If you were part of the magical experience of Stage Fright last year at the Avalon Theater, then you already know how much fun the Halloween special was. During the production, eye-masked (to differentiate them from the performers) audience members wandered through the minimally illuminated areas of the Avalon. Instead of sitting and watching from a distance, they became active participants in the world created by the play. Written by Casey Rauch and directed by Cecile (Cece)Storm, the drama was ingenious, atmospheric, and different from anything previously seen around the area.  

It also was an experiment. Would the Eastern Shore embrace immersive theater where the audience becomes part of the drama? 

The reaction was a resounding yes. So much so that the Avalon asked for a repeat performance, and that’s when Rauch and Storm decided to up the ante. Rauch had initially written a fictionalized feature-length screenplay based on his real-life experience with the ghost of the Avalon–Marguerite. The script had three distinct subplots–more material than could be fit into a 90-minute stage play. A decision was made to use one storyline set at the ‘Avalon Hotel’ in 1927. As they thought about this year, instead of doing the same production again, why not do the second storyline with the final installment next October? And that’s how Stage Fright 1964 was born—a standalone story and yet a sequel with elements from the first production. 

The Spy was invited to watch some of the production, and we can honestly say we can’t wait to see more. Set again at the ‘Avalon Hotel,’ this time, the site of a gala being held for presidential campaign candidate, Lyndon B. Johnson. Just as the camera crew is about to broadcast live, a series of unfortunate events begin to occur… (That’s about all we want to say so as not to take away from the experience you will have becoming part of the developing story).

What will happen is that for 90 minutes, scenes will unfold concurrently in multiple locations. No matter which scenes you witness or in what order, you’ll reunite with the entire audience for a spectacular finale. Storm’s advice–embrace the unexpected and have your own adventure, letting the magic of this production envelop you. It’s all so much fun. 

And it is as much fun for the crew and performers as well. Mary Ann Emerson is used to acting, but she’s having a blast being the Props Mistress for this production. “I love to geek out on the details of the exact period that we’re in. Last time, it was the 20s. This time, it’s 1964. So finding all those elements where the audience could open a drawer and inside the drawer are the exact right things from that era is so exciting. I love it.”

Emerson is just one of over 50 members of this Stage Fright. Which just goes to show how much this production has grown. “Last year,” said Storm, “we had three people show up for auditions. This year exceeded expectations; the turnout was amazing, and casting was a nightmare because of all the talent. I had Casey write three new characters to accommodate how many people showed up. It all worked out because something that I really wanted for this year was more extras in character to make the experience more immersive.”

Katie Bernstein Cox is not an extra and no stranger to the theater world on the Eastern Shore. “I’ve done theater my whole life. I have a degree in it. Being with this group is like working with like-minded creative people who are all invested in quality products. Everybody wants to put in the work to make it happen. It feels like I truly found my group, my people.”

As one of the singers, Cox is excited to bring her talent to the stage again. Similar to last year, audiences can look forward to the incredible music, which is such an essential part of the production. The first Stage Fright included songs that covered the rock band Radiohead but were done in the style of 1920s gypsy jazz. It was mesmerizing and memorable, guiding the mood of the play—this year is no different. “We’re covering Nirvana in the style of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound and a new Nashville country kind of band (think Patsy Cline), that kind of vibe,” said Storm. It’s worth mentioning that 90% of the music will be performed live during the show.

By now, it should be evident that the magic begins and ends with the creative partnership of Storm and Rauch. Nicknamed Rodgers and Hammerstein by some of the cast members, the duo’s vision and artistic synergy is the driving force behind the production’s success.

“I don’t think anybody really knew what to expect last year,” said Rauch. “And that included Cece and myself. People who came out the first time were pleasantly surprised to see the level of detail we put into the show. Then there was the music. I heard over and over again that people were just in love with the music. All the different elements of the show were well received by everybody.”

Interestingly enough, Rauch’s day job is as an engineer. Writing allows him to express a different side of his creativity. He’s also an actor. “I like acting,” he said, but I love writing. I don’t like directing people. The last thing I want to do is be the boss.”

But that is where Storm excels. In addition to co-owning the ice cream shop Storm and Daughters next to the Avalon, Storm brings extensive theater knowledge and experience to this production. Beyond her background in acting and directing, she holds a degree in Contemporary Theatre and Film and has worked in immersive theater before; Storm is well-equipped to handle the unique creative demands of this show.

