3601 W. 15th Street
Plano, Texas 75075
(972) 867-5588
info@lol-plano.org

 

 

 

Join our mailing list:

Name

Email  

 

 

Fine Arts/Concerts at Lord of Life

2011-2012

 

Lord of Life's Fine Arts Concert Series is pleased to be celebrating ten complete seasons of providing monthly, Saturday evening concerts to the church and community, always featuring quality soloists or ensembles. Local, national and international musicians have performed on the series since its founding. There are few concerts of this same excellence anywhere, and on most occasions we ask only for a door offering. For an extra blessing, take the opportunity to invite a neighbor or co-worker to enjoy the concert with you, and give the gift of music to someone else.

 

Volunteers are always appreciated and needed to help with facilities set up, hosting performers, and providing refreshments.   Click on the names below for a detailed description of the concert or performers. To add your name to the concert mailing list, please click here.

 

 

Fine Arts/Concert Series, 2011-12

Unless noted, all concerts begin at 7pm

 

Friday, 16 September, 2011 Kevin Hildebrand, Organ
Saturday, 8 October, 2011 Mood Swings Saxophone Quartet
Saturday, 12 November, 2011 Meridian Chamber Players
Sunday, 11 December, 2011 Festival Service of Lessons and Carols
Saturday, 7 January, 2012 Epiphany Vespers featuring the Kantorei from Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne
Sunday, 15 January, 2012 Silent Movie: The Parson's Widow
Sunday, 26 February, 2012 Tesoro Trio
Saturday, 21 April, 2012 Denton Bach Players
Saturday, 19 May, 2012 James Hendricks, Pianist

FRIDAY, 16 September, 2011

Kevin Hildebrand, Organist

Kevin Hildebrand is Associate Kantor at Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  His teaching at the seminary includes courses in vocal development, music fundamentals, and music for worship, as well as choir and organ responsibilities for daily chapel and other services.  His service to the Church also includes teaching the annual organist workshops at the seminary, and assisting with the seminary’s Good Shepherd Institute, a resource for pastoral theology and sacred music.  Hildebrand has also founded and directs the Seminary Children’s Choir, composed of children from the seminary community.  He also directs the Youth Choir at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School in Ft. Wayne.
Hildebrand is a graduate of Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois, and also holds master’s degrees in music and theology The University of Michigan and Concordia Theological Seminary, respectively.  He has studied organ with Steven Wente and Marilyn Mason, and composition with Richard Hillert, Robert Lind, and James Aikman.
Kantor Hildebrand is an active composer and has numerous compositions for organ and choir  published with Concordia Publishing House and MorningStar Music Publishers.  His hymn tune LORD OF LIFE (used with the text, “O Christ, Who Shared Our Mortal Life”) as well as other hymn harmonizations are represented in Lutheran Service Book (2006).  He has also been a workshop leader and instructor for the LCMS Commission on Worship, as well as frequent organ recitalist and hymn festival presenter across the United States and Canada.  He is a member of the Indiana District Board for Worship and Spiritual Care.
Click here for Press Release.

SATURDAY, 8 October, 2011

Dallas Saxophone Quartet

The Dallas Saxophone Quartet was formed to provide chamber music for wedding ceremonies, corporate events and public performances.  We strive to entertain and educate audiences with a music library that spans from Bach to the Beatles.  All our members are educated musicians and thoroughly enjoy making music together, and each performs and teaches on some professional level.  DSQ is comprised of:
 
Cody Schwartz, soprano and lead alto:  Cody has a Bachelor of Music degree from Stephen F. Austin State University. Cody has written music for middle-school band, all-region sight-reading, and has arranged music for several organizations across Texas.  He has taught private music instruction for 20 years and owns and operates Mood Swings Entertainment, a live music service business.
 
Frank Wilbanks, alto saxophone:  Frank holds a Bachelor of Music in Education from Stephen F. Austin State University.  After several years of band directing, Frank chose a career in insurance.    Frank keeps his love for music alive through the DSQ, Mood Swings, and other bands across the area.
 
Roger Ashcraft, tenor saxophone:  Roger holds the Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University.  Roger was a band director for 34 years, and after retiring from Bonham High School, now assists part-time with the band program in the Bells ISD, and also does some private teaching.  He directs the choir and handbells at First Presbyterian Church in Bonham.
 
Kevin Hamilton, baritone saxophone:  Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Masters of Science from Texas A&M Commerce.  Kevin taught science for several years and is now a Middle School Principal.  He plays professionally with Mood Swings and other top bands in the area and teaches private saxophone instruction.

Click here for press release.

