For over thirty years, the Summer Concert Series has nourished audience members from New Hampshire and beyond. Each Tuesday evening performance features the Apple Hill String Quartet and renowned guest faculty–hosted in Apple Hill’s Louise Shonk Kelly Barn in Nelson, New Hampshire. All concerts are free and open to the public. To reserve a seat, the suggested donation is $25 or more. Reserve online or call 603-847-3371 for more information. Programs are subject to change.

2010 Season Schedule

JUNE 22 – 7:30 pm

Hovhaness, Bagatelles
(arranged for oboe and strings by Michael Kelley)

• Pamela Epple, oboe
• Elise Kuder, violin
• Sarah Kim, violin
• Kate Holzemer, viola
• Greg Hesselink, cello

Bartok, Contrasts

• Rohan Gregory, violin
• Kinan Azmeh, clarinet
• Robert Merfeld, piano

Brahms, Viola Quintet in G Major, Op. 111

• Elise Kuder, violin
• Sarah Kim, violin
• Lila Brown, viola
• Kate Holzemer, viola
• Greg Hesselink, cello

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JUNE 29 – 7:30 pm
A Piano Recital by Yi-heng Yang

Beethoven, Bagatelles, Op. 126
Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 31 in Ab, Op. 110
Schumann, Abegg-Variationen, Op. 1
Schumann, 8 Noveletten, Op. 21

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JULY 6 – 7:30 pm

Handel, Sonata for oboe and violin

• Guy Porat, oboe
• Colleen Jennings, violin
• Myriam Teie, piano

Schoenfield, Trio for clarinet, violin, and piano

• Eric Thomas, clarinet
• Tina Lee, violin
• Myriam Teie, piano

Grieg, String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27

• The Apple Hill String Quartet:
• Elise Kuder, violin
• Sarah Kim, violin
• Mike Kelley, viola
• Rupert Thompson, cello

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JULY 13 – 7:30 pm
Young Artist Fellowship Concert

Apple Hill’s Young Artist Fellowship Program brings together advanced young instrumentalists for a rigorous and exciting 14-day chamber music and teaching experience. The program includes intensive study with the artist faculty at Apple Hill, teaching support and practice help for regular workshop participants, and one public performance. This year’s young artist recipients are the Semplice String Quartet from Turkey and clarinetist George Georgiou from Cyprus. They will be coached and mentored by Apple Hill’s director, Lenny Matczynski, and Eric Thomas, summer workshop faculty member.

Mozart, Adagio & Fugue
Mozart, Clarinet Quintet
Brahms, String Quartet in C minor

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JULY 20 – 7:30 pm

Paul Moravec, Tempest Fantasy

• Rane Moore, clarinet
• Gabriela Diaz, violin
• Katie Schlaikjer, cello
• Jeffrey Louie, piano

Michael Kelley, Chapters from the Volsungs

• Jesse Holstein, narrator
• Vanessa Holroyd, flute
• Michael Kelley, viola
• Katie Schlaikjer, cello

J. S. Bach, Selections from the Goldberg Variations

• Salley Koo, violin
• Michael Kelley, viola
• Iris Jortner, cello

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JULY 27 – Gala Benefit

The Board of Trustees invites you to A Celebration of Apple Hill’s 40-Year History with Lenny Matczynski, Director, and the Apple Hill String Quartet. The evening will feature great music, great food, a photo exhibit curated by board member Peter Roos, and a historical retrospective of Apple Hill from 1971 to the present.

This special fundraising event is not included in the season pass package. Tickets are $100
and can be purchased online or by phone at 603-847-3371.

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AUGUST 3 – 7:30 pm

Haydn, Trio # 96 in B minor

• Mark Hill, oboe
• Michael Kelley, viola
• Max Zeugner, double bass

Smetana, Piano Trio in G minor Op. 15

• Movses Pogossian, violin
• Troy Stuart, cello
• Yi-heng Yang, piano

Bartok, String Quartet No. 2

• The Apple Hill String Quartet
• Elise Kuder, violin
• Sarah Kim, violin
• Mike Kelley, viola
• Rupert Thompson, cello

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AUGUST 10 – 7:30 pm

An evening of Bach and friends
featuring Kendra Colton, soprano, and Peggy Pearson, oboe

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AUGUST 17 – 7:30 pm

Jolivet, Sonatine for Oboe and Bassoon

• Marilyn Coyne, oboe
• John Steinmetz, bassoon

Schubert, Lieder

• Frank Kelley, tenor
• Jean Schneider, piano

Glazunov, Cello Quintet in A Major Op. 30

• Varty Manoulian, violin
• Cenovia Cummins, violin
• Kate Vincent, viola
• Rupert Thompson, cello
• Brooks Whitehouse, cello

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AUGUST 24 – 7:30 pm

The Dirt Road Ensemble with Leonard Matczynski, conductor
in works by Hindemith, Handel, and Copland

• Mike Kelley, viola
• Sarah Kim, violin
• Valerie Peters, piano
• Betty Hauck, narrator

A post-concert swing dance closes the season. All are invited.

