Gary Robinson, conductor
Caroline Robinson, harpsichord
Christoph Wilibald Gluck: Overtura from Orfeo ed Euridice
Philip Glass: Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra
Ottorino Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3
Johann Sebastian Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 3

If for you, the sound of the harpsichord conjures the luxury and excess enjoyed at the court of Marie-Antoinette, this concert starts there and takes you to places you couldn’t imagine. The experience is a romp through eras starting with Gluck’s response to the excesses of the Enlightenment, his Orfeo ed Euridice Overture. Then it takes a hard left with composer Philip Glass who was sick and tired of being called a minimalist and decided to explore the flowery Baroque period with his Concerto for Harpsichord and Orchestra, premiered in Seattle in 2002. The last movement will make you want to dance. The grace of Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances is all the bright-toned elegance you could wish for, followed by the original master of the Baroque, the one and only Johann Sebastian Bach. The instantly-recognizable majesty and beautiful melody of his third orchestral suite brings everything that’s just happened into sharp focus, and ties it in a profoundly Baroque bow.
Conductor Gary Robinson collaborates here with his daughter and celebrated keyboardist Caroline Robinson. This is an unforgettable program for them and for all who will be in the room to share it.

Gary Robinson, Conductor

Gary Robinson has been a part of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra family since joining GSO’s percussion section in 1985. He has performed as an orchestral percussionist since 1977 in Connecticut, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina, as well as with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra of Pittsburgh, PA
In the 1990s, Robinson teamed up with then-GSO conductor David Pollitt to found the Side-By-Side project (at the time, the Apprentice Project) which paired GSO and student musicians for rehearsal and performance. Following the1997 completion of his Doctor of Music in Orchestral Conducting at the University of South Carolina, Robinson took on other GSO assignments that included conducting chamber concerts, GSO/Greenville Ballet productions of the Nutcracker ballet, and Symphonic Expeditions concerts for school-aged children. Robinson’s work in joint student/professional concerts continued through 2021 in the Side-By-Side pairing of GSO musicians and the orchestra he nurtured starting in 1985, Greenville County Young Artist Orchestra.

Guest Artist: Caroline Robinson, Harpsichord

Organist and church musician Dr. Caroline Robinson has been featured as a solo recitalist across the United States, in venues including New York City churches St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, St. John the Divine, Trinity Church Wall Street, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral; in Boston: Church of the Advent, Harvard Memorial Church, Cambridge, Methuen Memorial Music Hall; St. James in the City, Los Angeles; and Kansas City’s the Kauffman Center. She has also performed in England, France, and Germany. Her playing has been broadcast multiple times on American Public Media’s “Pipedreams,” “Pipedreams LIVE!,” and Philadelphia-based public radio station 90.1 WRTI’s Wanamaker Organ Hour. She has been a featured performer at conventions of the Organ Historical Society, the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival, and the American Guild of Organists, most recently performing in the closing concert of the 2022 AGO Convention in Seattle in collaboration with Seattle Pro Musica.
A prize winner at several distinguished organ competitions, Dr. Robinson is a laureate of the 2018 National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP) and holds First Prize from the 11th annual Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival (2008) and from the 10th annual West Chester University Organ Competition (2010). She was a semifinalist in the 2014 Dublin International Organ Competition. In 2016, she was chosen as one of the Diapason’s “20 Under 30” promising young organists in the United States.
Caroline holds the post of Organist and Associate Choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta. There, under the direction of Canon Dale Adelmann, she shares organ playing and accompanying responsibilities with Artist-in-Residence Jack Mitchener, and she leads the RSCM-based Chorister program. She is an active continuo player with early music ensembles, having performed at the Rochester Early Music Festival, San Francisco’s American Bach Soloists Academy, and now regularly with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.
Dr. Robinson completed her undergraduate work at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Alan Morrison. Aided by a grant from the J. William Fulbright fellowship fund, Caroline studied at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Toulouse with Michel Bouvard and Jan Willem Jansen (organ) and Yasuko Bouvard (harpsichord). Caroline holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and the Master of Music in Organ Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with David Higgs. Dr. Robinson also received from Eastman the Performer’s Certificate and the Advanced Teaching Certificate in Theory Pedagogy.
Dr. Robinson is represented in North America by Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc.

Jack’s long-running Traditional Irish Music Session is the perfect way to enjoy the Celtic-influenced sounds of talented pluckers from all over WNC & further afield! Stop in to enjoy a pint or afternoon Irish coffee with the music! Sláinte!

Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

The Innerdance is a music-based, meditative, healing journey, It involves the use of special soundscapes that mimic circadian rhythms and enable people to move effortlessly between different brain wave states. As a result, people experience an expanded sense of awareness and altered states of consciousness.

