From chamber music to movie scores, many high-brow composers could do it all. Chesapeake Music’s Sunday matinee “Interlude” performance – its final 2025 concert – featured five whose works, richly presented by the Catalyst Quartet, originally played in venues ranging from concert and opera halls to movie and TV screens.

The program opened with John Adams’ “Fellow Traveler,” a short piece written as a birthday gift to his friend and collaborator Peter Sellars, with whom he wrote the 2005 opera “Doctor Atomic” about the life and career of Robert J. Oppenheimer – also the title character in “Oppenheimer,” winner of the 2024 best picture Oscar. The “father of the atomic bomb” was later investigated for communist sympathies, which made him a so-called “fellow traveler.” In his opening remarks, cellist Paul Rodriguez thanked Adams for his permission to play the piece, which is given only sparingly.

“Fellow Traveler” weaves together echoes of Adams’ “Son of Chamber Symphony” and his best-known opera, “Nixon in China,” also created with Sellars. His work is characterized by a minimalist style of repeating patterns mixed with the late Romantic influences of Mahler and others. Violinist Ali Fayette led much of the piece’s melodic theme, such as it is.

More minimalism followed with the next two selections by Max Richter and Baltimore native Philip Glass. Richter’s six-minute “On the Nature of Daylight” from his 2004 “The Blue Notebook” album may sound familiar to viewers of the popular streaming series “The Handmaid’s Tale” with its cycles of introspective harmonies, from a mournful all-stings opening to a brief violin solo deftly played by Karla Donehew Perez, introducing a new rhythmic theme.

Glass’ 18-minute String Quartet No. 3, written as a score for Paul Schrader’s 1985 film “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters” about Japanese novelist Yoika Mishima, reflects each of the life chapters in six movements, building toward a finale of swelling bursts of energy climaxed by heaving sighs of relief – or is it regret? – led by the Catalyst violinists, including Fayette, who said Mishima was radicalized by Japan’s leanings to the West throughout decades of war in Afghanistan.

Two longer compositions comprised the second half of the concert, starting with Bernard Herrmann’s 20-minute “Echoes for a String Quartet.” In terms of music for the cinema, Herrmann’s award-winning career ranks among the greatest in the 20th century with credits spanning from Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” (1941) to Martin Scorcese’s “Taxi Driver” (1976). His string quartet figuratively echoes musical hallmarks from his illustrious career – short phrases repeated again and again while posing in varied dynamic tempos and dramatic situations which, as violinist Perez said, “makes you feel like you’re in a movie.” To that end, its emotional rollercoaster is tempered by thoughtful passages performed with delicate expression by cellist Rodriguez and violist Paul Laraia.

Of the five composers on the “Cinematic Refuge” program, Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s string quartet was the most classically “classic,” if you will. His 1933 quartet in four movements is considered the most “Viennese” in his body of work. It opens with an allegro of weeping and laughing sensibility followed by a larghetto of deeply felt melancholy followed by an intermezzo laced with his typically melodic charm and closing with a highly spirited and sweepingly danceable waltz. Quite Viennese, indeed, in violist Laraia’s words, “Romanticism as he colorfully created later in Hollywood.

But the stars of Sunday’s matinee were the four on-stage collaborators who so skillfully delivered precise, well-practiced and in-the-moment spontaneity

CATALYST QUARTET: ‘CINEMATIC REFUGE’

Chesapeake Music concert, Sunday, Nov. 23, Ebenezer Theater, Easton. chesapeakemusic.org

Steve Parks is a retired New York arts critic now living in Easton.

If it’s November in Easton, you can’t help but notice that the streets are busier, tents are appearing throughout town, and talk is all about the upcoming Waterfowl Festival. Inside Studio B Art Gallery, featured artist Sandy Alanko’s work fits the moment—paintings of water, marsh, and the wildlife that define the Shore. Watercolors that catch early light, wings over water, and the quiet places that define the festival.

“It’s my favorite show of the year,” Alanko said. “I’ve been coming for about eight years, and I love nature, conservation, and painting animals. It fits me so well. The fact that the proceeds go for conservation makes it even more meaningful.”

Her ties to that mission run deep. “I visit a lot of wildlife refuges, especially Blackwater,” she said. “They’ve benefited from Waterfowl Festival support over the years, and that makes me feel like we’re all part of the same circle—artists, collectors, and the environment we all care about.”