Ticket Information

Buy tickets securely online

Location:Nelson Congregational Church
$4.00 / $5.00 for ice cream (concert is free)
Local ice cream, hot fudge, hot butterscotch, strawberries, whipped cream and toppings.
Bring friends and families to enjoy this summertime favorite!
Contact Nelson Congregational Church 847-3280
or Joy Birdsey 847-9533
Volunteers needed and Welcomed!

Nelson Town Hall
Admission $8 / $6 seniors and students

Beginner’s Workshop 7:30

The Dead Sea Squirrels is a string band with a twist.  Our tunes come mainly from the Southern US, but because we play for contra dances, our repertoire is made up of danceable tunes arranged in medleys designed to closely match and enhance the movements of the particular contra dance being taught/called.  We tend to push the boundaries of the southern style with spontaneous fiddle and fiddle/guitar harmonies.

Members of the band consist of Craig Edwards and Cathy Mason on twin fiddles or fiddle/banjo, and Henry Yoshimura on guitar.  We have played and toured widely on the East Coast, and have rocked the house at venues including the Cambridge VFW dance, Glen Echo, MD, Shepherdstown, WV, Glenside, PA, Bethlehem, PA and many others, as well as dance and music weekends and festivals, most recently, The Folk Project in New Jersey.

Band members are active musicians in many other bands as well, including: The Zydecats, Grand Bois Cajun Band, The Rhythm Method String Band and The Brazen Hussies.


More info and tickets

The Monadnock Folklore Society presents Jacqueline Schwab, folk and classical improvisational pianist, in concert on Sunday, May 16th at 7:00 p.m. in the Nelson, NH Town Hall. She has been described as someone who plays “gorgeously spare piano” (The Boston Globe) yet “sounds as if she has an orchestra at her fingertips” (Sing Out). Chosen by the renowned Ken Burns for numerous public television documentaries due to the emotional expression in her playing, Jacqueline has performed on the soundtracks for the Grammy award-winning Civil War, the Emmy award-winning Baseball and Mark Twain, among others.

“Jacqueline Schwab brings more feeling and intensity to music than anyone I know. Her playing is insistent, physical, heartfelt and … unusually moving.” – Ken Burns

Jacqueline’s signature style defies easy categorization, fitting somewhere in the crossover between folk, traditional, classical and new age music. Although many people connect improvisation with jazz, Jacqueline’s inspirations are traditional music of England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, blues, vintage tangos, Bach’s dance suites, nineteenth-century parlor piano, and the turn-of-the-twentieth-century sounds of Satie, Debussy and Bartok for starters.

Jacqueline performs solo piano concerts of vintage American and traditional English and Scottish music, creating the intimate feeling of an old-fashioned parlor setting. A Lexington Minuteman solo concert review said, “(Her playing was) full of colors and introspection which drew the listener into a musical reverie from which it was hard to return.”

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The students from Nelson School will be performing an original musical adaptation of Oliver Twist at Keene High School at 6:30 pm on Friday.   Admission is free (donations gladly accepted).   Oliver Twist is an original musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale of the orphaned boy whose good and sturdy spirit support him through the difficult and exciting times of growing up in Victorian England.

The one hour performance is the culmination of a week long residency with Children’s Stage Adventures.  The play was cast on Monday, rehearsals take place all week, and they will be production ready by Friday evening!  Nelson School has worked with Children’s Stage Adventures in previous years and it is always amazing how much the students can learn in one week and what a good production they produce.

If you cannot attend the evening performance, please feel free to join us for the dress rehearsal at 10 am Friday at Keene High School.

Hardly a substitute for the amazing hard work of the original production, the “revisit” has mildly adapted some of the original works to better accommodate the busy lives of those who are helping with this production.  We’ve also, reluctantly, cut and pasted here and there in order to make room for some newness that hopefully will speak for the ever-evolving newness that is Nelson – the new guests at the Hotel!  And to top it off, we’ve added a few PowerPoints here and there – well, there weren’t any computers in the late 19^th century!

Those helping, who were not involved in the 1997 Hotel Nelson, are enjoying the opportunity to learn a little about the process that produced the original theatre; to learn some of the songs that were written and sung, and to otherwise be a part of something that again brings friends and neighbors together, in the spirit of community.

We hope that you’ll join us to learn a little about our town’s past and present, to witness some of our extensive local talent as they hold forth on (and off) stage – some reliving their 1997 roles, others filling in for those not available this time, and still others adding some additional flavors to the show.

