Doing our Part to Keep our Community Safe
Amherst Glebe Arts Response, Inc. (AGAR) regrets having to cancel all upcoming programs in March and April owing to developments with COVID-19. We would have loved to have been able to present these programs, but restrictions by government, senior citizen organizations, schools, universities, religious organizations, and arts organization on the use of buildings, restrictions of visitors, and numbers of people allowed in a group have made it seem ill advised to try to present any concerts before May. AGAR's Board of Directors will meet Mid-April to see if we can present our May concerts, or if all concerts will have to be postponed until after the end of AGAR's current season on May 30th.
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Cancelled concerts in March and April
Amherst Chamber Music Series:
AGAR's Amherst Java and Jazz Series:
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Please Note:
AGAR hopes to be able to present our May performances of “ALKEMIE: Songs of the Bestiary” on May 10th and Java & Jazz “Quintana All Stars” on May 30th as originally scheduled, and that we will be able to reschedule the March and April cancelled shows on a timely basis, perhaps even some in June. AGAR season ticket holders: You may write to amherstglebearts@gmail.com to request a refund, a deduction on next year’s season ticket, or may donate the rest of the season ticket to AGAR. AGAR's acrylic painting classes for residents at CENTRA/Fairmont Crossing and individuals attending Central Virginia Alliance for Community Living have also been postponed until the host organizations invite AGAR to resume. |
Please check back for new performance dates as they become available.
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Amherst Glebe Arts Response, Inc.
in collaboration with Northminster Evangelical Presbyterian Church present Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” Featuring Yevgeniy Dovgalyuk, violin; David Feldman, cello (permanent members of LIYA String Quartet); with Cassandra Hibbard, clarinet; and Tad Hardin, piano. This notable chamber work was composed and first performed in 1941 at a Nazi detainment camp, while composer Olivier Messiaen was a prisoner. Musicologist Naomi Amos will introduce the work in a short pre-concert lecture.
Quartet for the End of Time, (Quatuor pour la fin du temps) premiered on January 15, 1941, at the Stalag VIIIA prisoner-of-war camp, in Görlitz, Germany, where the composer had been confined since his capture in May 1940. The work’s instrumentation was determined by the instruments and performers at hand, meaning those imprisoned with Messiaen. Messiaen dedicated the quartet “in homage to the Angel of the Apocalypse, who raises his hand towards Heaven saying ‘There shall be no more time.’ ” The movement titles were drawn from the biblical Revelation to John. Messiaen composed his work offering ever-changing, often-unpredictable patterns, frequently based on prime numbers, especially 5, 7, 11, and 13. Clarinet and violin phrases tend to be reminiscent of bird songs, and motifs recur from one movement to another. The four instruments (violin, cello, clarinet, and cello) rarely play simultaneously.
Yevgeniy Dovgalyuk (violin) a native of Riga, Latvia, began studying violin at the age of six. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance from the University of Maryland as well as Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from George Mason University. Winner of numerous performance awards, Dr. Dovgalyuk, has served as Concertmaster with many orchestras throughout his career. Most recently he has accepted the Concertmaster position with the Lynchburg Symphony. Yevgeniy is a regular substitute with the National Symphony Orchestra and joined the NSO on their Russia Tour in March of 2017. He also performs with the Fairfax Symphony, National Philharmonic, and Alexandria Symphony, among others. He is actively involved with Liya Music Camp International in USA and Ukraine where he serves as the Music Director, as well as Liya Christian Ministry, in memory of his sister. He is an assistant violin professor at Liberty University and plays violin with the LIYA Quartet. David Feldman (cello) performs frequently as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician. He holds multiple cello performance degrees, studying under Alan Weinstein of the Kandinsky Trio at Roanoke College, and Brian Hodges at Boise State University, for whom he was a teaching assistant. He is an alumnus of the Castleman Quartet Program, Bowdoin International Music Festival and the Chautauqua Institution, completing additional studies under Peter Rejto, David Ying, and Steven Doane. Mr. Feldman has been a member of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra since 2008 and has performed as a concerto soloist with the Boise State University Orchestra, the New River Valley Symphony, and the Shenandoah Conservatory Orchestra. His popular music ventures include appearances with Charles Billingsly, D.J. Spooky, Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel, and the Trans Siberian Orchestra, where he was a featured soloist in 2011. Feldman also remains active as a recording studio musician, having worked with artists both nationally and internationally. