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.

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, and she appeared with the Boston Ballet in a special performance for public television.

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 Peitsch.

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.

This program was originally scheduled for October 22, 2022.

Friends of the Stone Church offers up to 4 free tickets per household to current holders of the "Card to Culture." This is a collaborative cultural benefit program managed by the Mass Cultural Council. For more information, visit our box office in person before the concert, or email questions to Events@FriendsoftheStoneChurch.org This program is funded in part by the North Brookfield Cultural Council.