ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. - On Friday, July 27, St. Mary's College of Maryland (SMCM) music director Jeffrey Silberschlag and the Chesapeake Orchestra will be joined by world-renowned pianist Jeffrey Chappell for the grand finale of this year's River Concert Series. The evening's program includes Claude Debussy's "La Mer," Samuel Barber's "Concerto for Piano," and George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm (Variations)." A large screen will be displayed above the orchestra and will show movie clips from Robin Hood and Captain Blood while music from those movies are performed. During the concert, actors dressed in pirate costume will delight the audience with swashbuckling antics that coincide with the music and the movie clips.
The evening's Swashbuckling theme features pianist Jeffrey Chappell, who has performed throughout the United States and abroad in recitals and in chamber music. He has been a soloist with the symphony orchestras of Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Houston, Denver, Indianapolis, Oakland, and Key West as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Albuquerque. He frequently appears with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and has also performed at Carnegie Hall and Wolf Trap Park. A prizewinner in numerous competitions, Chappell was a recipient of the Solo Recitalist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Chappell was a scholarship student of Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Conservatory and of Eleanor Sokoloff at the Curtis Institute. Early studies were in St. Louis as the protégé of Jane Allen. Chappell is on the faculties of Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland and the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C. He was a contributing editor for Piano & Keyboard Magazine.
Swashbuckling physical comedians Tim Marrone, Mark Lohr, and Joanna Sheehan light up the stage during the night's performances. Marrone received his training at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He has spent much of his time traveling the East Coast and Maryland, as well as working with several symphony orchestras. Lohr has worked for Disney Studios and MGM studios, among others, bringing energy to the stage. Like Marrone, Lohr has performed with multiple orchestras and symphonies, as well as performing at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., and the Smithsonian Discovery Theatre. Sheehan, a James Madison University alumna, is an Improv and variety performer. She works regularly with local and national comedy troupes and is a company member of D.C.'s Forum Theatre and Dance.
Details are on the River Concert Series Web site at www.riverconcertseries.com or call 240-895-2024. The free outdoor concerts overlook the St. Mary's River and begin at 7 p.m. Grounds open at 5 p.m. Come early and visit the many community vendors selling food, drinks, jewelry and more. Picnic baskets are welcome. Concert-goers are reminded that the College has designated smoking and non-smoking areas and that pets are not allowed on campus.