May 26, 2023 By South Shore Conservatory
South Shore Conservatory (SSC) presents an exceptional lineup of summer concerts, with the return of Evenings Under the Stars and Duxbury Music Festival, plus a special performance by guest artists-in-residence, Sinta Quartet. All performances begin at 7 pm.
Evenings Under the Stars kicks off another season in the Carr Amphitheater on Saturday, July 8, with An Evening on the Red Carpet. Conductor Nick Palmer leads the Plymouth Philharmonic in a symphonic pops experience encompassing film and Broadway favorites by composers such as John Williams, Ennio Morricone, and Leonard Bernstein. Opening Night also features a sneak preview of a new musical, The Pony Express, with music and lyrics by Shayan Sobhian, Josh Amara and Leo Meehan, with additional music by Chris Meehan and Bob Palmer.
According to Sobhian, who will be performing on stage with his wife, actress Sally Meehan, “We are thrilled to premiere four songs from our new original musical, ‘The Pony Express: A Musical Adventure!’ with such an accomplished conductor and orchestra, at one of our favorite organizations, on a stage that bears a dedication to Sally’s great-grandfather, Nicholas V. Papani. This collaborative project has been a five-year labor of love involving our whole family, and we are proud for it to make its debut at the South Shore Conservatory.”
On Saturday, July 15, artists from SSC’s Summer Music Festival and Duxbury Music Festival share the stage for the third summer in a row in Waltzing Through the Weekend, a collaborative concert that explores the art of the ensemble, featuring works by Aaron Copland, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and Claude Bolling.
On Saturday, July 22, SSC’s Jazz-Rock-Pop faculty artists take center stage, in collaboration with guest artist Brian Martin, an award-winning trombonist, composer, and music educator who currently serves on the faculty of Derby Academy. Jazz With Friends also features a special opening performance by the Derby Trio.
New this year, audiences will be treated to an Evenings Under the Stars concert designed with the whole family in mind, on July 29. This intergenerational program features Camille Saint-Saëns’s timeless masterpiece, The Carnival of the Animals, conducted by Dr. Eric Laprade. Each movement of this carefully crafted suite uses instruments playing a unique musical motif to depict a different animal.
All Evenings Under the Stars performances take place in the Carr Amphitheater at One Conservatory Drive, Hingham.
Duxbury Music Festival opens with an encore performance of Waltzing Through the Weekend on Sunday, July 16, followed by A Concert for all Seasons on Tuesday, July 18, featuring an intercontinental mix of French and Spanish chamber music works, including Astor Piazzola’s riveting Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. The festival finishes off with a closing celebration on Friday, July 21, Rhapsody & Prosody, with two masterworks: Arnold Schoenberg’s sublime Verklärte Nacht and George Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue.
All Duxbury Music Festival performances take place at SSC’s Duxbury campus, the Ellison Center for the Arts, 64 St. George Street, Duxbury. The festival, under the direction of pianist Stephen Deitz, will bring back several faces familiar to the Duxbury community, including violist Dahm Huh. Huh expressed her excitement about the upcoming summer, saying, “Last year, I returned to Duxbury Music Festival as an alumni artist after having been a student a decade before. It was great catching up with old friends while also making new ones. I am even more thrilled to be back this summer and look forward to reuniting with wonderful musicians to make beautiful music for the Duxbury community.”
South Shore Conservatory is thrilled to welcome the world renowned Sinta Quartet to campus to work with saxophone students this summer. On Friday, July 7, at 7:30 pm, this talented saxophone ensemble will present Homegrown, an eclectic mix of American works ranging from the tunes of Appalachia to the world premiere of composer-in-residence Sally Lamb McCune’s Caveat for saxophone quartet and drum set. Additional highlights include an arrangement of Antonín Dvořák’s String Quartet no. 12, “American,” and Marc Mellits highly virtuosic Ex Machina.
South Shore Conservatory’s summer performances are presented with generous support from W.B. Mason, Leo and Gigi Meehan, Lynn Dale and Frank Wisneski, Massa Products Corporation, Granite City Electric, and Phyllis Godwin.
To learn more about South Shore Conservatory summer performances, sponsorship opportunities, or to purchase tickets online, visit Performances – Summer at SSC (sscmusic.org), or find South Shore Conservatory on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube.