EAC 'A Gem', Notes Sunday Series Performer

Thank you to Anna Maria Baeza, Joachim Woitun and Gregory Biss, musical collaborators and friends for more than 20 years, who drew a crowd for their March 9 performance, part of our Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center series. The trio's selections, on clarinet and chalumeaux, baroque and modern cello, and piano, included Grazioli, Bach, Telemann, Rheinberger and Beethoven, plus a Rachmaninoff encore. We are grateful to the many community members who came out to enjoy the concert with us.

"A concert can only occur with an active and engaged audience," wrote Baeza. "We were delighted to be able to be there and honored to play with Greg. We are grateful for the fabulous audience who were there to share the day and help us all create this concert together."

"Joachim and I work in the interest of being able to allow our inner beings to come as close to the surface as possible in hopes that some of this will be felt by those present and listening. We have always had this in common with Greg. We all look to the score and try our best to be faithful transmitters of the music on the page. This of course involves our own emotional engagement with the music in addition to keeping our skills intact while the whole process is taking place."

Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center organizers Gregory Biss and Marged Higginson (standing) welcome the crowd and do a happy head count at the March 9 event.

The winter series, which runs January to April, is an beloved Eastport tradition, organized by EAC Board members Marged Higginson and Gregory Biss. "The Sunday Afternoon Series is meant to be a life-long learning experience, featuring disciplines of the arts but more than or at least as much for sharing education as for entertainment," noted Higginson. "Folks who live here year round have said that the advent of this winter series is what saves their sanity and brains through the winter. And, I confess, the winter series is my favorite activity at the Arts Center."

"I have felt honored to be longtime friends with some of the people who first began the Arts Center," noted Baeza. "They themselves were artists of all genres who felt the urgent need for a community space of collaboration. Some were simply aware of the need for such a center and wished for their children to have access to this. The Arts Center also is a space where artists from afar come and share their talents when passing through Eastport for long or short periods of time. Assuring this gem continues into the future should be a priority to all who love Eastport."

Baeza perfoms the Adagio from the Cello Sonata in F Major, first noting to laughter from the audience, "This is not a cello." She recalled 'falling for' the piece and asking Woitun if she could be the one to play it.

Woitun explains the difference between his contemporary cello and this baroque instrument, which he proceeded to showcase in his performance of Bach's Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor.

Baeza demonstrates the chalumeaux, a predecessor to the modern-day clarinet which dates back to the late baroque and early classical eras.

The trio share a laugh before their encore, "Prayer," a melody taken from the slow movement of Sergei Rachmaninov's second piano concerto, arranged by Fritz Kreisler. Biss has dubbed Rachmaninov, 'Ratchmo', to the continuing amusement of the group. He notes, "Ratchmo is a reference to Louis Armstrong (Satchmo) and makes the point that Rachmaninov is just as popular and beloved as that jazz icon."

Sunday Afternoons at the Arts Center programs are held in Eastport Arts Center’s cozy downstairs Washington Street Gallery, amidst rotating exhibitions. Admission is by voluntary donation; proceeds are shared equally between the presenters and EAC, committed to sustaining events like these. No one is turned away for lack of funds. Find the full 2025 schedule here.