Music from Poplar Hill • INAUGURAL FESTIVAL • Fall 2020
Music from Poplar Hill - The Jo Ricks Music Series is an exciting new concert series hosted by St. George’s Episcopal Church in Valley Lee, Maryland. The series celebrates its first public events with an Inaugural Festival in the fall of 2020.
CONCERT: Friday, September 18 at 7:30 PM
Rochelle Rice: Coming Home
Jazz centered pop, soul, and folk singer and composer Rochelle Rice presents intimate original music and creative arrangements of songs of some of America’s greatest songwriters. In her newest project, she explores our memories of Home. Ms. Rice says, “There is nothing like home. Nothing like the grounding, security, and sometimes challenge of being amidst the people and environment that nurtured, shaped, and maybe even what was ground zero for trauma in your life. To celebrate and name this special and complex connection, I have crafted a musical experience around the gift and struggle of Coming Home.”
INFORMANCE: Saturday, September 19 at 9 AM
Rochelle Rice: And We Shall March
Ms. Rice and bandmates at the Grand Opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 Americans marched through the streets of Washington, DC for jobs and freedom. In honor of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, vocalist, composer, and clinician, Rochelle Rice, presents songs of the social justice and the Civil Rights Movement. In an engaging and interactive “informance,” Rochelle will take listeners on a journey through the social justice causes, key figures, and the empowering music of one of the most transformative eras of American history.
• Open to the public free of charge
PERFORMANCE: Friday, October 2 at 7:30PM
The Stern/Andrist Duo
On this concert, the renowned Stern/Andrist Duo - violinist James Stern and pianist Audrey Andrist - offer a rare opportunity to hear the Violin Sonata by Amy Beach (1867-1944), the first American woman to write major works for the concert hall. Beach’s strikingly original Romantic idiom was widely respected during her era; her work has been re-discovered in recent years. The program also features Suite Populaire Espagnole by Manuel de Falla (1876–1946); the Sonata op. 12, no. 1 in D by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827); and the First Rhapsody by Béla Bartók (1881–1945).
Each an accomplished solo musician, this brilliant duo of Juilliard-trained artists is based in the Baltimore and DC area and has performed widely to critical acclaim.
Audrey Andrist and James Stern
MASTERCLASSES: Saturday, October 3 at 9AM and 1PM
James Stern and Audrey Andrist
Mr. Stern and Ms. Andrist will offer master classes to talented young Southern Maryland musicians. Participation in the master classes is by application and audition and is limited to 5 performers in each class.
9AM: Audrey Andrist Masterclass
1PM: James Stern Masterclass
• Masterclasses are open to families and friends of the participants, and to the public, free of charge.