Easton Choral Arts Society, founded in 1977, is holding open auditions for its Spring Concert, Songs from the Heart. The concert features Michael John Trotta’s work “For a Breath of Ecstasy” composed with lyrics from poet Sara Teasdale’s anthology Love Songs.The chorus will also sing a variety of beautiful and clever arrangements of songs about the different aspects of love.

Composed of members from the Delmarva region, the Society performs a variety of music, ranging from classical to works by contemporary composers. Auditions are scheduled by appointment, and interested singers may contact ECAS through the website EastonChoralArts.org or by e-mail at weslockfaw@christchurcheaston.org. Rehearsals are held Tuesday evenings 7:00 to 9:00, at Christ Church Easton, 111 S Harrison Street, Easton.

Easton Choral Arts Society was created to bring quality choral music to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and to provide local singers with the opportunity to enhance their musical knowledge and skills in an atmosphere of joy and camaraderie.

The Society is supported by grants from the Mid-Shore Community Foundation, the Talbot County Arts Council, and the Maryland State Arts Council.

The Allegro Children’s Chorus is now enrolling students for its first session of 2019 with rehearsals beginning on January 28.  All singers ages 6-18 are invited to join in this seasons music of “Stage and Screen” to be shared in a number of performances this spring.  Rehearsals will take place in the parish hall of Trinity Cathedral, 315 Goldsborough Street, Easton with ensembles beginning at 4:30 pm.  The Allegro Children’s Chorus is a community choral program  that connects singers of different ages, counties, and school affiliations.  In addition to learning repertoire, singers will develop music theory, aural, and performance skills.  The chorus’ previous season included performances at Trinity Cathedral Easton, Talbot Hospice Festival of Trees, Maryland Statehouse Annapolis, Easton Club East, and St. Paul’s church, Oxford.Participants are to pay a fee of $125 each semester which includes materials and performance wear.  Scholarships are offered to all participants, no audition is required, all are welcome.

The Allegro Children’s Chorus sings under the leadership of Allegro Academy Artistic Director, Amy Morgan.  Mrs. Morgan is a native of the Eastern Shore and an accomplished musician whose education includes a Bachelors degree in Piano Performance from Salisbury University and Masters in Choral Conducting from Messiah College.She has served as the Director of Music at Trinity Cathedral since 2014.  Mrs. Morgan also teaches private piano lessons, has served as musical director for musical theatre and operetta performances, and as a piano accompanist.

Other programs of Allegro Academy include performances with concert artists, private music lessons in violin and piano, and  the Summer Sing choir festival which invites vocalists from the community to perform a major choral work with professional soloists and orchestra.  The Allegro Children’s Chorus and the programs of the Allegro Academy are funded by the Talbot County and Maryland State Arts Councils and generous contributions from our community.The mission of Allegro Academy is to offer exceptional music education and performance experiences to the greater Talbot County Area, and to make these offerings affordable to all.  For more information about our programs and scholarship opportunities please call Amy Morgan at 410-603-8361 or email amy@allegroacademyeaston.com.

Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine, directed by Mary A. James, is Church Hill Theatre’s first 2019 show. The play is a vintage American drama, with several heroic characters, an attractive villain, charming children, and a few comic moments along the way. It’s also a “traditional” CHT production, with an elegantly furnished living room set and costumes that match the period. The production opens on Friday, January 18 and will run for three weekends.

But Watch on the Rhine is much more than a drawing room comedy—it is an eloquent defense of American democratic values and responsibilities. Although written shortly before the outbreak of WWII as an anti-Nazi statement, it still resonates strongly and has enjoyed a number of recent revivals. The original play won the 1941 Drama Critics’ Circle Award and was made into a film starring Bette Davis.

Watch on the Rhine takes place in 1940 at Fanny Farrelly’s estate near Washington, DC, where she and her lawyer son David eagerly await the arrival of his sister, Sara Muller, and her family. Sara, married to a German patriot, for twenty years has made a new life in Europe, far from her domineering mother.  Tensions arise when Fanny’s houseguests, a titled Romanian couple, meddle in family affairs. What is going on between the Countess and David Farrelly? And is the Count a Nazi—or just a cad? Matters are resolved during a long cocktail hour that reveals secrets and rips apart Fanny’s comfortably complacent life.

David Farelly (Howard Mesick) and his sister Sara Muller (Darlene Greer).