SATURDAY, 12 November, 2011

Meridian Chamber Players

The Meridian Chamber Players are committed to providing the community with the highest quality music and repertoire.  Comprised of Krstan Blaylock and Danielle Archer, flutes; Amy Hammert and Ashley Howe, oboes; Mibzar Vazquez and David Kraft, clarinets; Cheree Winston, saxophone; Anna May Ghaly and Mathew Swindle, bassoons; Blake Yarbrough, Heather Anthony and Michael Gale, horns; Veronika Vassileva, violin; Javier Betancourt and Brook Neal, cellos; Carlos Gaviria, string bass and Abdiel Almodovar, conductor. 

Click here for press release.

SUNDAY, 11 December, 2011

Festival of Lessons and Carols

Lord of Life's choir and musicians are joined by professional musicians from the community as they lead in the beloved music of Advent and Christmas.  This service, with its origins at Truro Cathedral in 1917, intersperses scripture readings with anthems, solos, and carols celebrating Christ's birth.  This year's service will focus on the rich Christmas heritage of the Alpine countries, highlighting a recently-discovered original instrumental and choral setting of "Silent Night" composed later in life by Joseph Mohr, the famous Austrian composer of the tune, STILLE NACHT. Swiss alpenhorn players will also participate in the music.

Click here for press release.

Saturday, 7 January, 2012, 4pm

Epiphany Vespers featuring the Kantorei from Concordia Seminary, Fort Wayne

Kantorei

The Seminary Kantorei is a sixteen-voice choir of students studying for the Office of the Holy Ministry at Concordia Theological Seminary. The Kantorei, founded and directed by the Rev. Kantor Richard C. Resch, has toured annually throughout the United States and parts of Canada during Epiphany and Eastertide. In addition to the tours that culminate with an on campus Choral Vespers, the Kantorei has traditionally sung for the annual Confessions Symposia, Spring Vicarage Placement and Call Services. The Kantorei will sing the Choral Vespers for Epiphany.

Click here for press release.

SUNDAY, 15 January, 2012

Silent Movie: The Parson's Widow (1920)

Directed by Danish filmmaker Carl Theodore Dreyer, this film (entitled Prästäkan in Swedish) is a rather simple story of a very poor young man, Sofren, who is selected over two other applicants to become the parson of a small rural village. According to the custom of the parish, the elderly Dame Margaret, widow of the previous pastor, has the right to marry the new parson. Sofren, in order to obtain the position as the parson and all its fringe benefits, agrees to marry Dame Margaret who has been widowed three prior times. Sofren has been engaged for many years to a young lady, Mari, whose father will not consent to their marriage until Sofren is made a parson. Sofren, who prefers the comforts of the parsonage but will not give up Mari, brings Mari into the parsonage by the ruse that she is his sister. Sofren and Mari seek humorous ways to circumvent Dame Margaret while they await the elderly Dame Margaret to die. . . only to discover through their many humorous adventures that Dame Margaret is more of a character than they had anticipated! Filmed in beautiful Lillehammer, Norway, this entertaining film offers a view of rural Scandinavian life that is both hauntingly ancient and seemingly modern.

From The New York Times, April 8, 1929:

"A somewhat ingenuous little tale, laid in the Gudbrand Valley of Norway some three centuries ago is now on exhibition at the Fifth Avenue Playhouse. It is an adaptation of 
Christopher Janson's novel, " The Parson's Widow."

Organist Benjamin Kolodziej will perform the accompaniment for this moving picture, crafting a score original in parts and always Scandinavian in character, utilizing the music from Norway's greatest and most recognizable composer, Edvard Grieg.

As a classical organist, Benjamin Kolodziej has performed concerts in the UK, Norway, Switzerland, Germany and Austria as well as throughout the USA, including such venues as Washington National Cathedral; St Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue; St Patrick's Cathedral, NYC; and St Philip's Cathedral, Atlanta. As a theatre organist, he has published in Theatre Organ magazine and may often be found performing on the Wurlitzer at the McKinney Performing Arts Center. In June of 2010, Benjamin performed The Parson's Widow at the Markus Kyrke in Oslo, Norway, a successful event which represented the first time in many years a silent movie had been shown in Oslo, much less one of such inimitably Norwegian character.

Click here for press release.

Sunday, 26 February, 2012

Verlaine Trio

Jolyon Pegis, cellist, is a winner of the Artists International Awards in New York City and has appeared as soloist with the orchestras of Kingsport, TN, Chautauqua, San Antonio, Maui, Virginia, and Dallas. As a champion of new music he has commissioned and premiered several works and has worked with composers such as Gunther Schuller, Lukas Foss, and Don Freund. Mr. Pegis has served on the faculties of Southern Methodist University, the Hartt School of Music, and the D’Angelo School of Music at Mercyhurst College. Currently, Jolyon is a member of the Dallas Symphony and Assistant Principal Cello of the Chautauqua Symphony. He is a member of the Grammy nominated contemporary ensemble Voices of Change and also plays as a substitute with the Chicago Symphony.

