CSM Offers a Trio of Virtual Concerts This Fall

CSM Offers a Trio of Virtual Concerts This Fall

A contemporary-classical violinist, a jazz quartet and a clarinetist known for performing “with flair” will all offer virtual performances this fall as the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) continues to offer safe access to world class music through the Benny Morgan Recital Series and Ward Virts Concert Series.

“We are continuing to provide our students and the community with high-quality musical performances,” said CSM Associate Dean for Liberal Arts and Chair of Visual and Performing Arts Stephen Johnson. “While the performing arts are best experienced in a live environment, CSM has produced several virtual professional and student performances over the past year during the COVID pandemic.”

First, on Oct. 16, at 3 p.m. the Benny Morgan Recital Series will present a virtual recital with Ledah Finck on violin.

According to her bio, she is a passionate performer, creator, and curator of contemporary classical music, Finck is a co-founder of the Bergamot String Quartet and the experimental duo The Witches, in addition to being a member of Atlantic Extraction and earspace. Her music embodies a desire to create and share a sound-world in which the classical tradition, the folk music with which she grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and an extensive improvisatory sensibility can be in productive dialogue.

Finck holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in violin performance and composition from the Peabody Conservatory, where she studied with Herbert Greenberg, Oscar Bettison, and Judah Adashi.  She studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a Kenan Scholarship, a full fellowship for musical and academic merit. She splits her time between Baltimore and New York City when not traveling.

The David Detweiler Quartet will perform as part of the Ward Virts Concert Series Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. The quartet includes David Detweiler, Leon Anderson, Jr., Rodney Jordan and Bill Peterson.

Their bios explain that tenor saxophonist, composer, educator and Vandoren artist Detweiler was born in Houston, Texas. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Music from William Paterson University, a master’s in Music from Florida State University (FSU), and doctorate in Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music. In 2016, Detweiler joined FSU faculty as an assistant professor of Jazz Saxophone after serving as director of Jazz Studies at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. Detweiler has released three albums as a leader, and his album Celebrating Bird, co-led with bassist Fumi Tomita, was recently released on the Outside in Music record label.

The fellow members of the quartet are also faculty members at FSU. Anderson currently teaches drum set, jazz ensembles, jazz combo, and jazz history at the FSU College of Music, and his musical experience includes that of a classical and jazz percussionist, educator, clinician, and composer. Jordan is a professor of Jazz Studies and was the assistant principal bassist with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Principal Bassist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra (Albany, Ga.).  Peterson is professor of Music in Jazz Studies and Music Theory/Composition, and teaches jazz piano, jazz arranging and jazz combo. He has released his own jazz trio recording on Summit Records and has also recorded on the Unity label, as well as performing at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Blue Note Jazz club NYC, Paraguay International Jazz Festival and Savannah Music Festival.

“An advantage in having virtual events is the ability to host performers outside the normal commuting distance from Southern Maryland,” said Johnson.

The final performance takes place Nov. 20 at 3 p.m. when clarinetist Julie Detweiler takes to the virtual stage as part of the Benny Morgan Recital Series.

Detweiler is an adjunct instructor at FSU and regularly performs with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. She holds earned her doctorate in Music from FSU as well as degrees from Northwestern University and the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. Detweiler has previously taught in the pre-college programs at both the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music and continues to maintain a private teaching studio. Her media said she is also strongly committed to chamber music and she is a founding member of Ensemble Apricity, a Tallahassee-based oboe-clarinet duo. Detweiler is a Vandoren artist-clinician.

All CSM events will be held over Zoom with a question and answer period afterward.  The recital will be available on CSMYouTube for 24 hours following the performances for those who cannot attend the live event.

Benny C. Morgan was a beloved music educator in St. Mary’s County schools for 30 years and served as organist and choir director in several area churches. In January 2016, Morgan donated his prized Steinway grand piano to the CSM’s Leonardtown Campus. Sadly, Morgan passed away several weeks later, however, with the knowledge that his generosity will add to the musical culture of CSM’s students as well as the Southern Maryland community for years to come. The Benny C. Morgan Recital Series was instituted in 2016 in his memory.

The Benny C. Morgan Series is presented by sponsors Johnny Alvey and the CSM Foundation. The series is also supported by the St. Mary’s County Arts Council and the Maryland State Arts Council.

The Ward Virts Concert Series celebrates the life and talent of Ward Virts, a talented Southern Maryland pianist who died suddenly in 1993. A group of Ward’s friends and classmates conceived the Ward Virts Piano Project to bring the love of life, beauty and music that Ward embodied to a new generation of Southern Maryland students, performers and appreciative audiences. Through the years, many of the visiting concert series’ musicians performed on the world-class handcrafted Bosendorfer Grand Piano, a gift to CSM’s Prince Frederick Campus from the Ward Virts Piano Project.

The CSM Ward Virts Concert Series is presented by sponsors CSM Foundation, Dr. and Mrs. Henry Virts, and Stovy and Anne Brown. The series is also supported by the Arts Council of Calvert County and the Maryland State Arts Council.

To register for the free Ledah Finck concert and receive Zoom login information, visit https://www.csmd.edu/calendar/2021/10/benny-morgan-finck.html

To register for the free David Detweiler Quartet concert and receive Zoom login information, visit https://www.csmd.edu/calendar/2021/11/ward-virts-david-detweiler.html

To register for the free Julie Detweiler concert and receive Zoom login information, visit https://www.csmd.edu/calendar/2021/11/benny-morgan-julie-detweiler.html