Jane Copple takes on the role of Fanny Farrelly, a cosmopolitan and well-connected matron who is perhaps too used to getting her own way.  Darlene Greer portrays Fanny’s daughter, Sara Muller, stronger than we first think. Robert McGrory plays Kurt Muller, a former engineer and anti-Nazi activist.  Lisa Wojehowski, Calla McCluskey, and Connor Christopher play their children, Joshua, Babette and Bodo. Complicating matters are Fanny’s houseguests, the sinisterly attractive Count Teck de Brancovis, played by Will Robinson, and his American-born wife Marthe, played by Genevieve Croker.  Howard Mesick portrays Fanny’s lawyer son David, a man who finds more backbone as his comfortable world changes. Sheila Austrian plays Fanny’s French housekeeper/companion Anise.

James, with substantial experience at St. Martin’s Community Theatre and the Colonial Players, is making her directorial debut at Church Hill Theatre. Her production team includes Producer Hester Sachse and Lighting Designer Doug Kaufmann. The set was designed by the director and Temple Worth and constructed by Carmen Grasso. Speedy Christopher will be helping backstage.

Watch on the Rhine will open on January 18, 2019 and run until February 3. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm and Sunday afternoons at 2 pm.  Special two-for-one ticket pricing is available for the opening night. Reservations can be made on line at churchhilltheatre.org or by calling (410) 556-6003.

Georges Feydeau’s hilarious farce adapted by David Ives comes to the stage this spring at Church Hill Theatre. Directed by Toph Wallace, the play will run for three weekends from March 29 to April 14. Rehearsals will begin on January 24.

A Flea in Her Ear has a simple premise, Madame Chandebise suspects her husband of cheating, and with the help of her best friend sets out to entrap and catch him.  With comic roles for men and women, you want to be a part of this show!  Auditioners will be asked to do cold readings from the script.

Wallace is a member of the CHT board and last directed the 2017 Church Hill production of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution.  He has been on stage recently in the title role of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Garfield Center and as Pat in CHT’s 2018 production of The Hostage.

Auditions will be held:

January 15 & 17 at 6:30 in the CHT rehearsal space located at 502 Main Street in Church Hill

January 19 at 12:00 on the CHT main stage

The characters in A Flea in Her Ear are:

Raymonde Chandebise: (Female: late 20’s – late 30’s)
Victor Chandebise’s  suspicious wife who plots to catch her husband being unfaithful to her.
Victor Chandebise / Poche: (Male: mid 30’s – mid 40’s)
As Victor: Raymonde’s faithful, sometimes meek husband/ As Poche: An alcoholic porter at the Frisky Puss Hotel who is often confused for Victor.
Tournel: (Male: early to late 30’s)
A handsome and confident ladies-man who has his eyes set on Raymonde.
Lucienne: (Female: late 20’s to late 30’s)
Raymonde’s witty friend who aids the plot by writing a seductive letter to Victor.
Don Carlos Homenides de Histangua: (Male: mid 30’s to mid-40’s) You’ll want to play this guy just because of his name! Lucienne’s hot-blooded husband. Thrown into a fierce rage when he sees her letter.
Camille: (Male: late 20’s to mid-30’s)
Antoinette’s lover. Has a cleft palette and speaks without pronouncing any consonants throughout most of the show.
Antoinette: (Female: mid 20’s to mid-30’s)
The maid of the house. Married to Etienne, but having an affair with Camille
Etienne: (mid 30’s to mid-40’s)
The Chandebise’s valet. Thinks he controls his wife, but… is oblivious to her affair.

Dr.  Finache: (Male: late 40’s to early 60’s)
The family doctor who is a frequent patron of the Frisky Puss Hotel.
Ferraillon: (Male: early 40’s to early 50’s)
Owner of the Frisky Puss Hotel. An army colonel, he runs the inn like his troupe.
Olympia: (Female: late 40’s to late 50’s)
Ferraillon’s wife. A beauty queen in her youth who won’t let go of the past.
Eugenie: (Female: early 20’s to early 30’s)
A somewhat dimwitted and flirtatious chamber maid at the Frisky Puss Hotel.
Baptiste: (Female: early 50’s to mid-70’s)
Ferraillon’s elderly uncle. Used as the hotel’s “distraction” when lovers are caught.
Rugby: (Male: late 20’s to mid-40’s)
A drunken Englishman who is stood up at the hotel. Will take any woman he can get.