In this space of unlimited possibilities, very profound and mystical things can happen. Common movements in the Innerdance include drug-free psychedelic experiences, life regressions, circadian rhythms, near-death experiences, kundalini activations, and womb/birth memories.

Benefits may include nervous system regulation, circadian rhythm reset, mental clarity, inner peace, greater neural plasticity, increased intuitive discernment, emotional regulation, improved self-esteem, etc.

Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

Sing with our Choir at a progressive church

Come join us! Contact Mark Acker for more information ([email protected]).

Rehearsals on Wednesday’s, 3:30-4:45

Beginning & Intermediate youth music classes on traditional and ol’ time instruments including but not limited to, fiddle, mandolin, banjo and guitar. Students will attend 40 minutes of music enrichment, including multiple flat-footing sessions led by Alice Kexel, story-telling, visits from guest musicians, as well as learn about the heritage of the music and the region. They will have 40 minutes of group music classes, and 40 minutes of singing or JAM rehearsal.

Advanced students will have 40 minutes of group instrument lessons, followed by 30 minutes of advanced singing including harmony and shape-note singing, and finish with 50 minutes of coached, small-ensemble rehearsal.

Classes are $15/session, for a total of $210 for the first student, and a 20% discount of $168 for each additional sibling. Parents may choose to split payments when registering. Inquire with Julie Moore at [email protected] or 864-420-6407 about scholarships.

Youth Classes

Wednesdays, 4-6 pm

Weekly mountain music JAM with
players in a round, where the session is focused on regional fiddle tunes and songs, You are welcome to come and listen or to
learn and join in. This event supports the Henderson County Junior Appalachian Musician (JAM) Kids Program, Free but
donations are accepted.

Karaoke Night at Hickory Tavern

Music to Your Ears Discussion Series:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hosted by the Asheville Guitar Bar, a discussion series
provides deeper understanding and greater enjoyment of classic albums and recording
artists. Led by Asheville speaker, author and music journalist Bill Kopp, Music to Your
Ears is an interactive experience that shines a light on important music and people. Music
to Your Ears is a 90-minute conversation, held at the Guitar Bar, a music magnet in
Asheville’s historic River Arts District. The March 6 event is a listening party and
discussion focusing on the landmark concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
In 1974, English progressive rock band Genesis was at its peak. With a nuanced and
melodic musical core, the group provided a complex and intriguing backing for the

vocals and lyrical visions of front man Peter Gabriel. On the heels of a critically-
acclaimed string of adventurous albums, Genesis embarked on a creative endeavor to

make its most ambitious work yet: a double-length conceptual work. Featuring wordplay and social commentary, the words and story
of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway were the product of Gabriel’s creative mind, and the accompanying music was a collaborative
effort with guitarists Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford, keyboardist Tony Banks and drummer Phil Collins.
A mix of fantasy and character development, Gabriel’s storyline for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway centered around Rael, a young
New York man of Puerto Rican origin. Released in November 1974, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway was a critical and commercial
success, peaking at #41 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the U.S. Described in The New Yorker as “The Ulysses of concept
albums,” The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway regularly ranks high on best album lists; Uncut named it as one of the ten greatest
concept albums ever made, and Allmusic awarded it five stars, the highest ranking.
At the time of its releases, the album also exerted an influence on a young Puerto Rican boy growing up in New York City. Today Jeff
Santiago is a well-known and celebrated figure in the Asheville music and arts community, leading his band Los Gatos. But in the
‘70s he was a kid whose musical tastes were informed by the music his older siblings and parents played. And they turned him onto
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Its main character resonated with young Jeff even before he began his own musical journey.
Join host and music journalist Bill Kopp for an evening in discussion with Jeff Santiago about Genesis
and their album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. We’ll listen to key tracks and encourage questions
from the audience. The evening is the latest installment of the popular “Music to Your Ears” discussion
series, hosted by Asheville Guitar Bar and sponsored by AshevilleFM.

