Tuesday’s Third Annual Holiday Concert Will Benefit Newtown Scholarship Association

Under the direction of Newtown resident Richard E. Serbagi, The Concert Society of Putnam and Northern Westchester will once again provide a very special evening of outstanding music that will continue the sounds of the holiday season while raising money for Newtown Scholarship Association. The concert will at Trinity Episcopal Church on Tuesday, December 30, at 7:30 pm.  A gala reception will immediately follow the concert in the church’s undercroft.

The Concert Society Chamber Orchestra is made up of professional musicians who live in the area and perform with the best in New York City. Robert Sherman, writing in The New York Times, commented, “The Concert Society stands apart from virtually all other presenting organizations in the country because it has its own nucleus of top notch professionals, along the lines of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center….”

The group was formed in 1971. Under the leadership of Mr Serbagi and with the guidance of its musicians and the administration of its friends, the society has grown into an organization known for offering fine chamber music with an impeccable ensemble.

This year’s performance will feature several soloists, including violinist Fernando Medina-Caceres, who will be traveling from Puerto Rico to honor his uncle and mentor, the late Jaime Medina; violist Midhat Serbagi, recently retired from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; and the organist Jan-Piet Knijff

Soprano Marie Ferrante will also return to Newtown for the third time.

This year’s program will include Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major for harpsichord, flute, violin, and orchestra by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the beloved chorale “Jesu meine freude” by Bach, and Variations based on the same chorale, “Jesu, meine freude,” composed by John Mastroianni, scored for saxophone and strings.

Ms Ferrante will again offer arias of Schubert, Mozart and Martini, and The Concert Society Orchestra will be joined by Mr Medina-Caceres and Mr Serbagi as soloists in the famous Concertante by Mozart.

Violinist Fernando Medina-Caceres is traveling from his home in Puerto Rico to perform in honor of his late uncle – the violinist and concertmaster of Puerto Rico Philharmonic, Jaime Medina. Among the highlights of the program will be Concertante Symphonie, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of Jaime Medina’s favorite pieces. The piece will feature Mr Medina’s nephew together with the violist Midhat Serbagi, a retired member of Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, who has played many times with the Concert Society Orchestra.

Mr Medina-Caceres was born in Queens, New York, in 1969. Violin lessons began in 1982 with his uncle at The San Juan School of Music, and continued at a spcial program for children at the conservatory when he turned 13. Mr Medina-Caceres graduated from that program and entered the conservatory before finishing high school.

In 1990, after having graduated from the conservatory, he auditioned for the first chair in the second violin section of Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until he later went to work for Philharmonic Orchestra of Puerto Rico, where he is current concertmaster.

Mr Medina-Caceres is called upon as a recording artist, has played in chamber music festivals in Puerto Rico; Segovia, Spain, and in Venezuela. He is concertmaster when Opera and Zarzuela Orchestra have functions, a freelance musician who has performed alongside artists of all styles, and a teacher at San Juan School of Music.

Mr Serbagi – the brother of Richard E. Serbagi – has been active in chamber music and as a soloist, performing Mozart’s Duo Concertante and Telemann’s Concerto for Viola with The Concert Society of Northern Westchester. The son of a professional Middle Eastern singer, Mr Serbagi has always embraced his Lebanese cultural heritage. This was seen on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera when he appeared as The Egyptian Violist, improvising and singing complex Middle Eastern melismas in an extended scene with Marilyn Horne in The Ghosts of Versailles, conducted by James Levine.

Mr Serbagi has also performed with the jazz ensemble of his longtime friend and colleague David Amram, including engagements at The Village Gate.

In his retirement Mr Serbagi has garnered new respect as a teacher and coach whose experience and knowledge is sought after by aspiring professionals. Mr Serbagi has served as principal violist for Greenwich Village Orchestra for five years, and has performed as soloist with GVO on demanding works such as Concerto for Viola and Orchestra by Bela Bartok, Harold In Italy by Hector Berlioz, and Suite for Viola and Orchestra by Ernest Bloch.

Ms Ferrante studied voice with Elly Ameling in Florence, Italy, and with Franco Corelli in Cortina.  She won the Mario Lanza Vocal competition and has already sung in over 27 operas and performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

Chester resident John Mastroianni has performed as a professional musician since he was 15 years old. His talents as a saxophonist, woodwind doubler, composer and arranger have led him to a diversity of musical experiences. His résumé truly reads like a Who’s Who in regards to whom he has performed with, studied with and composed for. In addition to being a freelance musician Mr Mastroianni performs with his own quartet and also leads a 16-piece jazz orchestra that he composes and arranges all of the music for.

Mr Mastroianni was approached by Richard Serbagi with a suggestion about writing a theme and variations on the Bach chorale. The composer, who admitted recently that he was “intrigued, excited and intimidated” by the suggestion, nevertheless took on the challenge.

“Taking on the task of creating a new work based upon a chorale that has become a staple in the literature was a monumental one to say the least,” said Mr Mastroianni. “The charge was very clear to me from the very first note of the ostinato bass line to the driving tutti at the fine ... that was to create a work with fresh, innovative ideas, while maintaining the integrity of this masterpiece.

“The use of the soprano saxophone immediately puts a stamp of uniqueness on the piece,” Mr Mastroianni continued. “It’s wishful thinking on a saxophonist’s part to believe that Bach would have adored the instrument had it been at his disposal! The more contemporary harmonic devices and bold rhythmic variations provide the foundation for the many variations on the theme.

“Although the soprano saxophone is the solo voice, the orchestra is featured and plays an equal and integral role throughout.”

Jan-Piet Knijff, a native of Haarlem, The Netherlands, has performed on organ, harpsichord and piano at major venues around the world. He is a performer, teacher, director of music at St Michael’s Lutheran Church in New Canaan, and concert organist in residence at St Paul’s Church National Historic Site in Mt Vernon, N.Y., among other appointments.

Tickets are $30 each and are available from Newtown Scholarship Association board members. Tickets can also be purchased at Newtown Savings Bank’s main office, 41 Main Street in Newtown, and at C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street in Newtown.

Please note that tickets will not be sold at the door the evening of the concert. Advance ticket purchases or reservations are absolutely mandatory; last year’s concert was sold out.

For additional information call 426-2500.