GREENSBORO – The Local Folk Orchestra returned to the Highland Center for the Arts for their spring concert last Saturday evening with a delightfully varied program of classical, folk, ethnic and original compositions, playing to a completely packed house, which indicates how much their popularity has grown since being founded by Roy MacNeil just three years ago. The seventeen musicians performed fifteen pieces with fine coordination and featured several impressive solo selections.
They began with the third movement, Allegro, of the “Brandenburg Concerto No.1 in E Flat Major (BWV 1016)” by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750), written about 1721 when he was at the Court in Cothen, but dedicated to the young Margrave of Brandenburg.
Jeff Reinhardt was featured next on the saxophone and clarinet in his own original work, “CollisIon Course,” scoring for the full range of the instruments of the orchestra, with lively klezmer dance rhythms, varying from more percussive and brass effects to quieter string passages. “Kashmir,” by Led Zeppelin, drew on the rock repertoire, having an insistent beat and a diet of Icarus Tyree and Mavis MacNeil doing some special violin playing.
Randy Bulpin performed a song he wrote entitled the “Tramp Printer and his Mandolin,” about a real person, John Gordon, who was a freelance typesetter for local newspapers in New England, ending up living on the island of Vinalhaven in Maine. He had few possessions other than his looks and his mandolin, a dignified individual who was admirably independent. The lyrics and melody were nicely developed and formed an engaging tale.
The “Brandenburg Concerto No. 1” returned with the first movement, Allegro moderato, joyous in its wonderful baroque arabesques.
Max Demain then gave a fine performance of the third movement, “Rondo (Allegro vivace)”, of the “French Horn Concerto in E Flat Major” of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This piece had a particularly upbeat tune, full of positive energy and spontaneity, with carefully composed variations on the initial theme.
A smaller ensemble played the following three songs, starting with the traditional Irish-French Canadian piece, “Tell My Ma/La Bastingue,” which Icarus Tyree and Roy MacNeil sang with enthusiasm appropriate to the humorous lyrics, accompanied on their guitar. “Through the Pines” was an original number by Mavis MacNeil, which she sang with her mellifluous voice, joined by Roy MacNeil on violin and Annie Rowell on bass, all with poetic lyrics evocative of nature. “My Baby Thinks He’s a Train” by Leroy Preston had distinctly locomotive rhythms, with Mavis MacNeil and Annie Rowell singing, Andrew Khoehler on washboard for percussive sounds and Randy Bulpin on guitar.
After intermission the concert continued with “Sandu” by Clifford Brown, a jazz work with great swing. Pianist Andrew Khoehler was quickly joined by Randy Bulpin on bass guitar, Icarus Tyree on trombone and Jeff Reinhardt and Mavis MacNeil on saxophone for an effective “wall of sound.”
Dimitri Shostakovitch (1906-1973) wrote fifteen symphonies, some of the most powerful and monumental works of the 20th century. The Local Folk Orchestra played the first movement, Allegro, of his “Symphony No. 9 in E Flat Major,” which started off with a light, playful melody, featuring Mavis MacNeil on flute. Then a second theme was introduced in which Roy MacNeil on violin was featured, which then morphed into a darker ambience with more dissonance and rhythms, steadily more disturbing.
Icarus Tyree sang an original composition, “Mother of All Monsters”, with an expressive voice that brought out the beauty of the melody and lyrics. Roy MacNeil followed with an Interlude, an intense interpretation of one of his favorite solo pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach.
A traditional Macedonian tune, “Strunkmike Petorka,” had driving folk dance rhythms well scored for clarinet.
“Wild Mountain Tyme” was a celebration of the Scottish landscape combined with a love song, of which Roy MacNeil on guitar and Mavis MacNeil singing gave a lovely rendition. The last piece on the program was an Afro-American Spiritual, “This Little Light of Mine,” everyone joining in singing, with its meaningful lyrics so relevant to our own times of keeping light and hope alive despite the darkness.
The audience rose for a standing ovation in appreciation for this Local Folk Orchestra concert, which is such a great gift to our community and just the kind of shared positive energy we need now.
Additional supportive musicians in the Local Folk Orchestra were Will Helms on clarinet, Esteli Kitchen on alto saxophone, Adam Lebow on tuba, Garrett Sisk on percussion, Mia Hartman, Jean Miller and Theresa Peura on violins, Tom Ziobrowski on viola and Cody Sisk on double bass.
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
