Concord Community Music School

CCMS Student Recitals - May 31, 2024
2024-05-31 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | CCMS
(Concert #1 – 7-8PM; Recital #2: 8-9 PM)
Join us to support our students! Student recitals are part of the Concord Community Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

CCMS Adult Student Recital - May 2024
2024-05-29 19:00 - 20:00 | CCMS
Join us to support our students! Student recitals are part of the Concord Community Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

CCMS Student Recitals (2) - May 24, 2024
2024-05-24 19:00 - 21:00 | CCMS
Join us to support our students! Student recitals are part of the Concord Community Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends. Tonight is twice as nice: we have recitals at both 7 & 8 PM!
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

New Horizons Band Concert- May 2024
2024-05-23 18:30 - 19:30
The New Horizons Band is a community band that welcomes adults of all ages who play woodwind, brass, or percussion instruments. No auditions, no requirements, just reasonable comfort on your instrument to get started.
Under the direction of Maria Isaak, New Horizons at CCMS is a supportive group for those who have always wanted to learn an instrument, those who haven’t played in years, and even players who have kept their music making current and desire to play in a concert band setting.
Join us for an open-air spring concert at the Fletcher-Murphy Park (adjacent to CCMS) in Concord, NH. Rain date June 1. Learn more about the Band at ccmusicschool.org/new-horizons-band/

CCMS Puppetry Performance - May 2024
2024-05-22 19:45 - 20:30
Join CCMS faculty member Jonathan cross and his adult students for a lively, fun-filled puppetry performance. Such events are instrumental in developing students’ performance skills.
This performance is part of our 40th Anniversary Year and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free and open to the public. Seating is limited; arrive early to ensure your space.

Connected (Canterbury Singers and Northern Lights Vocal Ensemble Concert) - May 2024
2024-05-21 19:00 - 20:00
The Canterbury Singers, under the direction of Kathy Southworth, partner with the Canterbury Shaker Village to present authentic Shaker music, expanded by arrangements of American folk songs, music of early America, and inspired arrangements by a variety of composers. One of the very few non-auditioned, high quality professionally directed choral experiences for mixed voices (men and women/teens and adults blended ensemble) in the Capital Area. Learn more at ccmusicschool.org/canterbury-singers/
Northern Lights, under the direction of Peggo Horstmann Hodes, is a small women’s vocal ensemble, open by audition. Our name highlights our musical goals: to create a shimmer of sound through the power of harmony and the magic of many individual voices blending into one. We aim to expand musical boundaries, to transform ourselves and our audience through inspiring, meaningful songs, and to serve the larger community through sharing our music. We sing a variety of musical styles including folk, jazz, classical, pop, blue-grass, and body percussion. We sing a cappella or accompanied by piano. Occasionally, our own members add other instruments like guitar, banjo, and recorder. Learn more at ccmusicschool.org/northern-lights/
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Suggested donation $10.

CCMS Purple Finches Youth Chorus Concert - May 2024
2024-05-20 18:30 - 19:30 | CCMS
The Purple Finches are composed of three divisions to allow for an age-appropriate sequence of musical development. Participants learn basic music elements through high quality literature such as rhythm, solfège, ear-training, memory development, hand signs, and proper singing technique based on Kodály methods. For children also learning an instrument, it strengthens sight-reading, ear-training, and rhythmic security. For others, it’s an excellent introduction to music. And for all, it’s a rich experience of creativity and self-expression. Learn more at ccmusicschool.org/purple-finches-youth-chorus/
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

CCMS String Department Student Recital - May 2024
2024-05-18 18:00 - 19:00 | CCMS
Student recitals are part of the Concord Community Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends. This concert features our string department students.
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

CCMS Folk Department Student Recital - May 2024
2024-05-17 19:00 - 20:00 | CCMS
Student recitals are part of the Concord Community Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends. This concert features our folk department students.
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Bach's Lunch: Zefira Trio
2024-05-09 12:10 - 12:50 | CCMS Recital Hall
Zefira Trio presents “Songs Without Words.” They comprise violinist (and CCMS faculty member) Olga Patramanska-Bell, cellist Ashima Scripp, and pianist Eleanor Perrone.
The members of Zefíra have established themselves as solo artists and chamber musicians of the highest standard. They are top prize winners of many national and international competitions and appear often as soloists with orchestras or in major recital halls across the country. This commitment to excellence is the foundation of their collaboration — to combine the instrumental mastery of the soloist into the ‘many-become-one’ that defines great chamber music playing, and is achieved only by long-term association and mutuality in joint performance.
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public, thanks to the generosity of the Walker Fund. Donations are appreciated.

