SCRAG@Home
While this is a time when we must be physically apart, Scrag Mountain Music is looking for ways that we can continue to fulfill our mission of connecting our audiences to chamber music of the highest caliber. Thank you for visiting this page, and we hope you will enjoy these virtual offerings until we can gather together once again!
8/12/2020
We can't wait to share our virtual Duo Concert with all of you on Friday, August 21 at 8 pm EDT. This concert will feature a selection of works that are very special to us including:
Concert recording available on Scrag's FB page for a limited time.
We can't wait to share our virtual Duo Concert with all of you on Friday, August 21 at 8 pm EDT. This concert will feature a selection of works that are very special to us including:
- The World Premiere of Love Songs by Vermont composer Erik Nielsen;
- The World Premiere of Home by composer and jazz artist William Parker;
- Shawn Jaeger’s In Old Virginny (2007) with settings of text collected by Cecil Sharp from the Southern Appalachians;
- Katherine Balch’s acrobatic Phrases (2017) with text by 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud;
- With Grandchildren by Scrag’s 2013-14 composer-in-residence Lembit Beecher, from his 15-movement Looking at Spring: Meditations on Aging (2014), commissioned by Scrag and developed from interviews with seniors living in Vermont and Toronto; and
- Evan Premo’s always timely Seasonal Song Cycle.
Concert recording available on Scrag's FB page for a limited time.
7/28/2020
Last month, we gathered together online to share the music of Bach and enjoy a communal experience of music making, conversation, and exploration. Though the experience was different from a live concert, we felt connected to each of you and seeing your faces afterwards was a beautiful moment that we will treasure as a touchstone of this time. It was affirming to gather, and we were amazed at how real it felt. Together, we raised $1,029 for Black Lives Matter. Thank you so much for your support. If you missed the concert, a recording will be available on Facebook through August. Looking ahead, Evan and I are planning Scrag@Home's next event - a live streamed duo concert on Friday, August 21 at 8 pm est. We're excited to share pieces written specially for us -- including Evan's Seasonal Song Cycle and World Premieres by Erik Nielsen and William Parker -- and will be joined by some of the composers to speak about their pieces. Also, a reminder that Evan's Thumbelina is available for streaming and download for free through the end of August.
Last month, we gathered together online to share the music of Bach and enjoy a communal experience of music making, conversation, and exploration. Though the experience was different from a live concert, we felt connected to each of you and seeing your faces afterwards was a beautiful moment that we will treasure as a touchstone of this time. It was affirming to gather, and we were amazed at how real it felt. Together, we raised $1,029 for Black Lives Matter. Thank you so much for your support. If you missed the concert, a recording will be available on Facebook through August. Looking ahead, Evan and I are planning Scrag@Home's next event - a live streamed duo concert on Friday, August 21 at 8 pm est. We're excited to share pieces written specially for us -- including Evan's Seasonal Song Cycle and World Premieres by Erik Nielsen and William Parker -- and will be joined by some of the composers to speak about their pieces. Also, a reminder that Evan's Thumbelina is available for streaming and download for free through the end of August.