Contact the Church Hill Theatre at 410-556-6003 or execmanager@churchhilltheatre.org with any questions about the play, the roles, or the audition schedule.

On Friday, January 18 at 7:30 pm, the Christ Church Concert Series will present Duke University organist Christopher Jacobson in what will be his Easton debut.  The accomplished organist was previously the Associate Organist and Choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina where he assisted in directing and training the cathedral choirs and played for weekly Eucharist and Evensong liturgies. Mr. Jacobson also served on the faculty as instructor of organ at the University of South Carolina’s School of Music. Prior to his appointment at Trinity Cathedral he was Assistant Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Washington National Cathedral. As a soloist Mr. Jacobson has presented organ recitals across North America, Europe, and Australia. He has won prizes in numerous organ competitions including the National Young Artist Competition (NYACOP), the Miami International Organ Competition, and first prize in the American Guild of Organists/Quimby Region VI Competition for Young Organists and the John R. Rodland Competition in church music. As an accompanist he has accompanied choirs in residencies and tours to Saint Thomas Church, New York City, Wells Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, Durham Cathedral in England, the American Cathedral in Paris, and the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Italy. He has also served as accompanist for many Royal School of Church Music summer courses across the country. An active continuo artist, Mr. Jacobson appears regularly with the early music ensemble, Three Notch’d Road and the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra. Mr. Jacobson holds the Master of Music degree in Organ Performance and the Sacred Music Diploma from the Eastman School of Music as well as the Associate diploma from the American Guild of Organists. At Eastman he studied organ with David Higgs, and improvisation and continuo with William Porter. Mr. Jacobson received the Bachelor of Music degree with distinction in Organ Performance from St. Olaf College where he studied with John Ferguson and Catherine Rodland. He is a graduate of Woodberry Forest where he began his organ study with French organist Yvaine Duisit, and the American Boychoir School as a treble chorister under James Litton.

Friday’s concert will present a feast for all organ and sacred music lovers.  Featuring the Bach Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 532, Rhapsody, Opus 17 by Herbert Howells as well as works by Marcel Dupré, William Bolcom, George Shearing, and Louis Vierne, the concert promises to be a highlight of the weekend!  Coupled with the vibrant acoustic of Easton’s Christ Church and the many facets of the four-manual Rodgers Infinity, this is a concert you won’t want to miss.  The concert is open to the public and is sponsored in part by the Talbot County and Maryland State Arts Councils.  Doors open at 7 pm.

Christ Church is located at 111 S. Harrison Street in downtown Easton.  For information, call 410-822-2677.

MSO President Jeffrey Parker (left) with Raymond Vergne.

The Mid-Atlantic Symphony recently celebrated its holiday concerts with supporters at Scossa Restaurant in Easton, MD. Members of the Orchestra serenaded guests who enjoyed light hors d’oeuvres. The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council, the Talbot County Arts Council, the Worcester County Arts Council, Sussex County, Delaware and the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, Inc. Tickets for the spring concerts, March 7, 9 and 10,  featuring Andrews Sill as Guest Conductor, are available online at midatlanticsymphony.org or by telephone (888) 846-8600.  For further information, visit midatlanticsymphony.org.

A New Year, a new novel? A new poem? A new routine? Whatever you have promised yourself to do this year, the first thing you need to do is come to the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference Saturday, March 9, 2019 at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, Md.  

This year’s conference committee has worked hard to invite speakers that can help you improve everything about your writing and then discuss how to get it published, start a blog, and position your work for the intended audience you are seeking to reach.The top-notch speakers include award-winning poets Nancy Mitchell and Chris Salerno along with acclaimed novelists John Dedakis, Robert Bidinotto and Austin Camacho.

Do not wait to register. January is the month to make that move–go online to www.easternshorewriters.org, click on the conference and register. BTO takes pride in providing a helpful and inspiring atmosphere in the literary conference world while attending to individual needs of writers at all levels. If you are a student, there are special student prices for anyone with a student ID.

On the website, click on each session track to check out who is speaking and what the sessions are all about.  Track topics include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, publishing, children’s books and more—with a variety of unique workshops and tutorials in each track.

The conference is brought to you by the Eastern Shore Writers Association, whose mission is to serve writers on the Eastern Shore and areas nearby.