Gerhart Chamber Music Festival Begins Sept. 20

Snead State Community College is hosting the 2012 Gerhart Chamber Music Festival with performances on Sept. 20, 22, and 23 in the newly renovated Fielder Auditorium.

The festival welcomes back Gerhart musicians, violinist Michael Davis, pianist Jeffrey Cohen, cellist Bion Tsang, and violist Wayne Roden. The festival will also showcase former members of the Gerhart Children’s Chorus as they perform an arrangement of Amazing Grace accompanied by the Gerhart musicians.

The festival will open on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. with the Homecoming Concert, during which the Alumni Choir will perform. The Gerhart quartet will perform selections from renowned composers such as Wolfgang Mozart and Johannes Brahms. The concert will take place in Fielder Auditorium in the Administration Building on the Boaz campus.  A reception will follow the concert in the new banquet room in the Administration Building.

As part of the festival, the musicians will lead a Chamber Music Master Class on Saturday, Sept. 22, from 1-4 p.m. at the Maze Music Building followed by a special Master Class Concert at 2 p.m. in Fielder Auditorium. A new addition to the Gerhart Chamber Music Festival is the availability of an Alexander Technique Seminar, led by SSCC’s own music instructor Dr. Barbara Hudson, on Sept. 22 beginning at 11 a.m. in the Maze Music Building. The Alexander Technique is a method used by performers or public speakers to ease muscle tension, neck and back pain and breathing difficulties associated with everyday activities. For more information on the Master Class or the Alexander Technique Seminar, contact Dr. Hudson at (256) 840-4147 or barbara.hudson@snead.edu. 

Closing the Gerhart Chamber Music Festival is the annual Gerhart Children’s Concert featuring the 2011-2012 Boaz Intermediate School Honor Choir, under the direction of Miriam Richey. The choir will perform folk and traditional song selections including familiar pieces such as “Oh! Susanna” and “Hallelujah!” from Handel’s “Messiah.” The Children’s Concert will begin at 2 p.m.

All of the events will be held in Fielder Auditorium located in the Administration Building at 220 North Walnut Street, Boaz, Ala. Admission is free to all events. The community is invited.