Celebrating America, Sounds That Inspired a Nation

The program anticipates the 2012-2013 SRO Season, Celebrating America, Sounds That Inspired a Nation, reflecting the many musical styles of the Standing Room Only series.

The concert opens with the much-loved string quartet by Antonin Dvorak, “The American”, with Zoia Bologovsky, Peter Stickel, Dayla Stoerzbach and John Bumstead. It builds on tunes reminiscent of Negro spirituals and Native American pentatonic melodies, evokes a feeling of nature – of wild life and the wide open spaces of the prairie, and sports a rousing musical locomotive for the finale, characterizing the westward expansion of the 1880's.

Following the Dvorak is a set of mostly French and Italian cabaret songs for accordion and soprano by Richard Conti and Maddie Sifantus, expressing the multicultural roots of American culture. Songs include Il Bacio (the kiss), Guitarra Romana and the very funny Old Mother Hubbard. Richard and Maddie having been performing together for 15 years. Richard is the retired Director of Music of the Wayland Schools and Maddie is the Consulting Minister of the church, as well as being a professional singer since her teens.

 Ending the program is a song set from the New England Tenors with violin, piano and percussion, featuring inspirational songs, such as You Raise Me Up, Come What May and Impossible Dream, designed to kick off the Wakefield UU’s Bicentennial celebration with the can-do spirit of early America.

 To those of you who know me from New England String Ensemble and/or who have come to trust the quality of SRO concert productions, I promise you an enjoyable 75 minutes of music (no intermission). 

All tickets are $25.  Children under 18 free. Let’s make it easy:

1.       Email Peter Stickel at peters@rcn.com; we’ll work out the exchange

2.       Order from the SRO website: www.sroconcerts.org

3.       Go to Parker Florist or Silver Clay (39 Albion Street) in Wakefield

4.       Send a check (“Wakefield UU Church”) to SRO/Wakefield UU, PO Box 529, Wakefield, MA 01880

5.       Call the SRO #: 339-203-9366