ABOUT THE DISCUSSION SERIES
Music to Your Ears is Bill Kopp’s monthly discussion series hosted by Asheville Guitar
Bar and co-sponsored by AshevilleFM. On the first Wednesday of each month, music
enthusiasts gather to discuss an important album, artist or musical movement. An
interactive evening, MTYE isn’t a lecture; it’s a discussion led by experts and designed
to enrich the listening experience.
ABOUT BILL KOPP (blog.musoscribe.com)
With over 500 bylines in regional publications (Mountain Xpress, Bold Life, WNC Magazine and more), Asheville-based speaker,
author and music journalist is an acknowledged expert on popular music. Author of two books – Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd
Barrett to The Dark Side of the Moon and Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave – Bill Kopp writes for
publications across the country and abroad. A contributing editor at Goldmine Magazine, he has authored more than 30 album liner
note essays and conducted more than 1100 interviews. He regularly hosts discussions on artists and albums of historical importance,
and is a frequent guest on music-focused radio programs and podcasts.
ABOUT JEFF SANTIAGO (jeffsantiago.com)
After settling in Asheville, NC, Bronx born singer-songwriter Jeff Santiago quickly became immersed in the city’s diverse music

community, forming Santiago y Los Gatos. The band brings a combination of emotionally driven lyrics and funky, rhythmic rock-
inspired jams to the stage. Santiago y Los Gatos is pop music at its core, indie rock at its root that is infused with Hispanic heritage

and Southern soul. All this, delivered in songs from the heart. Their live shows are full of passion, energy and emotion.

Grammy-nominated bluesman Jontavious Willis performs original, toe-tapping tunes in the style of Delta, Piedmont, Texas, and Gospel Blues. Don’t miss him live on March 6 at The Grey Eagle.

Jontavious Willis is reshaping the blues scene with his own unique style. Hailing from Greenville, Georgia, his deep connection to his rural Americana and black heritage infuses his artistry with authenticity and character.

Jontavious occupies a unique position as a child of the 90s whose artistic canvas, the blues, is among the most vintage of American art forms. His work provides an avenue for modern audiences to access a part of history all too often deemed inaccessible. On tour and in the studio, he is captivating audiences with his unique perspective, leaving an indelible mark on the world of music, breathing new life into one of America’s greatest contributions to music and culture.

His debut album, “Blue Metamorphosis,” received critical acclaim and was honored with the Best Self-Produced CD Award by the Blues Foundation. His second album, “Spectacular Class,” produced by Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’, solidi ed his status as a rising star, and earned him a Grammy nomination.

Currently, Jontavious is working on his upcoming album, which will showcase his evolution as an artist. The project is a product of Jontavious’ relationship with Georgia. He is working hard in his home state, drawing inspiration from both the historical and contemporary, to produce an album that will make its’ mark on the state’s musical tradition.

Maya de Vitry’s dynamic and vibrant voice seems to rise out of some necessity of bringing songs to life, embracing listeners with what Folk Alley calls a “soulful intimacy.” She grew up in a musical family in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, understanding music to be a place of gathering, a way to spend a summer night around a campfire.

Maya first traveled and performed as a fiddling street musician, and then in bars, theaters, and on festival stages as a founding member of The Stray Birds. When the band parted ways in 2018, Maya embarked on an ever-evolving musical path of solo work and new collaborations. Her recordings and live performances embody both sincerity and playfulness, and a compelling reverence for the power of songs to be a place of gathering – whether played on stage, or around a campfire.

Maya tours in a variety of formats, each featuring a fluid lineup of inspired collaborators. She also enjoys the art of warming up the stage for other artists and she has been invited to support a variety of tours, from innovative singer-songwriters like John Craigie and Aoife O’Donovan, to bands like Mighty Poplar and The Wood Brothers.

While on a tour in April 2023, Maya felt deeply moved by the musical chemistry, emotional immediacy, and joyful spontaneity of her live band. She reached out to Nashville-based engineer Lawson White to arrange a recording session for this specific ensemble. But as far as the material for the session, she felt certain of only one song. “Stacy, In Her Wedding Gown” – a captivating portrait of a deeply creative working mother, inspired by one of Maya’s former co-workers at the Nipper’s Corner Starbucks – had become a staple in her live show and could be a centerpiece of the collection.

With the band booked and the session on the calendar, Maya wrote several new songs with the ensemble in mind, and chose one cover song for the collection. The resulting EP, Infinite, is performed with astonishing depth and tenderness, shimmering with a loose, human beauty from start to finish. Produced by Maya de Vitry and engineered and mixed by Lawson White, Infinite features Maya de Vitry (acoustic guitar, vocals) and members of her touring band – Joel Timmons (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals), Hannah Delynn (vocals), and Ethan Jodziewicz (upright bass, fretless electric bass). It is a powerful 23 minute journey that invites listeners into the space of warmth and freedom that Maya has so devotedly created.

Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

Music Ménage features a chamber ensemble of select orchestra musicians and the return of multi-talented vocalists from the Opera Theatre at UNC Greensboro.