David Surette Mandolin Festival Concert 2024
2024-05-04 19:30 - 21:00 | CCMS Recital Hall
Join us on Saturday, May 5 at 7:30 PM for the David Surette Mandolin Festival Concert, featuring Carlo Aonzo, Dan Bui, Keith Murphy and Joe K. Walsh with special guests Susie and Julianna Burke. Admission included for Festival participants; general admission tickets for others available for through the Music School. This concert takes place in the Music School Recital Hall, and tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for older adults (ages 65+) and ages 18 and under. Tickets can be purchased at the link below, in person at the Music School or over the phone by calling 603-228-1196. Note: admission to the Saturday evening concert is included for all festival participants; registration for the weekend workshops is available online HERE or by calling 603-228-1196. For questions regarding registration, please contact Registrar Nicole Laurin at nlaurin@ccmusicschool.org.
Purchase Saturday Concert Tickets Online
Download a concert poster
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
We are thrilled to have Italy’s Carlo Aonzo with us, back again after his much-loved time here in 2017. Carlo’s mandolin education began with learning from his father in his native Savona. Renowned as a player in the Italian classical mandolin tradition, he is also at home in other styles including jazz and Italian popular music. He has recorded with many artists including David Grisman and Beppe Gambetta, been a featured soloist with symphony orchestras, and performed in numerous countries and venues from Carnegie Hall to the Vatican for the Pope. David Surette taught at Carlo’s camp in Genova Nervi in both 2018 and 2019, experiences David truly cherished.
Videos of Carlo: https://www.carloaonzo.com/video-photo
Website: https://www.carloaonzo.com/

Dan Bui of the fabulous quartet, Twisted Pine, will be with us for the first time. Dan is one of the brightest and best of the new gang of mando players. Dan is well-versed in traditional bluegrass and old-time, but equally comfortable in adventurous, genre-bending, improvisational musical settings. He also plays upright bass, is a recording engineer, and teaches. Red Line Roots says of Twisted Pine, “Each member of this band is a runaway freight train of talent on their own, but together the jubilance of sound they unleash on a crowd is something to be marveled.”
Dan plays: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=521789046195946
Dan speaks about a class he was teaching at Passim in Cambridge: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10153653470197836
Website: https://www.twistedpineband.com/

Joe K. Walsh was with us once back in 2014, and we are so happy that he will join us again. Joe is a top player and collaborates with some of the finest musicians around, most notably in Mr. Sun, an adventurous 21st-century stringband consisting of Joe, Darol Anger, Grant Gordy, and Aidan O’Donnell. A skilled and experienced teacher, Joe is on faculty at Berklee College of Music and teaches online courses through Peghead Nation. He plays in many genres – bluegrass, country, swing, jazz – and is also a singer and songwriter.
Several videos including Joe with Scott Nygaard; Joe with Darol and others: https://joekwalsh.com/photo-video
Website: https://joekwalsh.com/

Lastly, we will welcome back longtime festival favorite and friend Keith Murphy. Originally from Newfoundland and now a Vermonter, Keith brings a rich repertoire of traditional tunes and songs from the Celtic and French-Canadian traditions. A lot of you are familiar with Keith’s rhythmic style on both mandolin and guitar and his wonderful singing and foot percussion. He always gets high marks on his clear and strong teaching. A founding member of Nightingale, he performs in various settings including with his wife, fiddler Becky Tracy. Keith is on the faculty of the Brattleboro Music Center and is artistic director of BMS’s Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival, which he founded in 2008.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PfrrZI82Qk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2-2f6t_tsM&ab_channel=PeterAmidon
Website: https://blackislemusic.com/bios-press-kit/keith-murphy

David Surette Mandolin Festival 2024
2024-05-03 - 2024-05-05 | CCMS
Announcing the 2024 David Surette Mandolin Festival at the Concord Community Music School on May 4 and 5, 2024.
There will be workshops on Saturday and Sunday for all levels on things like specific styles and skills, waltzes, how to play tasty back-up songs, and more. There are classes each period for beginners to advanced levels. Each teacher will offer something for each level so you will get to be with every teacher by the end of the weekend. As always, a set of group tunes will be sent out in advance for you to work on for us to play together. The Saturday concert is included with your fee for the weekend. The Friday night concert will be a separate ticket.

