With only hours to go before the Academy Art Museum’s annual Crafts Show opens its door for its famed Preview party, the Spy was able to spend a short moment with this year’s featured artist Sean Donlon and his remarkable glass teapots.

Sean takes glass manipulation to a new level with these inanimate glass sculptures that become vibrant and alive when they interact with the light and colors in their surrounding environment.

Donlon earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Craft and Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and has traveled all over the United States and internationally to Lauscha, Germany and Murano, Italy to study lost techniques in glass. He recently received the Smithsonian nd his work has been exhibited the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, the Chrysler Museum, and several galleries throughout the United States.

This video is approximately two minutes in length. For more information on the AAM Crafts show and ticket information please go here.

Not so long ago, the Academy Art Museum’s crafts show was a bit of a sleeper in the world of arts and crafts events. While the AAM annual gathering had some of the country’s best craftspeople attending, flagship shows in Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia were the go-to programs for artists and guests.

Not anymore. Over the last ten years, the AAM Crafts Show is consistently named as one of the best in the nation for the caliber of work shown during the three-day event, and it continues to build its attendance with public education events like a free children’s program and art demonstrations like glass blowing. And it certainly helps that the Fall on the Eastern Shore can be one of the most beautiful places in October.

The Spy down with Jennifer Chrzanowski, the Academy’s program manager for the Crafts Show to provide some highlights coming up later this month.

This video is approximately two minutes in length. For more information about the AAM 2022 Crafts Show please go here.

It was an evening of firsts: the first concert of the 25th anniversary season of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the first performance conducted by Michael Repper as the MSO’s new music director, and the first major cultural event at Chesapeake College’s Todd Performing Arts Center since COVID shut it down two years ago.

But the priority Thursday night on the Wye Mills campus was music. As led by Repper in his debut, the performance was at once rousing and soothing. Most rousing was the opening piece, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, also known as “Emperor,” featuring guest soloist Michael McHale. The first movement, 20 minutes in length, begins with a piano solo without an orchestral introduction, other than three short sonorous chords. That approach was unheard of at the time, representing another first on the evening’s program. Also unusual, although not a first, is the structure of the second and third movements, played without a pause between them.

From the revolutionary concerto’s opening notes, McHale riveted our attention with his assertive, indeed “heroic” attack on the keyboard, symbolic of the Napoleonic Wars that were a constant real-time inspiration for Beethoven, or it might have been in protest, as he composed “Emperor.” This unofficial title may or may not refer to Napoleon, of whom Beethoven was no fan. 

The movement settles into pastoral passages with a teardrop interplay with the orchestra’s large string section, including 13 violins, led by concertmaster Kimberly McCollum and second violinist Celaya Kirchner. Later, a march-like call and response pit the pianist and orchestra, challenging each other right up to the dramatic finish. 

The second movement suggests a more conversational interchange, a nocturne with muted strings and wind instruments, particularly oboe and flute, led by Dana Newcomb and Mindy Heinsohn. The third movement follows immediately with a lone bassoon siren (Terry Ewell) announcing a change of tempo and temperament that carries over to the final movements, which foretell or celebrate victory in a solo piano rondo with bass-and-cello underpinnings led by Chris Chlumsky and Jacques-Pierre Malan. The finale closes with timpani punctuation delivered by Barry Dove.

After intermission, the audience in the center seats got a better look at the conducting mannerisms of the new music director, who was largely hidden by the piano in the Beethoven opener. To applause, Repper introduced Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major as a “sunny and joyous piece that’s all about water and the river Rhine.” With the fury of Hurricane Ian flooding all over the news, “Rhenish” offered a soothing, if momentary, respite for those of us out of harm’s way. It is the symphony Repper himself chose for his MSO debut. 

The first movement, Lebhaft (for lively), lives up to its billing with a sonata in a heroic stance for full orchestra. It’s followed by a scherzo theme based on a waltz-like German folk dance that conveys a delightful awakening on the Rhine anchored by the lower strings. The nicht schnell (not fast) third movement creates a moment of calm as a dreamlike current gently rocks the boat. Known as the “Cathedral movement,” the fourth is said to have been inspired by Robert and Clara Schumann’s visit to the cathedral in Cologne overlooking the Rhine. The French horn and trombone sections, captained by Karin Berkeley and Jeffrey Gaylord, have waited this long to sound their instruments in a brass chorale signifying a noble house of worship. Returning to earlier themes, the fifth movement, with the voyage’s destination in sight, rises to a spirited hoorah heralded by horns, percussion, and strings, high and low—a time to rejoice for all.