BRO Music Director Milton Crotts and Opera Theatre Director David Holley promise an evening of elegant opera music including selections from Mozart’s comedic masterpiece The Impresario, “Chi il bel sogno” from Puccini’s La Rondine, and “Morro, ma prima in grazia” from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera about the assassination of Swedish King Gustav III.  The program features iconic songs sung by the title characters of three beloved French operas: Bizet’s Carmen sings the defiant and challenging “Habanera”; Massenet’s Manon performs her celebratory “Gavotte”; Lakme and her servant girl Mallika sing the hauntingly beautiful “Flower Duet” by Leo Delibes. The emotional tenor aria “La Serenata”, the “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana, and the “Meditation” from Thais are among the many other highlights of these intimate concerts.

The Thursday evening salon in the Governor’s graceful mountain retreat will be accompanied by wine and delectables. Fortunate attendees will have an opportunity to mingle with the gifted performers on both evenings. The Orchestra is delighted to extend its collaboration with the UNC Greensboro Opera Theatre as part of its ongoing mission to promote connections that enhance the musical experiences of WNC audiences. UNC Greensboro is renowned for its Opera Theatre program – UNCG productions have earned seven first-place awards in the National Opera Association’s annual competition and its graduates perform with celebrated opera companies across the country. Our exclusive performances help make these musical partnerships possible.

General Admission Tickets: $80, Includes wine, and savory hors d’oeuvres

Join us for Jazz Jam Thursday every Thursday from 7-10. There is a suggested donation of $10 and local craft beer and wine for sale. Come as you are or bring an instrument! Open jam starts at 8 after a House Band set guaranteed to fill your soul with groove and joy.
Public parking is available at Marjorie Street, across from Packs Tavern.

Sigal Music Museum’s current special exhibition, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred, highlights items from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, which hails from all over the world. Showing November 2023 – May 2024, Worlds Apart uses a diverse range of historical instruments, objects, and visuals to bring together musical narratives from seemingly disparate parts of the globe.

 

Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred aims to increase public access to historical instruments from around the world and improve visitors’ understanding of musical traditions at the global level. Expanding beyond the typical parameters of the Western musical canon, Worlds Apart seeks to expose audiences to musical instruments and customs that are often overlooked or exotified. The instruments and other exhibit materials will offer visitors new perspectives on global music and a chance to consider how music is used for prayer and leisure in cultures around the world. By celebrating these stories, the museum intends to further its mission to collect and preserve historical musical instruments, objects, and information, which engage and enrich people of all ages through exhibits, performances, and experiential programs.

 

Displaying various objects from the JoAnn and Frank Edwinn Collection, Worlds Apart: Musical Instruments from Secular to Sacred focuses on international musical instruments and cultures, celebrating rites and traditions with ancient histories and contemporary legacies. Frank Edwinn, a successful basso in the mid-20th century, studied and toured internationally, eventually settling in North Carolina, where he taught music at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Throughout his life, he purchased various objects from around the world, aiming to expose students, and himself, to the wide and wonderful world of musical instruments. This impressive collection occupies a unique position for educating audiences unfamiliar with the vast scope of global music.

And, UNCA’s Ramsey Library Special Collections is now processing the Edwinn’s papers and a few recordings that will be accessible next semester!

Learn the basics of home recording, with Whitney Mongé, at the LEAF ONEmic Studio. For ages 18-24. Fridays 3:30-5pm. $15 drop in class or $50 for full four-week series beginning March 8.

Americana soul musician Whitney Mongé learned to capture the power of authenticity while honing her skills as a street performer. With or without elevation of a stage, each part of her performance, from the passion of her powerful, smoky voice to the intensity of a whispered lyric, draws listeners into an embrace within each truthful moment of song. Whitney was raised with rhythm and blues in her blood, and while growing up in the Pacific Northwest, her music is heavily influenced by the alternative rock and indie folk scene of Seattle.

With three acclaimed EPs – Steadfast (2014), Stone (2017), and Carry On (2018) – under her belt, Whitney has solidified her status as a heavy-hitting, grassroots artist. She teamed up with the Grammy Award-winning Seattle Symphony to release the captivating live album Whitney Mongé Live with The Seattle Symphony (2021), showcasing her remarkable musical journey.

Whitney is currently based in Asheville and is working on releasing new music in 2024.

Plan to collaborate with other musicians at Sideways Farm & Brewery in Etowah. Bring your instruments and voices and enjoy making music and networking with other artists, while enjoying the beautiful scenery. Food truck is on site and beverages available for purchase from Sideways (small
batch craft beers, hard jun, ciders, wine, and non alcoholic drinks). Family, fans, friends, and leashed dogs are all welcome!
During winter months enjoy playing under the covered, sheltered, heated porch! And during the summer months enjoy
collaborating in the fields, on the stage, or under the patio

Fundraising concert supporting the mission of Greenville Jazz Collective. $60 ticket includes table seating and appetizers. Tickets sold at the door only if not already sold out.