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Cello at Liberty University in January of 2015. Cassandra Hibbard (clarinet) is originally from Camden, MI, and holds Music Performance degrees from Western Michigan University and Michigan State University. Her teachers have included James William King, Bradley Wong, and Caroline Hartig. She is an avid performer of solo, chamber and orchestral music. Currently, Dr. Hibbard is the Principal Clarinet of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra (previously Associate Principal Clarinet of the Mason Symphony Orchestra, Mason, Mich.). As a soloist, the International Clarinet Association recognized Dr. Hibbard for a World Premiere performance of a newly commissioned work, “Wouldn’t Harm a Fly” by Thomas Childs, in Baton Rouge, LA. in 2014. Chamber music serves as a major portion of Dr. Hibbard’s performing schedule and was the focus of her doctoral cognate. Since 2015, Dr. Hibbard has been organizing the Liberty University School of Music Faculty Chamber Music Series, which features a performance each semester. Tad Hardin (piano) maintains an active career as a pianist, vocal coach, church musician, and educator. He earned degrees from Ouachita Baptist University and the Florida State University College of Music in piano performance, vocal coaching, and chamber music. Dr. Hardin’s recital engagements and master-classes have taken him to venues throughout the U.S., Canada, South America, and Europe. His performances have included numerous guest artist series along with broadcasts on Florida Public Radio and Bolivian national television. Prior to his appointment to the Liberty University, Hardin taught on the faculty at Lawrence University’s Conservatory of Music, Spring Arbor University, and several summer festivals, including the Songfest Young Artist Program, the Festival Internacional Bach in Perú, and the Asolo Song Festival in Italy. Dr. Hardin has also worked in the field of music technology as a Performance Analyst for Zenph Sound Innovations. He served as Production Manager for collaborations with Yamaha, Sony Japan, the Dallas Wind Symphony, and the critically acclaimed album, The Spanish Masters, featuring soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and cellist Zuill Bailey. Dr. Hardin has called Lynchburg home for the past seven years and enjoys his work as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra and Coordinator of Piano Studies for the Liberty School of Music. 
Naomi Amos (pre-concert lecturer) received her B.A. at the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music, and her Master of Music at Eastman. She has taught in the music departments of Wesleyan University and Trinity College, both in Connecticut. Since 2011, she has been a faculty member in the Westover Honors College, teaching an honors seminar on Arts in the Depression, and in the University of Lynchburg Senior Symposium pro-gram. Amos conducts lecture-recitals, combining scholarly research with performance/
demonstration. Recent activities include lecture-recitals about George and Ira Gershwin, and an historical project entitled, “American Piano Music: The Effects of the Melting Pot”. She has appeared in lecture/recitals at Baldwin-Wallace College, Kentucky Wesleyan College, East Tennessee University, the University of Richmond, Colorado State University at Pueblo, and Weber State in Nebraska. Since coming to Lynchburg in 1999, Naomi has accompanied numerous Opera on the James productions and has worked as coach and accompanist for local artists, most frequently with soprano, Alicia Carter. She is a member of Forte Chamber Music. She played two performances in 2019 in a chamber ensemble at the Academy Center for the Arts. She is music director for congregation Agudath Sholom’s High Holy Days services and other special events, and teaches piano in her home studio. Top image: A prisoner orchestra at Stalag VIII-A in Goerlitz, Silesia (now Germany), with Ferdinand Carrion, a Belgian musician and prisoner-of-war, conducting. Courtesy of Sonia Beker, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
TICKETSAGAR Chamber Music Series:
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l-r Graham Harris, alto sax; Eric Hollinsworth, bass; Matthew Billings, piano; Justin Berkley, tenor sax;
Tanner Odle, drums; and Josh Barling, trumpet. Josh Barling, trumpet, was inspired at a young age by greats such as Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis. While his technique does cover numerous styles from classical to jazz and beyond, jazz is what became Josh’s focus. Having played professionally in both Dallas and San Antonio, Texas, Josh has been fortunate enough to have played with many professionals including the Commodores. In addition, he has performed with the Dallas jazz orchestra, Pete Peterson Big Band and the San Antonio Jazz Orchestra. He continues to pursue his jazz musical career in Lynchburg.
