Concert: Violist Anne Black & Friends

Summer music continues on Friday, August 23 at 7 pm, with ‘Poems, Dances, Passion,’ a concert featuring Anne Black, viola; Brian Schuth, clarinet; and Paul Carlson, piano.

Black returns to the concert series with Eastport neighbor Schuth, and frequent collaborator Carlson, from Lowell, MA. Their program weaves together personal responses to places, people, and spirit over the span of the last century. The silky tones of clarinet and viola open the program in American composer Alan Hovhaness’ Night of a White Cat. Ernest Bloch’s virtuosic Poems of the Sea, for solo piano, conjures exhilarating waves, sea spray, and sea shanties. Utah composer Michael Carnes’ Five Bagatelles, for clarinet and viola, will receive its World Premiere performance at EAC, interspersing a more contemporary set of light, playful dance movements with two haunting, chant-like pieces. A transcription of Igor Stravinsky’s beloved Dance of the Princesses, from the Firebird Suite, rounds out the first half of the program. The second half features two trailblazing British women composers, with Elizabeth Maconchy’s visceral Five Sketches for solo viola, and Rebecca Clarke’s passionate Sonata for viola and piano.

Concert tickets are $15, and attendees 17 and under will be admitted free of charge. If money is an obstacle, ticket fee will be waived. Doors open at 6:15 pm, and all are welcome to gather in our downstairs Washington Street Gallery (currently showing Echoes of Place: Paintings by Lora Whelan) before and after the show; sales of snacks and beverages benefit our year-round programs for all ages. Tickets are available below or at the door. Please note: online ticket sales will close at 5 pm on August 23; the EAC box office will open for ticket sales at 6:30 pm.

Eastport Arts Center is at 36 Washington Street, Eastport, and at www.eastportartscenter.org, and is handicapped-accessible.