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6/23/2020
When we were planning our 10th anniversary season, we never could have guessed that a global pandemic would put a hold on live concerts and that our last two concerts of the season would have been experienced in a new way. This week would have been Scrag's 10th Anniversary Season Finale, celebrated with a program of J.S. Bach toured to five Town Halls throughout the state. Thus, we are pleased to offer a re-imagined program -- a virtual living room interactive concert of Bach's music performed by some of the artists who would have joined us in Vermont. In addition to a soothing aria from Cantata 82 and a scat-sung invention performed by Mary Bonhag (soprano) and Evan Premo (double bass), friends Emi Ferguson (baroque flute), Clay Zeller-Townson (bassoon), and Elliot Figg (harpsichord) will perform other works by Bach and Telemann from their own homes chosen specifically for our Vermont community. Concert recording available on Scrag's FB page for a limited time. |
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6/17/2020
We are pleased to release the audio version Evan’s Thumbelina, an original musical setting of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a tiny girl who goes on a big adventure. Thumbelina made its World Premiere this February as part of Scrag's Musical Storytelling for All Ages. Of which, Jim Lowe wrote, "[Thumbelina is] a joy of musical storytelling...a viable partner with Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf." Visit our Thumbelina audio page for details on how to download this music and to join in our listening challenge! Illustration (c) Shutterstock |
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6/15/2020
Scrag Mountain Music stands in solidarity with the Black community in the fight for racial justice. We have been saddened and angered by the senseless killings of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and countless others. As individuals and as an organization, there is much work we need to do, and we are committed to doing it. Scrag’s mission is to bring all members of our community together through musical exploration and with the understanding that the arts can be used as an important vehicle for community building and social change. We will work to increase the visibility of Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color (BIPOC) composers and musicians and to ensure our programs reach all of our communities. We will make time for deep reflection and learning, and we invite feedback from you, our devoted Scrag family, about how we might continue to evolve to effect the meaningful change that we all hope for.
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In 2018, I composed String Quartet No. 1 “Deeply Known” which was a personal exploration of the theme of vulnerability. The piece’s second movement, Often Wounded, Sometimes Destroyed, is a reflection of the pain and destruction that can result from being vulnerable and acknowledges that race, gender, and sexual identity can make a person more susceptible to harm, which we have sadly seen played out over and over again in our country. Resources that have been meaningful sources of learning for me personally in the past few weeks have been Ta-Nehisi Coates' "Between the World and Me" and this interview with Resmaa Menakem. I encourage you to explore these and share with us works that have resonated with you. ~ Evan
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5/15/2020
This weekend would have been a celebration of the poetry of beloved Vermont poet / playwright / novelist David Budbill. We would have heard Evan's Songs from a Mountain Recluse and a new work by Brookfield composer Erik Nielsen, come together with friends Karen Kevra (flute) and Jeffrey Chappell (piano), and thanks to the tireless efforts of David's wife Lois Eby and daughter Nadine Budbill, shared a stage with David's longtime collaborator and musical partner William Parker, the visionary free-jazz composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist based in New York City, and his group of collaborators. So that we can still celebrate David Budbill's poetry with you, we are pleased to present this new video of Evan's Come Inside Now set to David's words and paired with photos of David and the Budbill / Eby homestead. |
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5/3/2020
As signs of spring begin to pop-up across our state, we have begun to feel a renewed sense of spirit. We so look forward to the time when we can gather again to enjoy musical performances together. We are so pleased to be able to share this recent recording of Evan performing the Sarabande from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 from our home studio. We hope this contemplative music will bring you peace and comfort. |
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4/7/2020
Because of COVID-19, life has slowed way down for Evan, Glen, George and me as we are tucked in watching the beginning of spring and boiling maple sap. There is much uncertainty right now and such a wild mix of emotions—fear, gratitude, love, overwhelm, peace, unrest. I hope you and your families are safe and able to sink into the pause that is life right now. Please enjoy the video we made in our little basement studio — a performance for you of Evan’s Where Everything is Music. This is a setting of a Rumi poem that speaks to the undercurrent of music running through everything. Something both Evan and I feel at our core and wish to share with you. Please enjoy and share widely. |
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We invite you to enjoy perusing through videos taken at past concerts that we have shared together.
Scrag Mountain Music is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts and Vermont Humanities and the National Endowment of Humanities.
Scrag Mountain Music's 2019-20 season is generously supported by VPR, National Life Group Foundation, and the Windham Foundation. With additional support from The Seaver Fund, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, The Amphion Foundation, Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom, Mad River Valley Rotary Club, and Capitol Copy.
Scrag Mountain Music's 2019-20 season is generously supported by VPR, National Life Group Foundation, and the Windham Foundation. With additional support from The Seaver Fund, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, The Amphion Foundation, Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom, Mad River Valley Rotary Club, and Capitol Copy.