Her paintings grow from that connection.. One of her newest shows an osprey nest perched on Taylor’s Island. “You can see it from the back window of the little restaurant there,” she said. “It’s built on the pole that holds the fire siren. People wondered what would happen when the siren went off, but the ospreys just ignore it. For me, the painting was complex with all those twisted branches—but I loved it.”

Her interest in the natural world began long before she called herself an artist. “When I was a little girl in Illinois, I made it my mission to learn the names of everything in the backyard—birds, insects, reptiles,” she said. “By fifth grade, I could identify all the local birds.”

That curiosity led her to spend several years working with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History on a coral island off the coast of Belize, along with her husband. “We hosted scientists from all over the world,” she said. “Because of the research done there, the island and surrounding reef were declared a World Heritage Site. The biodiversity was extraordinary.”

It also changed how she looks at a subject. “I’ve always had a sensitivity for habitat restoration,” she said. “Painting is a way of paying attention—to light, to movement, to balance. It’s my way of showing respect.”

Alanko works in several media but sees herself primarily as a watercolorist. “It’s so transparent,” she said. “When it’s used right, light bounces between the pigment and the paper and gives the painting a glow. That’s what creates atmosphere. When I want a painting to feel airy and alive, watercolor is what I reach for.”

For landscapes, she paints on site when she can. Wildlife is different. “Animals don’t pose unless they’re asleep,” she said. “So I take photos and work from them. It’s still about watching and noticing.”

Her return to Studio B for Waterfowl Festival weekend brings her back into a familiar circle of artists and collectors. “I was honored when Betty Huang asked me to come back as a guest artist,” she said. “My work looks beautiful there. I can’t wait for people to stop in during the festival and talk about what they see. That’s what makes this weekend special.”

The feeling is mutual. Gallery owner Betty Huang is thrilled to have Alanko back. “Sandy, other than being a fabulous human being and a fabulous artist, does such beautiful work,” Huang said. “She brought paintings in oil, pastel, watercolor, and gouache, and they’re all amazing. She has always painted such beautiful waterfowl-related pieces, and that’s why I wanted to feature her again.”

Huang sees Alanko as part of the fabric of the gallery. “She’s a member of the Working Artists Forum, she’s local, and she’s so willing to share her techniques. It’s wonderful to be able to promote our own artists during an event that’s so much a part of Easton.”

She added that the Working Artists Forum, of which both she and Alanko are members, will also hold its annual Waterfowl Festival show at Christ Church. “It’s such a great partnership,” she said. “The Festival and Christ Church have supported the arts community for so long, and it gives people another chance to see what our local artists are doing.”

Even with artists from across the country represented, Studio B keeps a strong local focus. “I have award-winning artists from Maine, California, Texas, and Florida, but it’s important to highlight the incredible talent right here,” Huang said. “These artists aren’t only accomplished; they’re generous people. That’s just as important to me.”

That spirit carries through the town each November. The days leading up to the Waterfowl Festival are among Huang’s favorites. “Along with Plein Air Easton, Waterfowl is when the town really comes alive,” she said. “The streets are busy, the galleries are full, and everyone is talking about art. Easton is a charming, historic town, but it also has a cosmopolitan side. We really do have the best of both worlds.”

Alanko feels the same. “Easton is the hub of the Mid-Atlantic for art,” she said. She would know. Besides the Working Artists Forum, she’s part of the St. Michaels Art League and the Academy Art Museum community. “There are so many ways to grow and share your work,” she said. “It’s a very supportive place to be an artist.”

When she isn’t painting, she’s often on the water. “My husband and I belong to a kayaking group,” she said. “We go out every Wednesday to explore the tributaries that feed into the Chesapeake. I love reflections on the water and the vegetation along the shore.”

Sailing has been another lifelong thread. “We once took our boat to Bermuda and back,” she said. “So yes, I’m comfortable on the water.”

Her new work includes a series of large water birds that look ready to lift from the paper. “Watercolor is flat compared to oil,” she said. “So I started painting the bird on another sheet, then layering it—sometimes three layers deep—so a wing or a beak comes forward toward the viewer. It gives the impression that the bird is about to fly right out of the frame.”