Instructors for the 2024 David Surette Mandolin Festival are Carlo Aonzo, Dan Bui, Keith Murphy and Joe K. Walsh. Read more about the instructors here.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, May 3, 7:30pm – David Surette Mandolin Festival Kickoff Concert at Kittery Dance Hall featuring Carlo Aonzo, Dan Bui, Keith Murphy and Joe K. Walsh with special guests Susie and Julianna Burke https://www.thedancehallkittery.org/ (note: this is a separate ticket from Saturday and Sunday events at the Music School).
Saturday, May 4 – Participatory workshops and jams, 9:30am-5:00pm (all Saturday and Sunday events at the Concord Community Music School, Concord, NH)
Saturday, May 4, 7:30pm – David Surette Mandolin Festival Concert featuring Carlo Aonzo, Dan Bui, Keith Murphy and Joe K. Walsh with special guests Susie and Julianna Burke Purchase Saturday Concert Tickets Online
Sunday, May 5 – Workshops 9:30am-1:00pm
Lodging is available at the Hampton Inn in Concord, New Hampshire, with a special festival rate of $189 per night. Please use this link to book the group rate: Mandolin Music Festival Concord
Additional Notes: As in years past, there will be a jam session in the Music School Community Room after the Saturday concert open to all festival participants. And as always, we will be offering the option to order a delicious lunch to be delivered to the school on Saturday for an additional fee. Coffee, tea and afternoon cookies will be freely provided.

Click Here to Register for Mandolin Festival Workshops
For questions regarding registration, please contact Registrar Nicole Laurin at nlaurin@ccmusicschool.org or call 603-228-1196.

Bach's Lunch: Hildaland
2024-05-02 12:10 - 12:50 | CCMS Recital Hall
Orkney (Scotland) born fiddler Louise Bichan and Indiana (USA) mandolinist Ethan Setiawan present a collaboration and meeting of their musical worlds. A path steeped in the fiddle traditions of their respective sides of the Atlantic, the journey taken wends through Scottish, oldtime, and Swedish inspired music intertwined with contemporary compositions. Bichan’s fiddle is a melodic foil to Setiawan’s counterpoint and harmonic depth, and the two weave in and out seamlessly.
This event is part of our 40th Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public, thanks to the generosity of the Walker Fund. Donations are appreciated.

Songweavers Concert: Mother Earth, Our Home
2024-04-20 17:00 - 18:30 | South Congregational Church, 27 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH, 03301, United States
The Songweavers Women’s Chorus with Director Jennie O’Brien present a concert, Mother Earth, Our Home on Saturday, April 20 at 5:00 PM at the South Congregational Church at 27 Pleasant Street in Concord, NH. Joining the singers will be the Songweaver drummers performing West African style rhythms, co-directed by Grace and Lindsey Schust presenting music from various genres that reflect thoughts on our home, Earth. The concert will feature tunes such as “This Land is Your Land”, “Fields of Gold”, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, and “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” in celebration of Earth Day on April 22.
Songweavers is New Hampshire’s first all women’s chorus and all women’s drum group and is an ensemble of the Concord Community Music School. Founder Carolyn Parrott strongly believed that everyone can sing and created an ensemble and community where all women are welcome. Songweavers has been singing and creating community ever since!

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for children (under 18) or older adults (65+). Tickets can be purchased below via credit card, in person at the Music School or by calling us at 603-228-1196.
Purchase Tickets Here
Please note: online and phone ticketing closes at 3 pm on Saturday, April 20, and then tickets must be purchased at the door (cash or check only). We will not be creating physical tickets for this concert. Once your tickets have been purchased (online, by phone or in person) we will add you to our list and check you in at the door!
Download a concert poster

CCMS Student Recital - April 19, 2024
2024-04-19 19:00 - 20:00
Join us on April 19, 2024 to support our students! Student recitals are part of the Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This event is part of our 4oth Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Bach's Lunch: Celebrating the Great American Songbook
2024-04-11 12:10 - 12:50
Sopranos Jane Berlin Pauley and Jennie O’Brien, accompanied by collaborative pianist Kathy Southworth, present a program of music from the Great American Songbook. Swing on by to enjoy the music of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, and more!

