Kara Noble, Martin Kluger, and Mark Auerbach Join The Springfield Chamber Players to Perform JOHNNY APPLESEED

Kara Noble, who narrated the world premiere of Clifton J. Noble, Jr.'s Johnny Appleseed in 2008; Springfield Symphony Orchestra timpanist Martin Kluger; and Westfield Community Programming ArtsBeat host Mark Auerbach will narrate in the upcoming Springfield Chamber Players performance of Clifton J. Noble, Jr. 's folk cantata Johnny Appleseed on Sunday, May 12, 3PM, at First Church of Christ, 763 Longmeadow Street (Route 5), Longmeadow, MA. 

Kara Noble will narrate Johnny Appleseed. This family-friendly program also includes Peter (PDQ Bach) Schickele's The Boston Wonder, narrated by Mark Auerbach; The Swan from Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals for cello and piano, and Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf with music by Alan Rideout, narrated by Martin Kluger. The ensemble includes composer Clifton J. Noble, Jr. as music director and pianist; Marsha Harbison, violinist; Boris Kogan, cellist; Ellen Redman, flutist; Michael Nix on banjo; and the First Church of Christ's Children's Choir..

Clifton J. “Jerry” Noble, Jr. composed Johnny Appleseed for the Longmeadow Chamber Music Society, which premiered the work in 2008. The Westfield native served as a collaborative pianist at the Smith College Music Department from 1987 until his retirement in 2020.  Many of his compositions, including Pastorale, A Tonic of Wilderness, Windows of the Morning, and A Shakespeare Set, and others were written for Smith (treble) choirs. Ensembles that have commissioned Noble include the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Chorus,  the Holyoke Civic Symphony Orchestra, the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra, Music in Deerfield, the Canticle Singers of Baltimore, the Bel Canto Singers of Nevada, Young Singers of Greater Westfield, and the Western MA Young People's Philharmonia. Among the acclaimed solo artists who have commissioned Noble are saxophonist Lynn Klock, baritone Donald Boothman, violinist Joel Pitchon, cellist Anup Kumar Biswas, guitarist & banjarist Michael Nix, and pianist Monica Jakuc-Leverett. He became the Music Director at the Episcopal Church of the Atonement in Westfield in January 2023.  His complete bio can be found at: https://cliftonjnoblejr.com/biography/

Marsha Harbison, Assistant Concertmaster of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO), and a founding member of the Springfield Chamber Players, curated the concert. She joined the SSO in 1977 and later co-founded the Longmeadow Chamber Music Society. Ms. Harbison received a B.A. from Carleton College, Northfield, MN and an M.M. from the Juilliard School, where she studied with Ivan Galamian. In New York, she performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Pro Arte Orchestra, the Bach Cantata Series, and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. In Montreal, she performed in the Montreal Symphony, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, and the Radio, TV, and Ballet Orchestras. She has taught numerous music courses at Westfield State University, Bay Path University, and violin students at Mount Holyoke, and continues to teach private violin students.

Boris Kogan, cellist, was born in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, Russia. He began studying the cello at age 5, attending the School for Musically Gifted Children. He then received his Bachelor's degree from the Leningrad College of Music and his Master's degree from the Leningrad Conservatory of Music. He served as Assistant Principal Cellist with the Leningrad Symphony, and with the television and radio symphony orchestras. Mr. Kogan moved to the United States in 1991, and was the principal cellist with the New England Symphony, the Thayer Symphony Orchestra, and the Central Massachusetts Symphony. He currently plays in the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, teaches at the Springfield Community Music School, and has a private cello studio.

Michael Nix performs on classical guitar, Banjar, banjo, and mandolin, throughout the United States and Asia. He has recorded for the PBS series, American Experience, several independent documentaries, and numerous CD projects. His compositions are performed internationally and have been heard on Weekend Edition and other NPR programs. His new solo Banjar album of compositions and commissions, Aperçu, was released on PARMA Recordings Big Round Record.  A banjo innovator, Nix designed the Banjar; a modern seven nylon-string banjo combining elements of the

five-string banjo and classical guitar; bringing the classic finger-style banjo of the late 18th century into the 21st century. Nix performed his compositions for New Classic Banjo at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC. For details: https://nixworks.com/

