THE BIG READ Events
Emily Dickinson in Amherst, VA
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"THE BELLE OF AMHERST"
November 8-17 - 
FOR DETAILS see BIG READ 
Tickets/$10
Featuring Sally Southall
Directed by Bonnie Sue Stein
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AT 434-989-3215
more details below and on
The Big Read Page

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Amherst Chamber Music Series

Sacred and Profane: Virtuoso Countertenor arias and cantatas
Sunday, November 10, 2013 at 4:00 pm

Music of Italian baroque composers Barbara Strozzi from Venice, Nicola Antonio Porpora of Naples and Danish-born Dieterich Buxtehude. Musicians: Countertenor Charles Humphries, Anthony Harvey on archlute, theorbo and baroque guitar, Amy Domingues on viola da gamba, and a harpsichordist.  

more details below and on the
Arts Page

Tickets

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James River State Park Fall Festival and 
The Belle of Amherst

"BELLE OF AMHERST"

"The Belle of Amherst" is a play by William Luce.  Performances will take place November 8, 9, and 15,16 at 7 pm and November 10th and November 17th, Sundays at 3 pm. The play will feature Richmond actress Sally Southall, who has performed locally with Endstation Theatre Company and the Renaissance Theatre. The Director is Bonnie Sue Stein from New York.  
All performances at the Amherst Glebe, 156 Patrick Henry Highway, Amherst, VA 24521. Information: 434-989-3215.
Tickets $10. Please get tickets in advance -- very limited seating. Tickets available through www.LynchburgTickets.com. 

To read a blog about the creation of Ms. Southall's dress to portray Emily in "THE BELLE OF AMHERST," please see costume designer Tanya Bukach's notes about her historical research and work methods at www.tbukach.wordpress.com 

To see the promotional poster, click HERE

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Sacred and Profane: Virtuoso countertenor arias and cantatas performed 
by Charles Humphries

English counter-tenor, Charles Humphries, returns to Amherst in 2013 to bring an exciting new program titled “Sacred and Profane.”  The sacred will be musically represented in works of Dietrich Buxtehude, Danish born composer of vocal, organ and chamber works, who supported himself as a church organist. The profane is represented by the life of Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi, who was rumoured to have supported her composition work with activities as a courtesan. Strozzi was one of the most prolific composers of secular vocal music in Venice in the 17th Century, and her songs were the first by a woman composer to be published separately, not in a collection with others.  For the past two years, Charles Humphries has been performing and studying the work of Strozzi in collaboration with the National Cathedral in Washington. 
 Charles Humphries studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Charles Brett, Michael Chance and James Bowman and was later awarded the role of Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. He continues his studies with Paul Farrington.

Charles Humphries appears regularly as a soloist, not only alongside the recognised baroque ensembles of Britain, but also in his own right throughout the UK and Europe. These appearances include venues such as the Barbican Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels as well as the cities of Copenhagen, Oslo, Prague and Warsaw. Conductors that he has worked for as a soloist include Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Richard Hickox, Robert King, Paul McCreesh,Nicholas McGegan, James O'Donnell, Trevor Pinnock, Rinaldo Alessandrini and Lars Ulrik Mortensen. 

Operatic engagements have included the role of Delfa, Giasone (Cavalli) at the Megaron in Athens, the title role in Pompeo Magno (Cavalli) at the Varazdin Festival of Baroque Music in Croatia, Lichas Hercules at the Hans-Otto Theater inPotsdam, the title role in Lucio Silla at the Händel Festival in Karlsruhe, the title role in Tamerlano for the Britten-Pears School and The Sorceress for The King’s Consort. Recent solo concert highlights have included working alongside The King’s Consort, Gabrieli Consort, Ulster Orchestra, Northern Chamber Orchestra and Concerto Copenhagen. Last season (2004-2005) allowed him to make his Slovenian debut in televised performances of George Frideric Handel's Judas Maccabaeus and he performed a solo recital of Purcell's music for the Riga Domfest. 

Charles Humphries recently sang the role of Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare for the Norwegian National Opera to great acclaim and performed at the English National Opera where he was covering the character Hamor in G.F. Handel'sJephtha. Future engagements include appearances on the BBC Proms series in London (May and August), guest appearances with The King’s Consort in Halle and Dresden, concerts of arias and duets in Latvia (August), several works from the Italian Baroque repertoire, Monetverdi 1610 Vespers in Vilnius (October), Solo Alto Voice in Acis and Galatea with The King’s Consort (November) Messiah in Lübeck (December).

Charles Humphries' recordings include Jephtha and Judas Maccabaeus (K & K Verlagsanstalt), Messiah (Capriccio) and Antonio Vivaldi Cantatas (ASV), and Gloria/Dixit/Dominus/Gloria for Philips with Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting. His future recordings include Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers with The King’s Consort. Future projects include Acis and Galatea, Italian repertoire, Purcell and G.F. Handel Odes, Monteverdi Vespers recording with The King’s Consort, a concert performance of A. Vivaldi's l'Olympiad with Sancera in Latvia, recital of solo Bach Cantatas in Lithuania, Messiahthroughout Northern Germany and Denmark and a tour of G.F. Handel's Heroic Arias for Farinelli productions throughout the Baltic States. Since moving to the USA, Mr. Himphries has sung with the Washington Bach Consort (J Reilly Lewis), Bach Sinfonia (Dan Abraham) and the Washington Cathedral Choral Society near Washington, DC, where he  is based. Across the United States he has appeared throughout Southern California in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County, centrally, Memphis and Austin and on the East Coast in New York City.  He also teaches and coaches. 
Accompanying Mr. Humphries are three extraordinary young musicians.  Harpsichordist Mark Shuldiner is coming to Amherst from Chicago, where he lives.  Mr. Shuldiner is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory Historic Performance Program. He has recently played harpsichord, celeste, and organ for staged productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Benjamin Britten and Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea under the direction of Stephen Stubbs.  While having a rigorous performance schedule, Mark has also been apprenticing with Northfield-based harpsichord maker, Paul Irvin.  Amy Domingues of Arlington returns to Amherst Music Series for the first time this season, playing viola da gamba, and Anthony Harvey, who last played for AGAR with Gwyn Roberts and Meg Owens in October, will accompany on theorbo. Both Domingues and Harvey hold multiple degrees from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and are frequent players with early music ensembles on the East Coast.  

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