She’s also discovered a way to display her watercolors without glass. “I found a spray that makes them UV-protected and waterproof,” she said. “It means people can see the work directly. There’s no reflection, no barrier.”

Her goal is simple. “I hope people see the beauty of the animal or the landscape,” she said. “And maybe it makes them want to preserve it.”

Huang believes that respect is what makes Alanko’s paintings stand out. “Her work reminds people what’s worth protecting,” she said. “You can see her love for nature in every piece. When people come into the gallery and see her paintings, they feel that.”

The Waterfowl weekend is an important time for Easton, and Studio B on Goldsborough Street is bringing Sandy Alanko’s world of water and wings into the heart of the festival.

Studio B Art Gallery is located at 7B Goldsborough Street in Easton.

For the fourth consecutive year, Main Street Gallery is showcasing All That Glitters: A Metalsmith Collective, a holiday exhibition celebrating the creativity of local jewelry artists. The show opens October 31 at the gallery’s location at 518 Poplar Street and runs through December 28.

This year’s collective features seven jewelers who work primarily in silver, including returning guest artists Alexa Matthai, Chuck McMillin, and Wanda Jester. They are joined by Main Street Gallery member artists Cindy Ayd, Robin Morgan, Linda Starling, and Barbara Trower, who also incorporates glass into her designs.

“All of the work in All That Glitters is locally made,” said Starling, who specializes in beach glass and silver jewelry. “Each of us lives and creates in communities around the Bay, and our pieces reflect that connection—whether through sea glass found along the shoreline or designs inspired by the region’s plants and wildlife.”

Starling first conceived the idea for the show in early 2022, inviting several of her fellow Bay-area metalsmiths to collaborate on a holiday-themed exhibition. The event proved so popular that the group has returned each year since. “Now it’s 2025, and I’m thrilled to welcome back my talented jewelry friends for a fourth year,” she said. “Visitors will be hard pressed not to find something special for themselves or for someone they love.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by artwork from the gallery’s seven member artists. Two receptions will be held on Second Saturdays—November 8 and December 13—from 5 to 8 p.m. Each evening will include a brief artist talk, light refreshments, and an opportunity to meet the makers. Admission is free and open to the public.

Main Street Gallery is open Fridays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and offers online shopping at mainstgallery.net. The cooperative, located in Cambridge’s Arts and Entertainment District, has been artist-owned and operated for more than 14 years. The gallery is currently reviewing applications for new members and guest artists; those interested can inquire through the website or by calling 410-330-4659.

Emily Rich still gets a thrill when the newest Bay to Ocean Journal lands in her hands.

“It’s always exciting to see the finished book,” she said. “You see all that work, all those voices, come together. It feels like a community in print.”

Now in its seventh year, the annual literary collection from the Eastern Shore Writers Association (ESWA) brings together poets, essayists, and fiction writers from across Maryland and beyond. This year’s edition once again captures the range of creativity connected to the Shore—work that is personal, place-based, and deeply human.

Like any good story, the journal’s own beginnings are part of what makes it special.

The journal was first published in 2018 under then-ESWA President Ron Sauder, who wanted to give local writers a dedicated outlet for their work. “Ron started the Bay to Ocean Journal, and I took it over the following year,” Rich said. “I’d already spent many years editing literary magazines like *Little Patuxent Review* and *Delmarva Review*, so I was excited by this new challenge.”

For Rich, who now serves as both editor and president of ESWA, the journal is about far more than publication. “We felt local writers really needed a space where they could all get together,” she said. “And it’s more than just being able to be published. It’s the community that forms by all being part of this journal.”

That sense of connection runs through the 2025 edition, which—without anyone planning it—ended up circling around the idea of time. “With each edition, a theme seems to rise,” Rich said. “They’re not chosen in advance.This year, a lot of people wrote about the concept of time and the way it blurs—when you lose someone, when you reconnect with someone, a lost child, or an elderly parent. Some people discovered secrets about their own heritage. Both the poems and the prose touched on that. It’s really interesting how, for whatever reason, themes will emerge. It wasn’t like the judges were looking for those pieces,” she said. “That’s just what we got.”

