Date: Fri 27-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Alexandria-Obre-Duffy-Cook

Full Text:

Music Ties Together Newtown's Holiday Festival Package

(with photos & sidebar)

BY SHANNON HICKS

The Family Counseling Center's 13th Annual Holiday Festival will take place on

and around Main Street in Newtown on Sunday, December 6. The festival

traditionally features a tour of historic homes and buildings, an antiques

show and sale, a crafts show and sale, children's workshop, refreshments at

Victorian Tea and New England Cafe locations, and a Festival of Trees among

its offerings.

The annual event, which attracts visitors from the entire community, is a

major fundraiser for the Family Counseling Center, Inc.

The festival is tied together by a number of musical performances, whether by

strolling musicians or concerts at set locations. The musical portion of

Newtown's holiday festivals have always been a warm addition to the

much-anticipated annual event, and this year's roster is as strong as ever.

Music chairman this year is Kate Sclafani.

"Everyone who has volunteered this year to perform has been so nice," Mrs

Sclafani said this week. It has been her responsibility to locate the

performers, and schedule the time slots either at the Alexandria Room, where

the majority of the music will be performed, or other locations. All of the

performers are volunteering their time, and the majority of those who are

appearing this year are doing so for the first time.

The music at Edmond Town Hall's Alexandria Room will be greeting those who

attend the festival's Victorian Tea. Visitors will be invited to enjoy tea and

scones, while listening to performances by classical guitarist Peter Obre, the

pianist Jim Allen, the singer Mary Jo Duffy, the singer/entertainer Lalia

Madriguera, students of Julie's Piano Workshop, and Ivory & Lace.

Opening the Victorian Room at 11 am will be students of Julie Cook, the owner

of Julie's Piano Workshop in Sandy Hook. Mrs Cook did not have the program

entirely pulled together earlier this week, but said her students would be

performing "light classics and Christmas music." This is the fourth year Mrs

Cook's students have been invited to perform.

"I love having the kids come a do this because it shows them a career

opportunity for a pianist," Mrs Cook said Monday afternoon. "Plus being on

stage helps them with their performance skills. It's really a good opportunity

for them, whether they are child or adult students, to get comfortable

performing in front of people.

"I also think participating in the festival is fun for them." Each student

will have the opportunity to perform up to five selections.

Students participating this year will be Anna DeMasi, Sara DeMasi, Michelle

DiBlasio, Erika Isolda, Alicia Rogers, Megan Rogers, Lauren McMorrow, Katie

Miranti, Monica Strzelecki, and Allison Yuen. Adult students include Cathy

Iannone, Linda Rogers, and Carole Weckesser.

Peter Obre (pronounced "oh-bree"), a Newtown resident, performs on classical

guitar. This will be his fifth year participating in the festival.

"Peter has done this festival before, and he has said this is his favorite

thing to do all year," Mrs Sclafani said. "It's kind of a backgroundy thing,

but the atmosphere is really wonderful and he really loves it. And he's really

good."

A former band director in Avon and then Norwalk, Mr Obre was also music

director at Newtown Middle School during the 1980s. Mr Obre received his

training at Hartt School, having graduated with classical guitar and musical

education. Before Hartt, he also studied at the Westport School of Music for

four years. A lifelong Newtown resident, Mr Obre graduated from Newtown High

School in 1976.

He resigned from NMS in 1988 after deciding to teach in his Baldwin Road

studio full-time. Currently he has 85 students. One of his former students is

Jim Allen, whose performance will precede Mr Obre's in the Alexandria Room

next weekend.

Unfortunately, Mr Obre will not have the chance to watch the performance of

his former student. He is already scheduled to perform during the weekly

Sunday brunch at the Mary Hawley Inn (he also performs regularly in the inn's

tap room on Friday nights), and also at one of the homes on the festival's

house tour, so he will not have much time to spend at the Alexandria Room

prior to his own performance, which is scheduled to begin at 2:30.

"I enjoy the festival, very much," Mr Obre said. "It kind of does my little

Christmas thing. It's all in the spirit of the holiday.

"I really enjoy playing in that room. It's nice to look down at the people

strolling along the sidewalks. I think I play for a good cause, too."

Mary Jo Duffy is making her debut appearance in this year's festival. Mrs

Duffy and her family moved into Newtown seven months ago, and the professional

soprano says one of the things that helped her decide to move to town was the

festival and similar events.

"What we know about the festival we've learned from my neighbors and from the

people around here. I think it's a wonderful thing, I just love it," she said.

"In fact, part of the reason I chose this town is that it has something like

this, which reminds me of Pittsburgh, where I grew up.

"I was really apprehensive about leaving Manhattan," she continued. "I didn't

want to, but when we came to look at the house here, a lot of the stuff I

heard about the town -- the Labor Day parade, this festival, the fact

everybody comes together to do these things -- really made the difference.

"I was thrilled they asked me to sing."

Mary Jo Duffy was a voice scholar at Chatham College, a private women's school

in Pittsburgh. Additional voice training has been under the tutelage of Tony

McDowell and Mimi Lerner. She has received her acting training from Alice

Spivak, Jeffrey Stocker and Annie Murray, all in New York City. She has

studied dance at Steps, Broadway Dancer Center in New York City, and with

Carol Abizaid, also of NYC.

Her resume is extensive, including national and European tours of shows like

Some Enchanted Evening: Songs of Rogers & Hammerstein and Showboat ; regional

theatre, workshops, a principal performer with the Royal Viking line, and

commercials and industrials.

"I haven't planned exactly what I'll be doing yet," Mrs Duffy said. "But there

will be some musical theatre, mostly from different roles I've played in

Carousel, My Fair Lady, Showboat and Oklahoma! Perhaps there will be some

contemporary musical theatre as well, and I may even throw in some Christmas

carols."

Mrs Duffy says she is not only looking forward to her first performance in the

Newtown Holiday Festival, but also plans to enjoy the other offerings of the

afternoon as well... provided her daughter agrees with these plans.

"Oh definitely, I'm looking forward to walking around the festival for

myself." Mary Jo and her husband, Daniel, will be spending some time exploring

their new hometown, providing their 18-month-old daughter, Aine, is up to it.

"It's really going to depend on her nap schedule," Mrs Duffy said, "We hope

she'll be able to see some of it."

Additional Performers

Another location that will be filled with music all afternoon will be the

meeting house, at 31 Main Street. Piano students of Sandra Buscher will begin

at 2 pm, followed by pianist Cathy Iannone at 2:30. Ms Buscher will perform at

3:30 pm.

Students from Montessori School are on this year's roster also. The students

will be performing a program at the meeting house beginning at 3 pm.

Holly Gundolfi, the creative arts teacher at Montessori, has been arranging

the program for the students.

"We'll be singing seasonal songs including songs for Solstice, Hanukkah,

Christmas, and anything `wintery,'" she said this week. "The elementary

students will be singing as well as our glee club, which is composed of

elementary students who come after school for extra performance practice.

"We will probably do some recorder playing, and xylophones. I'm hoping to have

between 20 to 30 students participating."

Additionally, every Girl School troop in Newtown -- at all levels -- has been

invited to sing carols this year. The Girl Scouts will be singing for about an

hour beginning at 2 pm in the old Yankee Drover lot.

"We will be singing traditional holiday songs," says Kathy Belmont, who is

organizing the Girl Scout gathering. The Scouts will be at C.H. Booth Library

in the event of bad weather. "We expect to have several dozen participants."