Timeless Valentine Tales - Love, Longing & Triumph in the French Cantata

John Lennon - A Remembrance

It was middle to late afternoon on one of those chilly, uncomforting days that is every December 8th in New York City. I am guessing it is around 1986, a short 6 years after the shooting across the street at the Dakota. Lit by the directional light of a winter sun, my wife and I took our now annual stroll through Strawberry Fields in Central Park. We sat in the benches near where the pavement says, “Imagine!” And we did.

It was quiet. We noticed a film crew moving from bench to bench, carrying both equipment and questions to the occupants. When they reached us, they were polite and quiet too, aware that they might be disturbing our meditation. The crew was from Japan and the woman holding the microphone asked if we might answer some questions for Japanese TV.

At first, she asked me how John Lennon affected my life. Where should I start? I am a musician, a classical guitarist, whose life was forever changed by the Beatle’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in February 1964. I had just turned 13 years old. I would begin talking about what that was like, seeing them perform for the first time. A welling up of emotions obscured my thoughts and eventually my words. Very sensitively, they allowed me to ramble on for quite a while.

Soon the woman with the mic turned to my wife with another question about John and his influence. Also a musician, a flutist, she delivered a much more eloquent response than I could have ever provided. I cannot remember exactly what she said but I remember being moved by her response. They thanked us and walked away. We thought how cool it was that we might wind up a 4 second sound byte on Japanese TV. I pessimistically thought to myself that we would both end up on the cutting room floor. They were still shooting film, after all.

So, years pass as they do. My wife and I continued to play concerts, gigs. My teaching picks up. I am now at the United Nations International School in New York City and it is around 1992. On the first day of classes, private guitar lessons, a young boy, no more than 15 years old walks into my studio. He is Japanese and has very little knowledge of English. As usual, music allows us to communicate quite well and our first lesson goes off well. I had noticed him staring at me and thought he was trying to read my face to see how I felt about him.

At the end of the lesson, as he was leaving, he turned to me and pointed. He said, “You, John Lennon!” “Strawberry Fields”. I could not figure out what he was trying to say. I look nothing like John Lennon and thought to myself that maybe he wanted me to teach him to play the song “Strawberry Fields”. How could I do this? He was a beginner. Finally, he put up his hand and said goodbye, repeating once again, “You, John Lennon, video.” I must have looked quite puzzled.

It turned out that this 15 year old boy from Tokyo was a collector of everything Beatles. Magazines, photos, recordings and yes, even video recorded off the home TV. The next week he arrived carrying a VCR tape cartridge that looked like it had been recorded over at least 100 times. No title, just the tape. He handed it to me and implored me to watch it at home.

There we were, my wife and I, thirty-somethings, still full of innocence and expectations about life (nothing much has changed!), sitting on the bench, talking about John and the Beatle’s and how they were responsible for the musicians that we had become. I still remembered my emotional response, hands flailing as I tried to communicate my thoughts, and Kathy’s calm and clarity in expressing hers.

We met John in NYC that day. We try and meet up with him each Dec. 8th in the park where we sing songs with kids too young to remember that the Beatle’s weren’t always on iTunes. I think of my Japanese student and hope that I have helped him put music into his life as John and the boys from Liverpool did for us.
-Pat Bianculli

Concerts are a Success!! Some photos.....

These photos were taken during the dress rehearsal before Baroque Across the RIver's performance at TENRI on W. 13th St in New York City.

BaroQue Across the River - Elegance and Extravagance

Brooklyn, New York-based early music ensemble BaroQue Across the River will perform “Elegance & Extravagance: Cantatas and Solos from France & Italy” on December 3-4, 2010 in New York City. The December 3 concert will be held at 7:30pm at Brooklyn Friends Meeting House, 110 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn (718.643.4608); The December 4, 8:00pm concert will be held at Tenri Cultural Institute, 43A West 13th Street, in Manhattan (914.633.0758). Tickets are $20.00 (suggested donation) at door for both concerts.

Two rival styles dominated European music in the late 17th – early 18th Century — the delicate and demure French style favored elegant melodies in contrast to the more passionate, virtuosic and extravagant style of Italian music. In “Elegance & Extravagance: Cantatas and Solos from France & Italy” BaroQue Across the River offers selections of this exuberant contrast with music by Rameau, Clérambault, Scarlatti, Couperin, and Vivaldi.
(Thanks to Peter McDowell Arts for help with this post.)

Our CD featured in podcast devoted to knitting in Australia

My most recent search on the internet revealed that our CD is indeed being played. Go take a listen. You might even learn to knit while you are at it!!!

http://podcast.mbirgin.com/3303/sticksstringpodcast.aspx#divPlayer
David, who runs a knitting show in Australia used a cut from our CD in one of his broadcasts. It is show 133. Jump to 14:00 into the broadcast. We are grateful to hear our music being used.

Baroque Across the River Celebrates the Dutch in "Breukelein"

On November 15, 2009 3:00pm, Kathy McDonald and her early music ensemble will perform in conjunction with the renowned exhibit, "Pages of the Past" at the Brooklyn Historical Society.

The ensemble is featured as part of the Historical Society's “5 Dutch Days, 5 Boroughs”. Join them for a journey through New France and New Netherlands with 2 French cantatas and music from the Dutch Baroque! Composers include Monteclair, Campra, Locatelli and Huygens.

For more information click here: http://www.brooklynhistory.org

128 Pierrepont Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 718.222.4111 Ext. 250

Quebec Festival

Ahh....We are almost there. Here is the final concert poster for the festival. In case you haven't seen it about 100 times already. :-)
Enjoy!!

Come and Enjoy:

1) Sing in the Community Chorus

2) Play in the baroque string ensemble

3) Study Guitar, Flute, Voice and Violin

4) Enjoy the natural surroundings (Lake St. Francois & Parc Frontenac)

5) Enjoy gourmet meals at Auberge Andromede

6) Get the best maple syrup (I hear its even good on popcorn)

7) Listen to some of the finest performers from New York and Quebec.

Visit the website: http://www.midsummermusiquebec.com/