Repper was at his most animated in this finale, bending toward each section, in turn, to implore the musicians to feel and reflect the symphony’s emotional momentum. He and they succeeded on this most rewarding and promising night of firsts.
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While the full orchestra doesn’t return in concert until Nov. 10-13, with “Four Seasons” from the perspectives of the northern (Vivaldi) and southern (Piazzolla) hemispheres, you can catch five of the orchestra’s musicians in concert Wednesday, Oct. 5 at Washington College in Chestertown. The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Quintet performs the Piano Quintet in A minor, Opus 30, by Louise Farrenc, and Piano Quintet A major, D. 667 “Trout” by Franz Schubert. The five musicians are violinist Kimberly McCollum, violist Yuri Tomenko, cellist Diana Golden, bassist Chris Chlumsky and pianist Woobin Park. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. washcoll.edu/concert

The MSO Ensemble Series resumes with woodwind quintet concerts on October 28 and 30, a holiday brass quintet on December 17 and 18, a string quartet and piano concert, plus a jazz orchestra next February and May, respectively, all in Rehoboth Beach and Easton. midatlanticsymphony.org 

Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra Opening Weekend
Saturday, Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m., Cape Henlopen High School, Lewes, Del.
Sunday, Oct. 2, 3 p.m., Performing Arts Center, Ocean City.
midatlanticsymphony.org

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

If you thought beach season was over, think again. Cape May, on the southern tip of the Jersey Shore, claiming the title of “America’s First Seaside Resort,” offers way more than the typical beach attractions – sand, surf, and arcade rides. And while it says on the calendar that Columbus Day is Oct. 10, that three-day holiday is celebrated as Victorian Weekend in Cape May. 

With many of its bed-and-breakfasts and condo rentals dating back to Antebellum times, Cape May is a Victorian architecture treasure land that entertained presidents, ranging from James Buchanan, widely regarded – perhaps until recently – as the worst president in U.S. history. He squired Southern belles with sparkling wine at a White House party as Civil War broke out. Buchanan, a bachelor president, also partied at Cape May’s Congress Hall, where you can still book a room and enjoy a meal, indoors or out, at the Blue Pig Cafe. Book-ending Buchanan, President Ulysses S. Grant, who helped Abraham Lincoln win the war and save the Union, also stayed at Congress Hall.

Take one of the available Victorian Weekend Trolley tours and explore the area’s treasures. Choose from Mansions by the Sea, Ghosts of Cape May, the Underground Railroad, and Cape May’s Forgotten Sports History. Afterward, you can go shopping, have lunch al fresco along the Washington Street pedestrian mall, or drop by the crafts fair at the Emlen Physick Estate. Here, you can also reserve a brunch or dinner table at Vintage, a climate-controlled tent bistro amid the estate’s flower gardens. (It’s BYOB for wine or other adult beverages.) A tour of the 1879 Physick mansion museum, one of Cape May’s finest examples of Victorian architecture, is recommended. And if you’re theatrically inclined, stick around for Phantoms of the Physick Estate: Spellbound Sisters, a haunted-house melodrama.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in “Send in the Clowns”

If you stay for the week, Cape May Stage offers performances of Send in the Clowns for its back-to-back Sherlock Holmes Weekends starting Oct. 14, in which clues are presented Friday and Saturday evenings for a mystery that is solved by scouring the streets of Cape May. There’s a Sunday night reveal with prizes for the winning sleuths. Meanwhile, enjoy dinner at neighboring 410 Bank Street or Elaine’s Cape May.

And, oh yes. The boardwalk, beach, and the Atlantic Ocean are open 24/7. Cape May-Lewes Ferry is about an hour and a half drive from Easton to the Delaware Shore in Lewes.