Ellen Redman received her training with renowned teachers and performers such as John Krell, Carol Wincenc, Harvey Sollberger and Thomas Nyfenger. She has been the piccoloist with the Springfield (MA) Symphony since 1985 and has twice appeared as soloist with them. Miss Redman has also concertized extensively in Italy, including appearances in Rome at the American and British Academies, the American Embassy and the Vatican. A resident of Westfield, MA she has worked with various ensembles, including the Boston Symphony, Berkshire Bach, Boston Classical Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony and the Nashua Symphony. She teaches flute and Irish flute at Smith College, directed the Smith College Wind Ensemble from 2006-2019 and has a thriving private teaching studio. As a performer on the Irish Flute, she qualified to compete in the 2006 and 2007 All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Ireland. Miss Redman is the founder and director of The Wailing Banshees at Smith College, teaches Irish flute and tin whistle at the Connecticut Academy of Irish Music, and co-hosts a weekly Irish session at the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England. Her current band, Last Night's Fun, is fast becoming a favorite of the local trad music scene. 

Kara Noble is a professional writer, editor, and publications designer who spent 10 years on the editorial staff of Merriam-Webster. She was inspired to play bass by Carol Kaye—one of the first professionally successful female bass players—and got her first electric bass in 1972. She (briefly) attended the Hartt School as a classical guitarist, got hooked on jazz in college, and has performed with various popular/rock music bands since the 1970s. She played and recorded with her husband Jerry Noble and clarinetist Bob Sparkman as part of the Bob Sparkman Trio from 2016 to 2023. Kara is the president of ArtistTec, Inc., a company she co-founded with Jerry to help musicians, theater professionals, writers, and visual artists use technology in creating their art. She is also the president of the Tuesday Morning Music Club, which presents 12 concerts of classical, jazz, musical theater, opera, folk, and popular music between October and May each year. Kara narrated the world premiere of Johnny Appleseed.

Martin Kluger, principal timpanist for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, joined the orchestra upon completing percussion and conducting studies at the Yale School of Music, and has performed in every concert season since 1980. With the SSO, he has been featured as concert soloist in Symphony Hall and more recently (in 2021) as a composer/arranger for percussion ensemble. Mr. Kluger's early music education began at age six with kettledrum lessons from his father, a professional percussionist, and attending Juilliard's Pre-College program. At Juilliard, he studied timpani and conducting before graduating with honors from Yale College, where he expanded his studies to include science. As a Yale undergraduate he organized a student chamber orchestra, which led to several conducting positions, including with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of NY where he led several performances in Carnegie Hall. Soon thereafter, while a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, he won the outstanding instrumentalist award in percussion awarded by Seiji Ozawa and Gunther Schuller. This led to a professional performing career that included several Broadway shows and appearances with the New Haven and Hartford Symphony Orchestras. A believer in life-long education, he accepted positions as faculty instructor of percussion at Westfield State University and at the University of Connecticut. Concurrently he began work towards a PhD in biochemistry that led to a second and longer-lived academic career, studying and publishing on the molecular mechanisms of inflammation as a faculty scientist at the Yale School of Medicine. Since leaving Yale for the second time in 2016, he has studied Bel Canto and barbershop quartet style singing, which he performs with the Hartford Chorale and the Hartford Men in Harmony. Mr. Kluger is the proud father of three grown children and resides with his wife, Miriam Kluger, in South Glastonbury, CT.

Mark Auerbach is host/anchor of ArtsBeat and On The Mark on Westfield Community Programming and 89.5fm/WSKB, and an ArtsBeat contributor to Westfield News and Pioneer Valley Radio. Before becoming a public relations consultant and reporter, he studied theater at Northfield Mount Hermon, American University and the Yale School of Drama. His performance credits include: Oliver, Little Mary Sunshine, The Pirates of Penzance, Fiddler on The Roof, La Perichole, Wonderful Town, and Goat Song…a long time ago.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Longmeadow Cultural Council, which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency; Lyman Wood; and Razzmatazz Kids, Longmeadow.

Tickets, general admission, are $25.00, and student tickets are $10.00.  Tickets available at the door one hour prior to the performance. Door sales are cash only. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/march-reveries-tickets-784779977037?aff=oddtdtcreator

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