And what they got, she said, was strong. “Since we started the journal, the quality of submissions every year has gone up. That makes me feel really good,” Rich said. “When you have to look at pieces several times to decide if they make the cut—that’s a good feeling. It means the journal is really succeeding.”

Each year, she and a small team of volunteer editors read through dozens of submissions, looking for what she calls *the spark. “I hate to be a literary editor stereotype,” she said, “but it really is just something that strikes you. It’s got an emotional spark, a good story arc.”

To keep things fair, the editorial process is blind. “Everything comes to me, but when I send it to my staff, it’s all blind,” she said. “That really helps because we’re a small community. My poetry editor has even said, ‘I know who this is—they’re in my writing group.’ So reading blind helps you focus only on the work.”

Among this year’s standouts is the opening poem, On a Path Austere and Certain, by Diana Fusting.“She talks about how, in the process of going from a child to an adult, she’s learned to quantify everything—from her weight to her GPA—and how she’s longing to get back to that spark of not having to worry about those things,” said Rich. “It really set the theme.”

The poem is followed by a short story about “a man at the end of his life who’s lost his daughter and wife,” she said. “Instead of focusing on the loneliness of that, he finds a place of peace where he feels their presence. It’s really very heartwarming.”

Though the journal welcomes submissions from across the Mid-Atlantic, its roots stay close to home. “There’s no requirement that your piece be about the Shore,” Rich said. “But people love this place, so often their work reflects that love of place. You do have to be a member of the Eastern Shore Writers Association to submit, so everyone has some connection with the community.”

Even the cover stays true to that mission. This year’s artwork by Naomi Clark Turner depicts a view of Oxford. “We always look for local artists,” Rich said. “Naomi lives outside of Oxford, and it just felt right.”

Inside, readers will find everything from poignant essays to pure fun. “There’s one really sweet love story,” she said. “And one hilarious story that starts with a woman describing being on an academic quiz show. She grew up outside Cambridge and tells this story about how she and her teammates tried to get away with saying crazy things on air—like claiming she was a snake handler. It was just so funny to see that side of someone I know as a serious professional.”

For Rich, those discoveries are the best part. “Writing is such a vulnerable endeavor,” she said. “You’re putting yourself out there to be read and judged. That willingness to open up and be part of something—it binds you. It’s a common experience every writer has to go through.”

That shared vulnerability is what fuels the broader ESWA community, including the annual Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, held each March at Chesapeake College. Many contributors discover the journal through the conference and later return to submit their own work.

For those hesitant to take that leap, Rich keeps it simple. “You’re never going to find out unless you do,” she said. “Being a writer without getting rejections is like being a boxer and not wanting to get hit. That’s just part of the game.”

Of course, the writing has to be polished. Her advice to anyone thinking of submitting: “Always have someone else read it—someone who’s going to be honest with you.”

Editing, she admits, has changed her own writing. “The one thing I’ve learned is that you can always cut,” she said. “People think, ‘I can’t get rid of this,’ but you can. You don’t need all the backstory. Just jump right in and get people hooked. You can always fill things in later.”

Outside of the journal, Rich continues to write and teach. Lately, she’s been digging into her family’s history. “My great-grandfather was a gold miner in the 1870s,” she said. “He traveled all over the West—from Virginia City to Helena to Mazatlán. I found his grave—it’s just a metal plaque in the Masons’ cemetery, and he’s there by himself. So I’m trying to piece together that story.”

She also teaches memoir workshops. “Everybody has a story, and that’s what I love about it,” she said. “For memoir, you’re supposed to keep it real, but you can bring in dreams, musings, conjecture. There’s room to play with memory.”

If there’s a thread connecting all of it—editing, teaching, writing—it’s her belief that storytelling builds community. “This is really a labor of love for me,” she said. “It was important to me to work on something that gives space to local writers. I’d really like to encourage those writers out there—join ESWA and submit.”

This year’s Bay to Ocean Journal will officially launch with a book party in Berlin this December, followed by sales at the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference at Chesapeake College next spring. Copies are also available on Amazon and at ESWA events throughout the Shore.

Submissions for the 2026 edition will open in March 2026.

“When you see it all come together,” she said, “it feels like holding up a mirror to our community. You see the heart, the humor, the grief, the love—all of it. That’s what writing is for.”

For additional information, go to: https://www.easternshorewriters.org/