BARRE – A two-piano concert, “Oh, Summer Rhapsody!” featuring two Vermont pianists will be presented at the Barre Opera House on July 20 at 4 p.m. Mary Jane Austin and Alison Cerutti have been friends and colleagues for years and will come together on the same stage, each on her own grand piano. This performance will benefit the Mad River Chorale.
The program includes Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K.448, Mozart’s most famous composition for two pianos; Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye” (Mother Goose Suite); and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, groundbreaking as one of the first fusions of jazz and classical music.
Mad River Chorale conductor Mary Jane Austin has a musical life in Vermont and abroad, where her interests range from recital work and full-scale opera productions to teaching and choral conducting. She has been the conductor of the Mad River Chorale since 2018, after a long tenure as a collaborative pianist for the organization. Discovering a love for opera while studying with opera legends Claudia Pinza, Maurizio Arena, Enza Ferrari and Warren Jones, she worked at the summer Italian opera program EPCASO as a repetiteur and coach from 1994 to 2016.
Alison Bruce Cerutti is a pianist based in Northfield, who frequently performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Vermont and Canada. She studied with Louis Moyse for eight years and accompanied his flute master classes in Vermont and France. As one of Vermont’s busy collaborative pianists, Alison has performed with the Mad River Chorale, the Winooski Valley Festival, All-State Music Festival, the Unadilla Theatre, Music-COMP, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Counterpoint, and TURNmusic, for Women of Aeronautics and in the 2015 production of “A Fleeting Animal.” She teaches students of all ages at her home in Northfield, where she lives with her family and two cats.
Tickets may be ordered online at barreoperahouse.org or call the Barre Opera House at (802) 476-8188. The Opera House is located at 6 North Main Street.