Victorian Weekend, Oct. 7-10, capemac.org/experience/special-events/victorian-weekend; 
Sherlock Holmes Weekends, Oct. 14-16, Oct. 21-23; capemac.org/experience/special-events/sherlock-holmes-weekend
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The Chesapeake Film Festival, which has been mostly virtual the last couple of COVID years, returns to in-person screenings Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at the Avalon and Ebenezer theaters in downtown Easton. (Masks optional.) Then it continues with free at-home streaming Oct. 3-9. The live festival opens late Friday afternoon at the Eastern Shore Conservation Center courtyard with a reception honoring filmmakers and donors. Tickets, $125, include admission to the films, starting with a series of environmental documentaries and shorts Friday night at the Avalon. On Oct. 1, day 2 of the festival focuses on “Women of Impact.” Leading off with The Glorias, a narrative feature about the life and work of Gloria Steinem, it features Julianne Moore, Timothy Hutton, and Better Midler. Next is Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché, regarded as the first female feature film director. “Women of Impact” resumes with a Sunday, Oct. 2, matinee at the Ebenezer with a William Wyler classic, Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Part II of the double-feature is Directed by William Wyler, produced by his daughter, Catherine Wyler, who will be on hand afterward for a Q&A. Admission is $15 to $25 for in-person screenings. Free at-home streaming begins at 9 a.m. Oct. 3 and ends at midnight Oct. 9.

chesapeakefilmfestival.com
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Gabriela Montero in the Prager concert series

Also at the Ebenezer: The Prager Family Center for the Arts launched the new international concert series led by Grammy-winning pianist and composer Gabriela Montero on its Sept. 17 opening night. Next up in the series, on Oct. 29, is pianist Yuja Wang of China, winner of both Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year and Musical America’s Artist of the Year awards. Montero returns to the Ebenezer stage on Nov. 19 with Puerto Rican soprano Larisa Martinez, and the star attraction announced so far in the series – Oscar and Emmy-winning violinist Joshua Bell – with a reprise performance the next day. Canadian pianist and multi-Grammy nominee Marc-Andre Hamelin will be in concert on Dec. 10. Montero returns in a Dec. 17 “Irish Christmas” program with Anthony Kearns, who has performed with the Irish Tenors. After a winter hiatus, the series resumes next summer with two more concerts anchored by Gabriela Montero, starting June 3 with Cuban saxophonist Paquito d’Rivera. Twenty free tickets for each concert are set aside for “underserved communities.”

monteroprager.com/concerts
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The Classic Theatre of Maryland (formerly the Annapolis Shakespeare Company) goes back to its roots, as it does at least once a season, by presenting the Bard comedy Twelfth Night, Oct. 7-30 at its theater/cabaret at 1804 West St. (We believe 1804 refers to a street address, not a date of origination for the company.) Here, Classic Theatre reimagines Shakespeare’s romantic, separated-twins/mistaken-identity comedy as a golden age Hollywood tribute. Upcoming cabaret shows feature vocalists Ruby Hayes (Oct. 17) and Heather Maxwell (Nov. 14). They’ll be followed by dual theatrical favorites for the season: White Christmas (Nov. 25-Dec. 24) and A Christmas Carol (Dec. 2-24). While they’re at it, Classic Theatre throws in a Dec. 5 cabaret show starring Broadway’s Ian Knauer (Dames at Sea, Anastasia). 

classictheatremaryland.org
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Sabra Richards and her daughter Lynn Richards collaborate on an unusual, if not unique, sculptural exhibit at the Dorchester Arts Center in Cambridge. Kiln-formed fusible glass is Sabra’s principal medium. She chooses glass of myriad colors and creates still more hues by layering various components to be fired along with strands of cane pulled into the malleable glass framed by welded steel to mount wall constructions. Lynn, a third-generation artist in her mother’s artistic mold, incorporates found streetscape elements in her glass and steel sculptures. Together, they are “Richards & Richards” and their show is “Glass, Light, and Steel.” Also at the Dorchester center is “Natural Evidence” by Caroline County environmental artist and writer Mary McCoy who works mainly with such found materials as grapevines, oyster shells, and butterfly wings along with the written word. Both shows open on Sept. 30 and run through Oct. 29.

dorchesterarts.org/exhibits

Steve Parks is a retired New York arts writer and editor now living in Easton.

Michael Repper makes his debut on Sept. 29 as just the third music director in Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (MSO) history, succeeding Julien Benichou, who reigned with his baton for 17 years following the MSO’s founding maestro, Don Buxton.

