March Bach's Lunches to Feature Songs of Love and Heartbreak from Musical Theatre

CONCORD, N.H—Songs of love and heartbreak from Broadway and beyond will be the theme for the next two installments in the Bach’s Lunch Series of lectures and concerts at the Concord Community Music School.

On Thursday, March 5, theater director Jim Webber will speak about singer and actress Audra McDonald in a lecture titled “Audra McDonald: A 21st Century Leading Lady.” The following week, on March 12, Music School faculty members Hannah Murray, soprano, and Calvin Herst, piano, will present “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man: Love and Heartbreak at the Theatre.” Bach’s Lunch programs are free and open to the public, and take place from 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. in the Music School’s Recital Hall, 23 Wall Street, downtown Concord.

Audra McDonald has been making waves in musical theatre ever since, fresh out of Juilliard, she performed in a Lincoln Center production of Carousel and earned her first of six Tony Awards. Since then, she’s lent her vivid and versatile soprano to musical theatre and opera, stage and screen. In addition to showcasing well-known standards by Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers, McDonald is an ardent advocate of a new generation of musical theatre composers, such as Jason Robert Brown and Adam Guettel. Local theatre director Jim Webber will celebrate McDonald’s stage presence and singing in his March 5 lecture.

On March 12, Hannah Murray and Calvin Herst will present a concert of songs about the love you want… and the love you don’t. The program will span nearly 100 years of love songs from American musical theatre, and will include a number of McDonald’s well-loved musical theatre selections, including “Stars and the Moon,” “Somewhere that’s Green,” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man o’ Mine,” among others.

The Bach’s Lunch Series is sponsored by The Timothy and Abigail B. Walker Lecture Fund and The Couch Trusts; TD Wealth Management, NA; Trustee. For more information, call 603-228-1196 or visit www.ccmusicschool.org.

About the Speaker and Artists

Jim Webber is a director, writer, and scenic designer who resides in Manchester. He attended Concord High, Emerson College, and the University of New Hampshire. Jim recently directed Cabaret for the Majestic Theatre in Manchester and Tale of the Allergist’s Wife at the Concord City Auditorium. He has directed numerous productions at the New Hampshire Technical Institute and he’s the co-author of the alternative holiday musical about Judy Garland entitled Judy’s Scary Little Christmas, which is published by Samuel French.

Hannah Murray, soprano, earned a master’s degree in music from Westminster Choir College. Additional studies include Connecticut College (B.A.), the Royal Academy of Music in London, and Middlebury College’s Deutsch fur Sangerin Program. Murray is a frequent soloist throughout the Northeastern United States, including singing for the Nashua Symphony, Trinity United Methodist Church in Springfield, Mass., and the Paul Madore Chorale. She teaches voice at St. Paul’s School. Upcoming engagements include recording Roger Rudenstein’s world premiere of Ulysses and the April Keiser concert at St. Paul’s School. Murray is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Calvin Herst, piano, performs frequently as a collaborative pianist. In addition to his favorite pastime of accompanying students and faculty on stage at the Concord Community Music School, where he is director of education and community partnerships, he has appeared in concert at the Kennedy Center, the Philadelphia Academy of Music, and throughout the Peoples’ Republic of China. He also serves as the accompanist for the Unitarian Universalist Church in Concord and the Suncook Valley Chorale. He is the founding pianist of the Larksong Trio (with Peggo Horstmann Hodes, soprano, and Jennifer Yeaton-Parris, flute), which released its first CD (Homeward Bound) on Parma Records in November 2013. Mr. Herst has been a faculty member of the Ithaca College School of Music, the Community Music Center of Boston, and Buckingham Browne & Nichols School. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees magna cum laude in piano performance from Ithaca College. He has also studied conducting extensively, including a summer at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

About the Concord Community Music School

Concord Community Music School is a full member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education and is recognized nationally for program innovation and management excellence. Welcoming adults, teens, and children of all musical abilities, 53 artist teachers reach more than 33,000 people in four states with educational programs, concerts, workshops, and community partnerships. CCMS has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Hearst Foundation, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Jane’s Trust, and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. The Music School is the 2005 recipient of the NH Governor’s Arts Award for Cultural Access Leadership.