Proceeds To Benefit Kevin’s Community Center—

Concert Society To Return With Annual Holiday Concert

The Concert Society Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Newtown resident Richard E. Serbagi, will present its 6th Annual Holiday Concert at 8 pm on Friday, December 29, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Newtown.

The church is at 30 Main Street, at the corner of Church Hill Road. A “Meet the Artists Reception” will follow the performance.

All proceeds will benefit Kevin’s Community Center, the free medical clinic providing free quality health care for Newtown residents over the age of 16 who are uninsured or underinsured and who have limited financial resources.

Two outstanding performers, Nell Snaidas, coloratura-soprano, and Chris Finckel, cellist, will be the featured soloists this year.

Ms Snaidas is hailed as a “first class actress” and “impressive young singer” who possesses a voice that has been praised as being both “sultry and crystalline, powerful and triumphantly lilting,” as well as “remarkably pure with glints of rich sensuality.” An accomplished interpreter of Baroque music, her renditions of the music of Italy and Spain have taken her all over Europe and North America, where she has been a featured soloist in numerous festivals, operas and concert halls.

Ms Snaidas has been featured on Broadway and in soundtracks, starring internationally as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, in Hair, On the 20th Century, and in Mel Brooks movie-musical, The Producers. This season she will be a soloist to the Los Angeles Philharmonic as well as the Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra.

Mr Finckel has been hailed as “magnificent” and “eloquent” (New York Times) and “an artist able to cast a spell” (The New Yorker). He is equally at home in the classics of Bach and Beethoven while being constantly challenged by the latest avant-garde works of today’s leading composers.

As cellist of Manhattan String Quartet and New York New Music Ensemble, Mr Finckel has appeared on five continents in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and music festivals. Now in his 14th season with the Manhattan Quartet he has performed in chamber music series worldwide.

Conductor Richard Serbagi is a noted cellist who studied at The New England Conservatory in Boston and at The Royal Manchester College of Music in England and has led the Chamber Society for over 25 years. He led the orchestra program at New Canaan High School and has conducted orchestras in the US and in Puerto Rico.

The Concert Society has been performing for over thirty years and its musicians play with some of the most renowned musical organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, NYC Opera, and American Ballet Theater. 

The program will include the first Movement from Mozart’s Symphony No. 29; Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings Op. 22, Handel’s Gloria for Soprano and Strings,” Shakespearean Concerto by David Amram; and Haydn’s Concerto in C Major for Violoncello and Orchestra.

This year’s concert has been made possible through sponsorship support of Newtown Savings Bank, Union Savings Bank and the Richard Trifiro Foundation.  Additional sponsors and patrons will also support this important event.

Tickets are $35 each and are available at the main branch of Newtown Savings Bank, as well as Cyrenius H. Booth Library, Flagpole Realty, Newtown Country Club, and Bagel Delight. Last year’s concert was sold out and no tickets will be sold at the door. Seating is limited.

For additional information call 270-6200.