Bill Raffel tells us about a unique summer concert series in Williamsville.By Bill Raffel, WBFO
Buffalo, NY – Western New York's most unique summer concert series opens its 24th season on Wednesday (7/3). Good morning. I'm Bill Raffel with Music Notes.
If you go to a piano recital, you sit and watch the pianist in action. But what do you when the performer is sitting behind a large keyboard and pedalboard connected to 44 bells overhead, all shielded by a brick bell tower?
Find out this Wednesday (7/3) at 7 p.m. with the first of four carillon concerts at the Calvary Episcopal Church. Calvary's Resident Carilloneur Gloria Werblow was playing for this recording. But this week, Auke de Boer from the Netherlands will be featured from an area associated with the carillon.
In fact, Gloria's travels will take her to Ireland later this month for the world carillon conference. The Carillon Concert series begins Wednesday at 7 p.m. along Milton Street in Williamsville. It runs parallel to Main Street off of Cayuga. Performances continue next week, then on July 24th and 31st.
Also this week, Paul Ferington kicks off the Buffalo Philharmonic's free Summer in the Parks series. Tomorrow (Tuesday, 7/2) at 7:30 p.m. in Niagara Reservation State Park on Goat Island in Niagara Falls. And the orchestra launches its Summer Symphony series Saturday (7/6) at 6:30 p.m. along the slopes of Holiday Valley in Ellicotville. Leave your skis at home though. The Diamonds will be featured, and this concert is not free.
You can blend band music with fireworks Thursday (7/4) at UB's Baird Point on the North Campus. Lee Ron Zydeco opens at 7 p.m before the Erie County Wind Ensemble takes over at 8:45. At 6 p.m. on WBFO, I'll be your host for an all American concert with the American Legion Band of the Tonawandas, before the band performs live at Riverside Park in Buffalo starting at eight. You can also catch the band tonight (Monday, 7/1) at 7 p.m. in Veterans Park on Grand Island.
And the Chautauqua Symphony gives a pops concert Thursday (7/4) at 8 p.m. in the Amphitheatre. Tuesday (7/2) at 8:15 is Chautauqua Music School night with the C-S-O, and on Saturday (7/6) at 8:15, Chaim Zemach joins the orchestra as soloist in Elgar's Violin Concerto. Guest conductor Toshiyuki Shimada will also lead a string quartet of Brahms as arranged for full orchestra by Arnold Schoenberg. And the Chautauqua Opera presents Puccini's Tosca in English Friday (7/5) at 7:30 p.m. in Norton Hall.