In order to be certain not to exceed the fire-code seating limits (155) in the Town Hall, we’re asking you to reserve a seat by e-mail at: shansel@peoplepc.com or by phone at: 847-9918.  It’ll be first come, first served, and Susan will check your name off when you arrive at the Town Hall on March 27.  Remember that admission is free, but donations will gladly be accepted at the door.

In 1997, the people of Nelson raised funds from private donations, the Town of Nelson and the Nelson Congregational Church to sponsor The Hotel Nelson, a musical theatre that was created by, for, and about the Town of Nelson. Facilitated by Larry Siegal of Westmoreland, it was performed in the Nelson Congregational Church on August 14 and 15 to sold out audiences.

In 1840, The Nelson House was built to house the hotel, the post office, the library and a store.  The three-story brick building burned down in 1894!  So, for 54 years, sitting on the village common, it was literally the center of the town.
Thus, it is the metaphor from which our theatre, The Hotel Nelson, was born:

“When I built this hotel I put a porch on the front.  It was the best decision I ever made.  People come and sit out there, from the end of black fly season until the first snowfall.  Now granted, that’s not a very long stretch of time, but it’s enough time for some good stories to get told, and for more stories to get made.  The town goes by, day by day, and just when I think I’m getting to understand how it works, something happens and I realize I really don’t have it figured out after all.  But I love it here – this place, this land, these people.  I’ve found myself quite a home here….  Please… come in.  You might stay for a night, or for a summer.  And if you can’t figure out how to leave, well – you won’t be the first. “
Narrator in “The Hotel Nelson”
(from the opening scene)

From the above scene onward, songs were sung and stories were told by the same people who researched, wrote and composed them.  They covered some of
Nelson’s history and politics, some of its notables and characters, and many anecdotes past and present.

Some of the songs that were sung are simply too good to relegate to the archives, so we’re going to sing them again…with your help.

So, please join us on Friday night, January 29, 2010, 6:30 pm, at the Nelson Town Hall.

After a potluck supper (please bring something to share), we’ll have some skilled musicians teach us a few of the songs so that we can all join in.  But, if you don’t sing, that’s OK.  Just come to enjoy the festivities.

“The mud can’t get deeper on Old Stoddard Road.
My white car is brown: what a sight to behold.
I’d give anything for a driveway that’s dry,
And to taste the tart pleasure of fresh rhubarb pie.”
From “Sing Halleluiah!”

“The world is full of gladness, and joys of many kinds.
There’s cure for ev’ry sadness, each troubled mortal finds.
My little cares grow lighter.  I cease to fret and sigh.
My eyes with joy grow brighter, when she makes lemon pie.”
From “The Lemon Pie Song”

“When you’re a kid in Nelson you’re like a tall oak tree
Roots reach down into the past
Arms reach for eternity
Whether we’re playing baseball
Or biking through the square
There’s always something happening
And music fills the air”
From “Being a Kid in Nelson”

And, stay tuned for more:  On Saturday, March 27, 2010, we will incorporate the songs that we learn on January 29 with more of the original songs and many of the stories (and perhaps even some new ones!) into another evening out at The Hotel Nelson Revisited.

“There’s one thing certain about the future, which is — it’s always going to be there.  Some folks worry about it, some try to plan for it, some think it’s preordained, and some spend so much time thinking about it that today becomes tomorrow with nothing in between.

“Now the past is always there too.  And we might not worry so much about it, but people can get to dwelling on that too, and lose the present.

“I like it here in Nelson, ‘cause folks seem to enjoy the past, the present, and the future, all in good measure.

“When I’m away from here I tell people about this place.  And sometimes someone will ask – tell me, that town of yours, and that Hotel, is it real, or is it just make believe?

“And I answer:  yes.”
Narrator in “The Hotel Nelson”
(from the closing scene)

The Apple Hill Chamber Players: Sarah Kim, violin; Rupert Thompson, cello; Mike Kelley, viola; Elise Kuder, violin

It is quite amazing to have a world class chamber group making their home right here in Nelson. Their spirited playing provided an enriched perspective on some quite diverse material. The concert opened with Three Fantasias by Heny Purcell (1659 – 1695). This was followed by the lively and simply gorgeous String Quartet in C minor by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827). Intermission provided friends and neighbors with a good chance to chat, and enjoy some nice home made goodies. The final piece on the program was the powerful String Quartet #8 in C minor by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 – 1975), which, as the audience was warned in advance, was a movingly depressing piece of music (though rendered exquisitely). Thankfully, the Players offered a short Bach Air as an encore, so as not to end on quite so somber a note.

For more information about the Apple Hill Chamber Players and their 2009 Summer Concert Series, you can visit their web site at www.applehill.org