Music Director Michael Repper

Considering his appointment was not announced until mid-June – around the time Benichou’s MSO contract was up, and he became artistic director of the Washington Opera Society – Repper considers himself fortunate to have a piece he chose on his premiere concert program. “Julien did the lion’s share,” Repper said of the orchestra’s upcoming 25th anniversary season programming. “I’m very excited about the soloists he lined up.” That includes guest piano soloist Michael McHale, who will open the concert at Chesapeake College with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor).” But the second half features Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (“Rhenish”), selected by Repper. “Next season will be all mine,” he says.

The 2022-23 season for Repper and the MSO continues, as usual, with two more concerts of the same program in southern Delaware and Ocean City area beach communities. The next set of shows are in November with a “Four Seasons” program of Vivaldi and Piazzolla, followed in early December by “Holiday Joy” favorites and the annual New Year’s Eve gig at Easton’s Christ Church. After a January-February break, the orchestra’s Elizabeth Loker Competition takes center stage. It will bring the winner of its young musicians’ prize, along with Brahms’ Tragic Overture and Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1, which was also the first symphony by an African-American woman performed by a major orchestra – the Chicago Symphony – in 1933. Repper and the MSO wrap up their first season together late next April with a piece by Louise Forrenc, an 18th Century French composer chosen by Benichou, a native of France, who also selected Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”) for the finale.

While Benichou left big shoes to fill at the conductor’s podium, Repper, 31, brings a broad and deep resume for a music director his age – having already conducted orchestras on four continents. Aside from Delmarva’s professional ensemble, Repper directs the Northern Neck Orchestra of Kilmarnock, just across the Chesapeake from Virginia’s Eastern Shore, the Ashland Symphony Orchestra in Ohio, and Peru’s Central Ensembles of Sinfonia in that nation’s Lima capital. Additionally, in a position he’s held since age 22, he is also the music director of the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall. That he will be leaving the youth symphony after one more season is “a bittersweet occasion,” Repper says, citing the “amazingly talented kids I’ve met and helped nurture there.”

Speaking of mentoring, Repper counts Marin Alsop among the most influential musical figures in his life, starting at age 13. Describing what could well be an example of paying it forward, Alsop was mentored by Leonard Bernstein late in his life. “What she has done since,” says Repper, “ranks with historic proportions.” As a result, Repper, a native of southern California, moved to Baltimore. “I wanted to be closer,” he said of the people he studied under at the prestigious Peabody Conservatory, including Alsop and Swiss conductor Gustav Meier. It was there he also met Benichou during Repper’s time as a conducting fellow and guest conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, of which Alsop served as the first woman music director of a major American classical orchestra. It is also where Repper met many of the musicians he will now lead at MSO.

In the last year, the MSO has presented another significant professional opportunity for Repper. Not all of his many projects involved fully professional musicians. He taught students. He led orchestras comprised of adult freelance pros, volunteers, and talented youngsters. The MSO, led by board president Jeffrey Parker, consulted with the union that now represents the orchestra, Musicians’ Association of Metropolitan Baltimore, Local 40-543, American Federation of Musicians, among many other sources, in selecting their new maestro.

“We are delighted to welcome Michael to the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra,” Parker said at the time he announced Repper’s appointment. “And we’re confident he will continue to build its reputation as an exceptional regional orchestra as he inspires and engages both our audiences and the communities he serves.”

To that end, Repper says one of his priorities, even above seeking recording opportunities for the orchestra, “is to make our concerts such a fun experience that our Delmarva fans come back again and again as we attract a new fanbase.”

Besides conducting, don’t be surprised if Repper takes a turn at the piano one evening. “I’ve played since I was four, and while I’m not sustaining myself as a concert pianist, I make sure I’m always playing, or I’ll forget,” he says with a laugh, adding that he “sometimes still plays a concerto with the orchestra.” In rehearsal, we guess. But you never know.

On increasingly rare occasions when he’s not on the road, Repper lives in Charlottesville to be with his girlfriend, who is studying law at the University of Virginia.

Steve Parks is a retired New York arts writer and editor now living in Easton.

Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra Season Openers:
Thursday, Sept. 29, 7: 30 p.m., Chesapeake College, Wye Mills
Saturday, Oct., 1 7:30 p.m., Cape Henlopen High School, Lewes, Del.
Sunday Oct. 2, 3 p.m., Performing Arts Center, Ocean City.

midatlanticsymphony.org