Date: Fri 26-Sep-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Kendall-Dulina-piano-benefit

Full Text:

(short on duo pianists Dulina & Kendall/preview for benefit concert, 9/26/97)

Benefit Piano Concert Will Benefit Music Department

(with photo)

BY SHANNON HICKS

SOUTHBURY - The dynamic piano duo of Kendall and Dulina will return to

Southbury for a concert to benefit the Pomperaug High School music department

on Friday, October 3, at 7:30 pm. The concert will take place in the school's

auditorium, located at 234 Judd Road in Southbury.

The talented team performed to a standing-room-only audience last February at

a concert sponsored by the Southbury Arts Committee. Kendall and Dulina will

expand their repertoire for the concert next weekend in response to numerous

requests from their listeners.

The duo will play classical and contemporary pieces, featuring such composers

as George Gershwin, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Williams and Mozart. The

performance will include melodies from the Thirties and Forties, as well as

selections from Les Misrables , Phantom of the Opera and Beauty and the Beast

.

David Kendall and John Dulina are both accomplished musicians with impressive

credentials of training and experience. John Dulina has studied keyboard and

theory for more than 20 years. He has competed locally and nationally, winning

several prestigious awards. He has been teaching for over two decades, the

last seven of which have been in Southbury. Mr Dulina's talents cover a

diverse range of musical styles, from Gregorian chant to contemporary

compositions. He has conducted pieces featuring the work of Bach, Mozart,

Handel, Vivaldi, John Rutter and John Stainer. Mr Dulina is presently in

residence as the director of music ministry at Sacred Heart Church in

Southbury, a post he has held for seven years.

In February 1995, Mr Dulina traveled to Rome after accepting an invitation to

perform with and conduct the Sacred Heart Adult Choir at St. Peter's Basilica.

Last December, he directed the Southbury Inter-Faith Chorale in its

performance of Handel's Messiah . Mr Dulina founded the Chorale, along with

the Southbury Cultural Concert Series, a project for which he continues to

serve as concert coordinator.

This past summer, Mr Dulina and a partner, Nancy Coulombe, opened the

Renaissance Center For Artistic Enrichment in Southbury. The Center's private

and group lessons in art and music offer children and adults the opportunity

to develop their unique artistic abilities in a creative environment. At the

Center, Mr Dulina serves as music director and also as an instructor of piano

courses.

David Kendall began his formal piano training at age five. He studied music at

Western Connecticut State University, and has had several years of performance

experience, including Madison Square Garden and a European musical tour. He

has served as the rehearsal pianist at area schools including Holy Cross in

Waterbury, St. Joseph's in Trumbull, and Pomperaug High School in Southbury,

which is where he graduated from. However, when Mr Kendall inherited West Cove

Marina, located on Lake Lillinonah in New Milford, a few years ago, he gave up

a lot of the rehearsal playing.

"I had to," he said recently. "I have a very hectic schedule."

Mr Kendall has been the principal organist at St. Teresa's Church in Woodbury

since 1990. He also plays the Kennedy Center annual benefit. "Between adults

and children, it's much different. With children, there is a lot more

rehearsal time - months and months and months. With adults, especially with

something like the Kennedy Center, you go into it knowing the music, and you

just put the show together.

"They're all professionals [at the Kennedy Center]," he continued. "None of us

have much free time, so you just get down to business."

Mr Kendall and Mr Dulina have performed as a duo a number of times in the

past. Their popularity in and around the Southbury area seems to be growing

with each subsequent function. Last February, they performed a concert

sponsored by the Southbury Cultural Arts Association (SCA) which was

standing-room-only. An upcoming December concert, also presented on behalf of

SCA is in the works, will include a program of primarily Christmas works

performed by the duo.

For next weekend, the musicians have selected a few of their favorite works

for the program. A number of the works will be incorporated into medleys

because, says Mr Kendall, "If we played everything we wanted, we would be

there five hours!"

Tickets for the October 3 concert are $10 each. For further information, call

262-3200.