All Bach’s lunch events are free and open to the public, thanks in part to the generosity of the Walker Fund. (And yes, people really DO bring their lunches to enjoy while listening…)

"Acoustic Evening w/ Andrew North & the Rangers" Fundraiser for CCMS
2024-04-05 19:30 - 21:00
With Openers “Jade Trio”.
Join us in the Recital Hall for a special acoustic performance. Seating is limited, so be sure to arrive early!
“It’s Steely Dan meets Frank Zappa at a 1969 Chicago Transit Authority listening party.” – Michael Witthaus, The Hippo
“Recommended for fans of Phish and the Trey Anastasio Band” – Here Comes the Flood Music
Winners of The Press Room’s 2023 Battle of the Dad Bands (a competition with more than 40 contenders)
Andrew North and the Rangers are small-town friends brought together by an adventurous approach to music. The group spans different ages, hometowns, and musical backgrounds, but they hit it off quickly at local open-mic nights. Over more than 5 years together they have honed their craft, drawing from the technical fireworks of classic rock, the spontaneity of jazz, the light-hearted fun of the jam scene, and even the intricate passages of classical composition. Their debut album, Phosphorescent Snack, showcases their genre-bending style and whimsical sense of humor. It’s a reminder that amazing things can come from unlikely places. They’ve played in support of Vertical Horizon, Firefall, Marcus Rezak’s Shred is Dead, Rootless, and Huntertones, among others.
Andrew North & The Rangers are:

Andrew North: keyboards, vocals
Randy Hunneyman: percussion
Rob O’Brien: saxophone, Roland Aerophone
Jillian Rork: saxophone
Chip Spangler: bass, vocals
Dale Grant: drums, vocals

Suggested $10 donation supports CCMS’s operating expenses, financial aid, and our Music in the Community Initiative (MICI).

CCMS Student Recital - March 29, 2024
2024-03-29 19:00 - 20:00
Join us on March 29, 2024 to support our students! Student recitals are part of the Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This event is part of our 4oth Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Cancelled - CCMS Student Recital - March 15, 2024
2024-03-15 19:00 - 20:00
This performance is being postponed until March 29. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Student recitals are part of the Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This event is part of our 4oth Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Bach's Lunch: Celtic Classics
2024-03-14 12:10 - 12:50
Join us for some of the most beloved songs and fiddle tunes from the Celtic tradition. Fiddlers Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki, Liz Faiella, and Audrey Budington, with guitarist Dan Faiella will present toe-tapping favorites and share a story or two.

All Bach’s lunch events are free and open to the public, thanks in part to the generosity of the Walker Fund. (And yes, people really DO bring their lunches to enjoy while listening…)

Max Roach Centennial Celebration with the CCMS All-Stars
2024-03-07 19:00 - 20:30 | Bank of NH Stage, 16 South Main Street, Concord, NH, 03301, United States
Tickets now on sale via the Capitol Center for the Arts here.

Discount on Full Tables. Buy four or more tickets in the table section and enter the Discount code “Table” during checkout to save $50 on a group of 4.
Buy any seat and receive an invitation to our pre-show VIP reception from 5:30pm-6:30pm and meet the musicians!
This event will be held at the Bank of New Hampshire Stage.

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Join us as we celebrate the centennial year of one of the 20th century’s most influential musicians: drummer, bandleader, composer and social activist, Max Roach. Roach began his career in the 1940s, playing alongside other luminaries like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Miles Davis and Charles Mingus. In 1954 he formed the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet which helped define the Hard Bop sound. His recordings in the 1960s were landmarks of the civil rights era. Max Roach left an everlasting impression on music, culture and our community.