Justin Berkley, tenor sax, played lead alto sax and tenor sax in the SwayKatz band, the Lynchburg College Community Jazz Ensemble as well as tenor sax in the prestigious Vosbein Magee Big Band. In addition to playing with Flat Five, Justin plays with the Tony Camm and The Funk Allstars band. Justin resides in Forest. Matthew Billings, piano, is a multifaceted instrumentalist, programmer and sound designer who has been involved in the music scene in several cities since the beginning of his professional career. He began his music education as a student of jazz piano composition and performance. He majored in audio engineering and is contracted regularly as a studio programmer, engineer and performer. He resides in Lynchburg, working as a freelance musician, engineer and designer. Graham Harris, alto sax, is a recent graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Winchester where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Education with an instrumental jazz emphasis. He studied saxophone with Dr. Tyler Kuebler (Air Force), Dr. Timothy Roberts (Retired Navy), Dr. Charles Kinzer (Longwood University) and Luis Hernandez (Navy Commodores). His performance credits include the Shenandoah Conservatory Jazz Ensemble, Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra and numerous other jazz combos. Graham resides in Appomattox and continues to perform often in the Greater Lynchburg area. Eric Hollandsworth, bass, grew up as a cellist in Roanoke studying with Peggy McHenry, Dr. Kenneth Lurie and Alan Weinstein. While studying with Weinstein he was introduced to jazz and began his life-long love affair with the music of Davis, Monk, Mingus and Hubbard. By his early twenties, Eric had made upright and electric bass his main instruments. He became a sought-after theatre pit orchestra bassist performing regularly with several professional and community-based theaters. He also performed with the award-winning show band Cheaper Than Therapy. Tanner Odle, drums, A native of Wenatchee, WA, Tanner moved to Lynchburg in 2013 to be an early member of the Liberty University Jazz Studies program and soon after he began teaching and performing throughout Central Virginia. He developed a love for music at a young age and has since become a full-time purveyor of beats. His influences come from a spectrum of genres which include Max Roach, Art Blakey, Benny Greb, Nate Smith, and John Bonham among others. TICKETSAGAR Amherst Java & Jazz:
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Download your copy of the updated 2019-2020 AGAR Season Brochure
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The Staff and Board of Directors of Amherst Glebe Arts Response, Inc. (AGAR) remember fondly and with greatest respect our Board of Directors member Lillian Sawyer Burks, who passed from this life on November 7, 2019. ”Lil“ made many strong contributions to our work, from funding orchestral musicians’ fees for one of our earliest concerts, ”The Biber Project“ featuring violinists Robert and Richard Maxham in 2011, to her faithful role as a greeter at venue doors until spring 2019, when she was 85. Lil, a registered nurse, also advised us on matters of accessibility and arts and health. We extend our sympathy to her family, whom she loved so much. We will miss her
Catherine Bost, Melodie Fletcher, Lynn A. Hanson, Edward E. Kable, Lynn Kable, Donna Meeks,Julia Paris, Linda Zabloski.
Catherine Bost, Melodie Fletcher, Lynn A. Hanson, Edward E. Kable, Lynn Kable, Donna Meeks,Julia Paris, Linda Zabloski.
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Amherst Glebe Arts Response, Inc. (AGAR) | PO Box 117, Clifford, VA 24533 | (434) 989-3215
Email: AmherstGlebeArts@gmail.com | Facebook: AmherstGlebeArtsResponse
Email: AmherstGlebeArts@gmail.com | Facebook: AmherstGlebeArtsResponse
