Muzzy Ridge Concerts presents: Laurie Carney, violin & David Friend, piano
Composer Robert Sirota launches the inaugural season of a new concert series, Muzzy Ridge Concerts, with two performances in August. Both concerts will take place in the studio where Sirota has composed much of his music over the past 35 years, in Searsmont, Maine. Concerts will be approximately 60 minutes long, without intermission. Indoor seating is limited to 40 vaccinated patrons, with some additional outdoor seating. The address and directions will be supplied to ticket buyers.
On Sunday, August 22, 2021 at 3pm, violinist Laurie Carney and pianist David Friend perform Messiaen’s Thème et variations, Prokoviev’s Five Melodies, Op. 35, Kodály’s Adagio, and Sirota’s Summermusic from 2000. A founding member of the American String Quartet, Laurie Carney holds the distinction of performing quartets longer than any other woman in this elite field. A fearless performer, critics have described David Friend’s performances as “astonishingly compelling” (The Washington Post).
Robert Sirota says of Muzzy Ridge Concerts:
"Since 1986, we have owned a home on a 10–acre property in the town of Searsmont in central coastal Maine: a landscape of small farms, low-bush blueberry fields, and woodlots inhabited by deer, wild turkeys, numerous species of birds, and the occasional moose, black bear, and coyote. Our home sits on a gently sloping parcel on the eastern side of Muzzy Ridge. It is in this setting that I have composed many works in the past 35 years. About ten years ago, we built an 800-square-foot studio onto our house: the perfect intimate venue for chamber music. You are invited to join us for two special events inaugurating Muzzy Ridge Concerts. We hope that these two Sunday afternoons in August will be the start of annual celebrations of chamber music in this place we love."