Concord Community Music School’s Jazz Faculty will be joined by distinguished alumni as the CCMS Jazz All-Stars to celebrate Max Roach’s musical legacy.
Performers:
Jared Steer- drum set (ccms faculty)
Eric Klaxton- tenor sax (ccms faculty)
Mark Shilansky- piano (ccms alumni)
Matt Hogan- bass (ccms alumni)

Matt Hogan is a CCMS alumni and proud parent of two second generation CCMS students. A native of Concord, Matt initially fell in love with music as a young child while laying on the living room floor and listening to his father play his old Hammond organ. Matt studied piano with Andy O’Brien and bass with Ray Lassonde and Don Williams before attending the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music. There he studied with Nat Reeves, Steve Davis, Jackie McLean, and Andy LaVerne among many others.
In 2009, Matt moved to Tokyo with his wife Sarah, where he joined the vibrant jazz scene on bass. Matt performed regularly at the Mandarin Oriental, Park Hyatt, and at many live houses and venues across Tokyo. Matt also performed on keys with two popular Tokyo pop groups, Moss and The Watanabes. His keyboard work has been heard on NHK and CNN, and he performed in and organized numerous charity concerts and performances in the wake of the 2011 disasters in Japan.
In 2014 Matt and his growing family moved back to New Hampshire, where he rejoined the jazz scene and was a founding member of popular NH band Trade. Matt continues to perform regularly and is currently working on an album of original material. He lives in Gilmanton with his wife Sarah and two children, dancer/pianist June and drummer Liam.
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Jared Steer is an active performer/educator based in central NH. He received a BA in Music Performance from Plymouth State College. There he studied drum set and percussion with Tim Gilmore, Eric C. Hughes and Craig Fahey. After receiving his degree he continued studies with Rakalam Bob Moses, Bob Gullotti, Jeff Ballard, Dave Dicenso, Steve Michaud, Thierry Arpino, Jerry Leake and Greg Hutchinson. In 2017 he went back to PSU to take classes toward obtaining a music education degree.
Jared either currently or has held faculty positions at the Manchester Community Music School, Holderness School, New Hampton School, Fryeburg Academy, Tilton School, Interlakes School District, and Sant Bani School. He facilitates drum workshops from school and community events. He performs and records regionally as well as nationally with a variety of groups and ensembles.
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Eric Klaxton performs frequently with many notable ensembles, including The Soggy Po Boys, Sojoy, OurBigBand, and composes and arranges for a number of his own groups. He earned his B.A. in Saxophone Performance at the University of New Hampshire where he studied jazz harmony with Mark Shilanksy, arranging with Mike Annicchiarico, and worked with such inspiring visiting artists as Clark Terry, Frank Wess, Terell Stafford, Jimmy Heath, and Stjepko Gut. Eric enjoys the arts across a broad spectrum, seeking inspiration from the works of great philosophers, classical composers, modern authors, directors, and visual artists.
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Mark Shilansky “Inventive, modern mainstream jazz pianist” (Jon Garelick, Boston Globe) Mark Shilansky provides melodic improvisation and infectious compositions on his own and to a host of jazz luminaries, as well as to the classroom, as a professor at Berklee College of Music and the University of New Hampshire. Shilansky’s six recordings as a leader include 2007’s “Join the Club,” a mostly Latin Jazz affair featuring David Bowie saxist Donny McCaslin, and 2013’s “Fugue Mill,” the eponymous debut of his Jazz/Bluegrass/Celtic project featuring violin phenom Sara Caswell, and he is featured on over 60 recordings as a keyboardist, vocalist, composer/arranger, or producer, and in performance as band member for such artists as the New York Voices, Luciana Souza, and David Thorne Scott. As an artist he embraces the history of the styles in which he works, while seeking connections between them as a way of expressing a personal musical vision, characterized by lush harmonies, the exploration of the line between composition and improvisation, and an ever-present sense of humor. His works have been recorded by Robin McKelle, Kim Nazarian, and by Jazz All-State and College ensembles around the world.

Bach's Lunch: A Mountain in Miniature: Exploring the Irish Musical Tradition through the Lens of a Single Tune
2024-03-07 12:10 - 12:50
The Irish folk music tradition encompasses a wide range of regional variations, instruments, and influences. In this lecture, CCMS faculty member Dan Faiella will select a single traditional Irish tune, and use it as a window through which we can view the tradition as a whole.
By listening to live and recorded performances of the tune, we will track the tune’s development through the last hundred years, explore how different instruments have altered the shape and character of the tune, and learn about influences ranging from Baroque to jazz improvisation.
This event is free and open to the public. The Bach’s Lunch Series is made possible in part through the generosity of the Walker Fund.

