BTPM launched WNED Classical Live On Stage! on Saturday, April 29th. Flutist Alex Hughes and pianist Joe Isgar played works for flute and piano by Georges Hüe, Otar Taktakishvili, and Gary Schocker. The enthusiastic audience even included children. We didn’t expect that but were absolutely delighted by it! The concert was free, and folks reserved tickets quickly. It sold-out in a matter of days. We had to put people on a waiting list! What a happy problem to have, right?!
Hüe’s Fantasie is a French Romantic showpiece with long, lyrical lines, dynamic extremes, and just about every technical challenge a flutist could face. Hughes and Isgar played it beautifully . . . and experiencing it live was extra special.
Taktakishvili’s Sonata was a complete surprise. I didn’t know the piece or the composer. The slow middle movement is utterly breathtaking and will be included in the future on WNED Classical’s Oasis.
The concert concluded with Gary Schocker’s Regrets and Resolutions. Written for an eightieth birthday celebration, Regrets looks back, imagining what it might be like to reflect on eighty years of life. Resolutions looks forward with energy and positivity. It was the perfect ending for our first public WNED Classical Live On Stage! event.
The next WNED Classical Live On Stage! event is on Sunday, May 21 at 12:00. It’s a preview of Buffalo Opera Unlimited’s upcoming production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera, The Medium. The program includes excerpts from the opera and a Q & A with performers Jesse Bonaventura, Nick DelBello, Kate Fruchterman, Daniel Kamalic, Gabrielle LaBare, and Joelle Lachance. It’s another free event and folks are already reserving tickets. Get yours before they’re gone. Go to www.wned.org/events. Thank you to all who helped launch WNED Classical Live On Stage! – especially our amazing donors and volunteers!