Gift of grand piano makes concert series a natural

By ALVIN REINER
Staff Writer

June 26, 2008 04:00 am

— LIZABETHTOWN -- With the new concert series Piano by Nature, pianist Rose Chancler hopes to enrich the lives of North Country residents, particularly through the long winters when access to entertainment is limited.
"I had been itching to find an outlet," said the Wadhams musician, who moved to the North Country in 1993 after teaching at the University of Iowa. "My goal is to make myself as useful as possible; not just to sit there practicing and/or playing a concert or two."
A taste of what's to come takes the form of a fundraiser concert July 2 -- Chancler said the response has been so good that the show may be reprised July 3.
GRAND GIFT
A major impetus in getting Piano by Nature off the ground was the gift of a 1910 Mason and Hamlin grand piano from Katharine Preston of Essex.
"The piano proved to be a glorious instrument capable of raucous bass notes and angelic treble," Chancler said.
The Crary Foundation in Elizabethtown made a place for the instrument in the magnificent and historic Hand House, which provides an intimate setting for chamber-music concerts.
"I grew up thinking of classical music as an elitist thing," Chancler said. "I want kids to see classical music as this growing thing, and the piano as a 21st-century instrument. I want them to see new combinations of music written in our day.
"Classical music is a misnomer which tends to separate; it's live music as opposed to dead music."
Married to Steve Feinbloom, who fiddles around with a double bass and other musical apparatus when he isn't at his gainful employment, Chancler is the mother of Ruby, a high-spirited 4-year-old.
"I love to go to concerts in places such as Burlington, but it is hard especially in winter, and so I felt there was a need for something to happen here," she said. "I want to support the people who live here year round."
Piano by Nature has become a community endeavor, which pleases Chancler to no end. The Board of Directors members are Rob DeMuro, Nancy Fink, Kalora Finucane and Carol Linder, as well as Mary Bell of the Crary Foundation.
ECLECTIC PROGRAM
One of the projects Chancler is working on is an opus entitled "Sonic Scenes," in which students, with the help of Westport teacher Paul Mudie and photographer Laura Sells Doyle, will make a summer project out of creating a slide show to accompany the music for a performance in the fall. In addition to known pieces by composers Mussorgsky and Debussy, there will be the premiere of a work created specifically for Piano by Nature by Paul Elwood.
"The first half (of the program) will be music inspired by pictures, and the second half will be pictures inspired by music," Chancler said.
Eventually, she wants to connect with other musicians in the area and expand.
The current schedule features an eclectic compendium of genres and styles. In addition to "Sonic Scenes" Sept. 7 and 8, there will be "Marimba Madness" Nov. 15 and 16. Marimba virtuoso Jan Boxall's kaleidoscopic program will feature pop, rock and jazz, as well as classically influenced works.
Local harpist Martha Gallagher is scheduled for Feb. 7 and 8 of next year. This will be followed by a piano repertoire April 25 and 26 entitled "From Zero to Eight Hands," which will feature up to eight musicians simultaneously tickling the ivories.
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