Southport, CT – Celebrate Pequot Library’s musical past with pianist Dr. Orin Grossman and friends on Wednesday, May 17 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Held in conjunction with the current Special Collections exhibition, Pequot Founders: Building a Library and a Legacy, “Music of the Gilded Age” will feature music from Pequot Library’s early years (1890-1917). Enjoy popular Ragtime and Stride standards performed by Dr. Orin Grossman, including Irvin Berlin’s “Play a Simple Melody” and “Sidewalks of New York” with singers Michael and Collin Christie, and Brian Goodman tapping to George Cohen’s “Yankee Doodle Boy.” Barbershop quartet Take 4 will lead a group sing-a-long of classic parlor songs, as a slideshow featuring 19th-century photographs of Southport, CT immerses the audience in historic Southport. This program is free and no registration is required. Light hors d’oeuvres and wine will follow the concert.
“Music of the Gilded Age” will kick off the Music at Pequot Summer Concert Series. Proceeds from the Summer Concert Series will support events such as the Free Young Persons’ Concerts, Friday Night Young Artists’ Café, and Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestra Great Lawn concerts at Pequot Library.
Dr. Orin Grossman has been delighting audiences the world over with his unique approach to performing and explaining great American and European music. As a performer he is in demand as an interpreter of the music of George Gershwin, playing his songs and classical compositions around the world, including Florence, Cairo, Australia, and St Petersburg, Russia, where he performed Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and gave the Russian premiere of Gershwin’s “Second Rhapsody” with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic to a standing ovation. He is Professor Emeritus of Visual and Performing Arts at Fairfield University.
Take 4 is a registered quartet in the international Barbershop Harmony Society. Take 4‘s members have a broad musical background, from classical piano to Doo-Wop and everything in-between. They love singing a great variety of songs -- anything from The Beach Boys, to Doo-Wop, Country, or Broadway ballads; all done in the traditional Barbershop style. Take 4 was the winner of the 2016 Yankee Division Barbershop Quartet contest, and was the New England District’s 2016 Novice Quartet champions, and finished in the top 10 in the overall competition. They will be in Lake George, NY this May, competing for a spot in this year’s New England District Competition.
In December 1893, Pequot Library held its first concert in the then brand-new auditorium featuring the Yale Glee Club. Today the Library continues in founder Virginia Marquand Monroe’s footsteps by offering diverse and engaging musical performances featuring world-renowned artists who perform everything from Classical to Folk to Rock ‘n’ Roll in the near-perfect acoustics of the Auditorium.
Please visit www.pequotlibrary.org to learn more about this vibrant library, educational, arts and cultural institution. For information: (203) 259-0346 ext. 15. Follow Pequot Library on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Pequot Library Brings Culture to Life!