CCMS Integrated Arts Recital - Feb 22, 2024
2024-02-22 19:00 - 20:00
Join us on February 22, 2024 to support our students! Student recitals are part of the Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This performance is extra-special because participants have the opportunity to display visual art they have created, using their music as inspiration. These images will be projected on screen as they perform.
This event is part of our 4oth Anniversary Year celebration and will be held in our historic Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Bach's Lunch: Share the Love Valentine's Day Concert with Peggo, Paul, and Friends
2024-02-08 12:10 - 12:50 | CCMS Recital Hall
Peggo and Paul Hodes met to play music when Peggo advertised in the Boston Phoenix for a husband under the guise of looking for a guitar player to round out her folk duo. Two kids, seven albums and forty-five years later, they’re still making music together. He plays by ear. She is a classically trained vocalist. They’ve collaborated on numerous compositions and recordings during that time including composing original songs in family, folk, rock, jazz and acapella formats.

For their “Spread the Love” concert, they’ll be joined by the talented multi-instrumentalist Kent Allyn, their long-time collaborator. Kent is widely known as part of the glue that helps Peggo & Paul, as well as many other musicians bridge musical worlds and make it through rehearsals unscathed. They’ll also be joined by their daughter Ariana, who grew up at CCMS and is a singer-songwriter living in Nashville. Ariana has released independent country charted hits with “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” and “Brand New Key” and an EP of original songs titled “Workin’ to Drink”. Ariana wrote the title song for this year’s concert “Spread the Love”. This year’s show will feature new songs by Ariana, New England songwriters, Paul’s originals and other longtime fan favorites.

In their early days, Peggo and Paul toured and played music as Peggosus for kids and families, winning two Parent’s Choice awards for their innovative kid friendly rock and roll. As Peggo and Paul, they’ve recorded and released numerous folk oriented albums. With Kent, they’ve played fairs, festivals, concerts, coffee-houses, band shells and the White House. These days, they weave together elements of pop, jazz, traditional folk, singer-songwriter, and originals that feature Peggo’s wide-ranging vocal abilities, Paul’s bluesy bent, Kent’s rhythmic and harmonic flavors and a whole lot of humor.

All Bach’s Lunch events are free and open to the public, thanks in part to the generosity of its sponsor, The Walker Fund. Seating is limited; donations appreciated.

Bach's Lunch: Echoes of Struggle and Triumph
2024-02-01 12:10 - 12:50 | CCMS Recital Hall
Travel back in time with flutist Erin Dubois, clarinetist Stephanie Ratté Jenkins, and bassoonist Maria Isaak to the World Wars through the sounds and experiences of four different composers. The program includes music from Rosy Wertheim, a Dutch Jewish composer who lived and hid in Amsterdam during World War II; Walter Piston, an American Composer born in Maine who became a Navy musician during World War I; Jacques Ibert, a French Composer whose musical studies were interrupted during World War I and his music later banned during World War II; and Joachim Kötschau, a German composer and organist who was 26 when World War II began.
Amongst the struggle and desolation of this specific time in history, each piece has notes of playfulness and delight that are mixed with moments of thick, expansive, and rich harmonies filled with longing. Written in 1942 while she was in hiding, Wertheim’s Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon explores the colors and timbres of the three woodwind instruments through her unique style of blending dissonance and harmony. Piston’s Three Pieces for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon is a set of character pieces: the first a sprightly march, the second a polyphonically engaged couple in the upper woodwinds against the more rhetorical bassoon, and the third a vigorous conversation interrupted in the middle by a bird-song like cadenza in the flute. Ibert’s Cinq Pieces for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon was originally written for oboe, clarinet and bassoon. Written in 1935, the five pieces make up the charm and wit that can be found in many of Ibert’s works. The miniatures contrast each other with alternating fast and slow tempi and each has an inviting tune that utilises all of the three instruments’ ranges. Kötschau’s Divertimento in Bb for Woodwind Trio is a lesser known work and not often performed. Full of vigor and cheerfulness, it calls for virtuosic playing on the part of the musicians.

All Bach’s Lunch events are free and open to the public, thanks in part to the generosity of its sponsor, The Walker Fund. Seating is limited; donations appreciated.

