3 minute read
Music Experiment Cooking in The Plains
Music Experiment Cooking in The Plains
By Leland Schwartz
To draw more audience to the classical music concerts in The Plains, organizers are going to run an experiment. The food and wine come first. Then the concert.
They’re calling it “Sound Bites” and they’re pairing it with acclaimed pianist Tanya Gabrielian.
It’s all a composition by The Arts in The Plains, Nomad Provisions and Slater Run Vineyards, and it’s a new addition to the Grace Church Concert Series, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Gabrielian and concert organizers Lena Scott-Lundh, Margrete Stevens and Rev. E. Weston Mathews think food, wine and music -- and in that order -- presents a great way to share music with the community.
“The reason we’re doing this is to expose more people to beautiful classical music and to bring them together,” said Scott-Lundh, the former chair of Washington Performing Arts who calls Gabrielian “exceptional...a genius.”
Rev. Mathews, an enthusiastic supporter of a variety of cultural programs at Grace in recent years, announced earlier this summer that he is leaving to become the rector at St. Francisco Episcopal in Great Falls. His last sermon at Grace will be on August 11.
Before his resignation, he said the 2024-2025 program of choral evensong, art, music, and theater “will be Grace’s most active and creative season yet.”
“What a blessing it is to see Grace in The Plains grow along an arc of congregational development into parish vitality,” Rev. Matthews said in a message to the Grace community. “When it comes to being a parish church that also serves as a regional center for the performing arts, Grace is unrivaled in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and Fauquier County.”
For her part, Gabrielian said Sound Bites “is a gathering for those who share a common love for music, food, and wine. Our goal is to rekindle the fun of the concert experience, creating a space where the community can unite and celebrate the joy these shared passions bring.”
As of press time, the food and wine Nomad and Slater Run have on the menu had not been announced. The first concert -- “Enchantment” -- is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 22 at 4 p.m. The program will include Frank Bridge: Phantasy for Piano Quartet; Claude Debussy: Cello Sonata and Antonin Dvorak: Dumky Trio.
The musicians will be Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin; Ryo Usami, viola; Michael Kaufman, cello and Gabrielian, piano.
FUTURE CONCERTS
■ Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024 at 4 p.m.: Fauré, Mozart, Grieg, Gershwin
■ Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025 at 4 p.m.: Mozart, Schubert, Debussy, Schumann, Bruch
■ Sunday, May 18, 2025 at 4 p.m.: Mozart, Brahms