Russian pianist Liudmilla Georgievskaya has performed in Russia, the United States, and throughout Europe. She has taken part in several European piano and music festivals, and had her performances broadcast on radio and television programs in Russia. She won numerous awards in nation and international piano competitions, including top prizes at the JS Bach Piano Competition in Kiev in 1987 and the 2009 SMU Concerto Competition. She is on the faculty at SMU and continues her intense concert career in Europe and in the Americas. She also works on her doctorate in piano performance with Dr Pamela Mia Paul at UNT.

Violinist Maria Schleuning joined the Dallas Symphony in 1994 and has been a featured soloist with the orchestra on numerous occasions. Other solo appearances include performances with the Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Long Bay Symphony (SC), Columbia Symphony (OR), and as alumni soloist for the 75th Anniversary of the Portland Youth Philharmonic (OR). In 2004 she performed the Barber Violin Concerto with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra on a tour of Eastern Europe, which included concerts at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and the Rudolfinum in Prague. As a chamber musician, Ms. Schleuning has performed at Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, the Summergarden series at the Museum of Modern Art (NY), Merkin Hall, and concerts with Villa Musica in Germany. In Dallas, she is a member of the Grammy-nominated Voices of Change, and from 2000-2006 was violinist of the Walden Piano Quartet. She has recorded with both ensembles. Since 1993 she has been a faculty member and performer at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine, and has performed at Music in the Mountains (CO), Idyllwild Arts (CA), and the Skaneateles Festival (NY).  She studied violin with Josef Gingold at Indiana University where she was awarded the prestigious Performer's Certificate; with Yfrah Neaman in London as a recipient of the Dame Myra Hess Foundation Trust; and with Joel Smirnoff at the Juilliard School where she received her Master's degree.

 

Click here for press release.
 

SATURDAY, 21 April, 2012

Denton Bach Players

Founded in 2009, the Denton Bach Players are an ensemble of local musicians who regularly perform both together and in other metroplex music organizations. The core members (Janelle West, Heidi Klein, Eric Smith, Andrew Justice, Lenora McCroskey, and Jennifer Carpenter) first began concertizing in 2007. Realizing there was a need for a professional early music ensemble based in Denton, McCroskey and Justice approached the Denton Bach Society, suggesting a creative partnership whereby the Players would serve as the instrumental core for the Society’s concert needs, and in return benefit from becoming an official ensemble under the Denton Bach umbrella.

In the past two seasons, the Denton Bach Players (in addition to supporting choral concerts of Handel, Haydn, seventeenth-century German composers, and of course Bach) presented programs of early Italian chamber music and works by the sons of J.S. Bach, in addition to fundraising events at local establishments featuring Baroque music involving coffee and other nontraditional themes. More information may be found at www.dentonbach.com.

Saturday, 19 May, 2012

James Hendricks, Pianist

Pianist Jim Hendricks intrigued musicians and family members as a child with the uncanny ability to play anything he heard on records and memorize any printed music that came across the piano. While still in grammar school, Jim was able to transcribe by ear complex harmonies and melodies – without the use of a piano. He continued intensive musical studies and was considered a professional as a teenager.

After high school, Jim performed with such legends as Dave Brubeck, Della Reese, Rita Moreno, Tito Puente, Maynard Ferguson, Jack Jones, Louie Bellson, Clark Terry, Arturo Sandoval, Jon Faddis, and many others. He also competed in numerous international piano competitions and was a featured orchestral soloist, performing the piano music of Rachmaninoff. By the age of twenty-five, Jim had accepted a professorship in the piano department of Chicago State University.

While on tour with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Jim realized he was not using his talents for God's glory. Already being a dedicated Christian for many years, Jim knew it was time to leave the secular music world and follow God's calling into Christian ministry.

Since then, Jim has performed well over 1,000 Christian piano concerts in churches all across the land, including three appearances at the Crystal Cathedral. He has made eleven piano recordings, performed on ABC, CBS, TBN and PAX, authored the book Contemporary Arrangements for Today's Church Pianist, and been featured in Clavier piano journal. The Lord has greatly blessed his decision to bring glory to Christ through music.

To view the 2010-2011 season, click here.

To view the 2009-2010 season, click here.

 

Copyright © 2012 by Lord of Life Lutheran Church