RESCHEDULED - CCMS Teen Folk Ensemble Recital - Jan 30, 2024
2024-01-30 18:00 - 19:00
(We pushed this out a week because the Jan 16 snowstorm cut into our rehearsal schedules.)
Join us and support our students! Student recitals are part of the Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This event will be held in our Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

CCMS Student Recital and Puppetry Performance - Jan 26, 2024
2024-01-26 19:00 - 20:00
Join us to support our student musicians and puppeteers! Student recitals are part of the Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This event will be held in our Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

What Can the Spirit Believe?: The Music of William Fletcher
2024-01-20 19:30 - 21:00 | CCMS
This show is now sold out!
Join us for an evening of works by hometown Concord, NH composer William Fletcher! A selection of vocal and chamber music will range from his earliest to his most recent pieces. Many of the pieces were written for long-term friends and colleagues, often at their request and with their particular gifts and tastes in mind. Featured performers are Peggo Horstmann-Hodes, Calvin Herst, Stephanie Ratté Jenkins, Kathy Southworth, Elizabeth Gunlogson, Jennifer Paris-Yeaton, and Mosaic Ensemble. Fletcher’s music aspires toward warmth, lightness and joy, things he feels the world always needs more of. This event will be held in our historic Recital Hall. Seating is limited; advance ticket purchase is recommended.
Tickets are $20; $15 for students and seniors. Purchase tickets by calling 603-228-1196 or Purchase Tickets Online
About William Fletcher
Composer, teacher and conductor William A. Fletcher can trace his fascination with music to a specific event: a free concert given by a then-new duo, Simon and Garfunkel, when he was 12 years old. He took up guitar that very week, and joyfully played it for hours each day, everyday for the next 15 years.
He holds degrees in Choral Music Education and in Music Theory and Composition from the University of New Hampshire, where he studied conducting with Cleveland Howard and Stanley Hettinger. He retired, after 37 years, from the faculty of St. Paul’s School, where, in addition to his duties as Choirmaster for 30 years, Mr. Fletcher taught voice, composition and music theory. He has held the position of vocal department chair of the Concord Community Music School, where he also coached the Scholarship Vocal Ensemble and where he currently teaches composition. In addition, he has taught public schools in both Weston, CT and Horseheads, NY.
Mr. Fletcher has served as adjudicator and guest conductor of music festivals throughout New England, including the 1987 and 1990 N.H. Jazz All-State Choirs. As music director of the Concord Chorale, a 75 voice auditioned community chorus, he has led tours of France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Canada and Czechoslovakia. Additionally, he was a founding member and pandorist with The Goodmorrow Consort, a group which performed Elizabethan broken consort music on period instruments.
A respected composer, his compositions for voice and piano have been performed throughout the United States, and has received commissions from the Christa MacAuliffe Planetarium, The Concord Community Music School, The Concord Chorale, The Infinities Ensemble, the Encounters Trio and St. Paul’s School as well as from performers Peggo Horstmann Hodes, Mark Andrew Cleveland, Kathleen Lyon-Pingree, Stephanie Ratté Jenkins, Gregg Pauley and Jean Benson.
Mr. Fletcher has produced recordings for Steve Schuch, The Night Heron Consort, Wellspring, femme m’amie, Peggo & Paul, St. Paul’s School, Lucy Chapin, Johnny Nicholson, and soprano Holly Outwin-Tepe, among others.

CCMS Student Recital - Jan 19, 2024
2024-01-19 19:00 - 20:00
Join us on January 19, 2024 to support our students! Student recitals are part of the Music School’s multi-level curriculum for private lesson students. These frequent performance opportunities help our students perform more easily, broaden their musical skills, and help them make new musical friends.
This event will be held in our Recital Hall. It is free of charge and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

New Horizons Band Concert - January 18, 2024
2024-01-18 19:00 - 20:00 | City Wide Community Center, 14 Canterbury Road, Concord, NH, 03301, United States
The New Horizons Band and director Maria Isaak will present a winter concert at the Harriet Dame Auditorium located at the City Wide Community Center in Concord on Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 7 pm.
The New Horizons Band is a supportive group for those who have always wanted to learn an instrument, those who haven’t played in years, and even players who have kept their music making current and desire to play in a concert band setting. The band rehearses at CCMS on Thursday evenings. Learn more here.
Members of CCMS’s Purple Finches Youth Chorus, also directed by Maria Isaak, will join the band, as well as the Canterbury Singers with director Kathy Southworth. Learn more about Purple Finches here and Canterbury Singers here.
This concert is free and open to the public. Donations are gratefully accepted and help us keep these groups affordable for participants.
