Mid-Day Music

Mid-Day Music, February 17, 2016

The February 17, 2016 Mid-Day Music program features Justine Stephens, Flute and Christopher Cooley, piano. The concert starts at 12:05 p.m. and lasts approximately one-half hour. The recital is free but donations are gladly accepted. A light lunch follows for a $5 donation.

Noted for her energetic and versatile playing, Brooklyn based flutist Justine Stephens brings a genuine flair and mastery to classical and contemporary music performed. Ms. Stephens is actively commissioned to perform new works and appeared as the jazz flutist in the 2011 short film Kuvuka Daraja (Crossing the Bridge) that had premiered at the tenth annual International Black Women’s Film Festival in San Francisco and was selected for the Zanzibar International Film Festival. Ms. Stephens has also performed at the National Flute Association Convention. She was a student of Wendy Herbener Mehne at Ithaca College, where she completed her Bachelor of Music degree in Performance.

As a mezzo-soprano, Ms. Stephens was a member of the Seabury Academy of Music and the Arts’ Chorister Program in her native Norwalk, Connecticut for six years. She toured with the ensemble to England in 2007 for residencies at Bristol, Gloucester, Wells, Guildford, and Southwark cathedrals and returned for residencies in England and Scotland in 2010 at Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow; St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh; Blackburn Cathedral, and Ely Cathedral. She has also performed with the choir in the Three Choirs Festival at St. John’s the Divine in New York City. Ms. Stephens has since been asked back numerous times to St. Paul’s on the Green to appear as a soloist and chamber musician for the Seabury Academy’s Mid-Day Music Series, where she has presented thoughtful and informative programs of standard flute and chamber music repertoire.justinestephens.com.

Christopher Cooley has concertized with various instrumental and vocal soloists in five continents, as well as Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. As a soloist, he has played with the University of Texas Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Florida, and the Musica Bella Orchestra of New York. As a collaborative pianist, he has served on the staff of numerous summer opera festivals in Italy, Germany, and Austria, as well as the Castleton Festival in Virginia, the Piatigorsky Seminar for Cellists in L.A., and the Manhattan School of Music Summer Voice Festival. Since 2006, Mr. Cooley has collaborated regularly with soprano Lauren Flanigan on music written for her by composers from Stephen Schwartz to Thomas Pasatieri. They have performed together at numerous venues including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Café Sabarsky’s Cabaret series at the Neue Gallerie, the McCarter Theater in Princeton, the Shakespeare Theater Company Gala in Washington D.C., and the George London Foundation Recital Series at the Morgan Library. Chris holds degrees from Florida State University, the University of Texas-Austin, and a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music. He is also an accomplished arranger, orchestrator, and composer. chriscooleypiano.com

The concert will be held at St. Paul’s on the Green, 60 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851.

For additional information, contact events@seaburynorwalk.org or call (203) 847-2806 x13

http://www.seaburynorwalk.org

LIKE us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seaburynorwalk