Maria Ferrante, soprano and Ivan Gusev, piano

Ivan Gusev, pianist, will appear with soprano Maria Ferrante in a new program scheduled at 4 pm, Saturday, October 22, 2022.

Soprano Maria Ferrante is a true 'singing actress.' A winner of the Mario Lanza Voice Competition, she has been acclaimed in The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. Her performances in opera, oratorio and solo concerts have delighted audiences the world over. A highlight of her many appearances was a special performance for public television with the Boston Ballet.

Ivan Gusev is a native of Kazakhstan, an honors graduate of both the Moscow State Conservatory and the Mannes School of Music in New York, where he won the Steinway award for outstanding Mannes graduates. The Arbiter of Cultural Traditions calls Mr. Gusev "a profound, genuine musician who makes each note live."  Mr. Gusev appeared with Maria Ferrante at the Stone Church Cultural Center on December 8, 2021. Peter Jones of The Classical Evangelist newsletter said of that concert: "Maria Ferrante's singing was superb, and Ivan Gusev was simply marvelous."

Program October 22, 2022:

Four Impromptus, Op. 90 by Franz Schubert; 19th-century parlor songs selected by Ms. Ferrante from the archives of the American Antiquarian Society; four melodic songs by Charles Ives; piano music of American composer Edward MacDowell; and three songs composed by Duke Ellington with Billy Strayhorn, Irving Mills, Henry Nemo and John Redmond. Mr. Gusev will also play a Fantasia by early English composer Thomas Morley on the 1874 Johnson & Son organ, in tribute to the "Friends of the Gilbertville Organ" concert series at the Stone Church from 1990-2011.

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For the safety and comfort of all, we ask that masks be worn inside the venue, with the exception of the performers while on stage.

Maria Ferrante and David Pihl will present the program originally scheduled for October 22, 2022 at 2 pm on Sunday, December 4, 2022. Program and ticket information follow:

Bach & Beyond, re-scheduled to 2 pm, Sunday, December 4, 2022

David Alan Pihl, organ and piano, and Maria Ferrante, soprano, will perform a program featuring the majestic Prelude and Fugue in E-flat ('St. Anne') of J.S. Bach, on the Johnson & Son organ; art songs by Catalan composer Frederico Mompou (1893-1987) and by Johannes Brahms; and a lush Barcarolle by Frédérick Chopin. Mr. Pihl will also perform piano pieces by Edward McDowell, Charles Ives and Alan Hovhaness. Much of the program is inspired by the natural world and by the New England Transcendentalists, who explored the meaning of human goodness. 

David Pihl has performed widely as a piano soloist and on many recordings, solo piano works by William Thomas McKinley and accompanying Richard Stoltzman, clarinetist. A piano student of Michael Kramer and Anthony di Bonaventura, Mr. Pihl studied vocal accompaniment under Elly Ameling and Rudolf Jansen.

The two artists collaborated in 2021 to record Seven Short Poems by Langston Hughes, Poet Laureate of the Harlem Renaissance and are working on a presentation of works by contemporary composer Stephen Peisch. 

The historic pipe organ at the Stone Church Cultural Center will be featured in this memorial concert to Donald Boothman, who held concerts to save and maintain the instrument for 21 years before his death in 2016. Mr. Pihl will also play Mr Boothman's Steinway piano.

Tickets for the December 4 concert may be purchased through https://buytickets.at/friendsofthestonechurch/785671
Tickets to all 2022 Concerts at the Stone Church Cultural Center are available to eligible participants of the Mass Cultural Council's "Card to Culture" Program.