Antares Ensemble, With Guest Soprano,

Will Perform Friends Of Music Season Finale

The Antares Ensemble takes advantage of its unique instrumentation by presenting programs that span the centuries, from the traditional piano and clarinet trios of the Classical and Romantic eras to some of the most evocative and exciting music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Newtown Friends of Music will proudly present this dynamic ensemble, with guest soprano Sarah Wolfson, in a return engagement at Edmond Town Hall on Sunday, April 10, at 3 pm. It will be the final concert of the 2010-11 season of event sponsored by NFoM.

The concert is being dedicated to the memory of Alfred T. Parrella.

Named after the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation, and one of the most luminous stars in the nighttime sky, Antares identifies its artistic mission with Scorpius’ essence of change, rebirth, and bringing new life to old forms. Members are co-founders Garrick Zoeter and Rebecca Patterson, on clarinet and cello, respectively; Grammy-nominated violinist Jesse Mills, and pianist Eric Huebner.

For their program in Newtown they have chosen Schubert Lieder An Die Musik and Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The Shepherd on the Rock), which Ms Wolfson will sing accompanied by piano and clarinet. Also on the program is the Brahms Trio for clarinet, cello and piano and Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite.

An informal reception following the concert will offer concert goers the opportunity to meet and mingle with the musicians.Single tickets are $20, and will be available at the box office, which will open at 2 pm Sunday. Students grades K-12 are admitted free of charge when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. Tickets may also be ordered through the mail by sending a check, along with name and mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address, and the number of tickets being ordered, to Newtown Friends of Music, PO Box 295, Newtown CT 06470-0295. Reservations can also be made by contacting Mrs Ellen Parrella, 203-426-6470.

Edmond Town Hall, at 45 Main Street in Newtown, is handicap accessible with all seating providing excellent viewing and acoustics. Plenty of parking is available in the lots behind the building.

Additional information is also available at NewtownFriendsOfMusic.org.

Special Openers

The XY Chromotones, a group of ten high school seniors and juniors, have been invited by Newtown Friends of Music to offer a pre-concert performance on April 10. The Chromotones is an all-male a cappella singing group that first came to attention of Newtowners when they appeared in conjunction with Yale’s Alleycats in the fall of 2009 at Trinity Church.  They have since delighted audiences at other venues around town, including The Ice Cream Shop, Edmond Town Hall and even at the high school during a Voices For Haiti benefit concert last year.

George Primavera, a First Tenor in the group, first encountered a cappella music when several groups from East Coast universities congregated on Martha’s Vineyard two summers ago. He and Chris House, bass, worked with NHS English teacher and mentor Amanda Friedman. The young men auditioned other students until they had a committed group of two First Tenors, three Second Tenors, three Baritones and two Basses who could combine to produce an evenly-balanced sound.

Five of the singers are seniors this year, three are juniors and two are freshmen.  The latter will carry on the tradition into the next year, auditioning replacements and handing off the responsibilities to others.

Their repertoire includes well-known crowd pleasers including music by Eric Clapton, Billy Joel and others.