the NH community White Mountain Sangha in 2008. Margaret previously enjoyed a 25-year background in financial services and operations management.
Gregg Pauley, piano, joined the faculty of the Music School in the fall of 1999. A native of Southern California, he earned his bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Southern California with pianist James Bonn. He earned a master’s degree at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts where he studied with Ilana Vered. In addition to many appearances at the Rutgers Summerfest, Pauley has performed in Alice Tully Hall in New York City, at Steinway Hall in Los Angeles and has been presented in recital by the Steinway Society of Princeton, the University of Southern California, the Southwestern Youth Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival and the Music Teachers’ National Association Convention, among others. He has performed on WQXR radio in New York and on WKPM in Portland, Maine where he was the featured soloist in a live broadcast of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. Pauley has been a top prizewinner at many competitions, including the Johanna Hodges International Piano Competition, the Portland Symphony-Priscilla Morneault Piano Competition and the Hampton Summerfest Competition.