Expect surprises and guest appearances, including one by LBJ. Whether you were part of the Stage Fright spectacle last year or are jumping in for the first time, don’t miss this haunting performance.

——-

This production is a limited run of eight performances. Wednesday 10/25-Saturday 10/28, at 6:30 and 9:30 pm. Tickets are limited. Audiences are encouraged to come in Halloween costumes and comfortable footwear. The run time is 90 minutes with no intermission. For tickets and information, go to: https://avalonfoundation.org/event/stage-fright-1964

There is also a 2-hour Director’s Cut Special Performance on Sunday at 7:00. Ticket price includes hors d’oeuvres by Piazza, cocktails by Lyon Rum, and beer by Other Half Brewing.
A full Cash Bar will be available. For ticket and information, go to: https://www.avalonfoundation.org/event/stage-fright-1964-directors-cut

NOTE:  Content Warnings–This experience is based on the ghost stories of the Avalon and deals with themes of civil rights, racism, murder, and revenge, which some may find triggering. There will be dark spaces, loud noises, strobe, and haze, as well as dark areas and spaces that are small and confined. The choice of where to go and what to see is yours. If you feel uncomfortable, you can move to a new area. Talk to one of our stewards or take a breather in the Stoltz Listening Room. The bar can be noisy, so if you need a quiet space, please let a staff member know. For more details, email [email protected]

Tred Avon Players presents THE FANTASTICKS, a charming and romantic musical about a boy, a girl and their two mothers who try to keep them apart. Music by Harvey Schmidt ( book and lyrics by Tom Jones and directed by David Cherry, this classic musical runs October 26-November 5 at the Oxford Community Center.

The longest-running musical in the world, THE FANTASTICKS is a timeless fable of love that manages to be nostalgic and universal at the same time. It’s a moving tale of young lovers who become disillusioned, only to discover a more mature, meaningful love. Their story is punctuated by a bountiful of catchy, memorable songs, many of which have become classics.

“Songs like Try to Remember are classics most everyone will recognize,” says Director David Cherry. “Don’t be surprised if you hum them on your way home from the show.”

You won’t want to miss an outstanding performance by a talented cast of vocalists and actors: Ed Langrell (El Gallo), Lucy Pearce (Luisa), Connor Christopher (Matt), Maureen Curtin (Bellomy), Jane Copple (Hucklebee), Herb Ziegler (Henry), Bill Gross (Mortimer) and Jaclyn Royer (the Mute).

The Spy asked David Cherry and Jane Copple to stop by the Spy Studio last week to learn more.

THE FANTASTICKS opens on Thursday, October 26 and runs for seven performances through Sunday, November 5. Thrifty Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoons are at 2:00 p.m. at the Oxford Community Center, 200 Oxford Rd in Oxford. Tickets are adults $25 / students $15 (no fee added.) Thrifty Thursday (October 26) and Sunday matinees sell out quickly! Purchase your tickets at www.tredavonplayers.org.

Flash fiction lives between poetry and its expansive mother, long-form narrative fiction. In its infancy, this abbreviated form was limited to 1,000-1,500 words, but as, in all things art, experimental subsets spread like phragmites along the Chester River. There’s “micro fiction” at 100 words and “sudden fiction” at 750 words, all challenging the writer the writer to come though in on a micro-scale.

In other words, it’s brief, and for it to work, an author must condense meaning and feeling in a quick narrative that often implies a larger story but is complete as it stands.

On Wednesday, October 18 at 6 pm. Galena author—and local flower farmer— Lisa Lyn Biggar will read from her novella-in-flash as part of the Bookplate/Kitchen author event series.

Her recently published book, Unpasteurized, is an intergenerational story about her family farm in Pennsylvania and reads as a series of short flash events with Biggar’s grandmother as the connective narrative tissue.

Writer Dan Crawley, author of Straight Down the Road, The Wind it Swirls praised Biggar’s flash novella as “breath(ing) new life into this form, deftly creating one unforgettable flash fiction after another, revealing the vivid intergenerational characters of a family, with their fierce love, bittersweet regrets, and a young narrator who longs for another path on life’s journey.”

In an interview in Little Patuxent Review, where she is also the Fiction Editor, she said, “I just knew I had to record the stories she had been telling me for so long. I needed permanent documentation of them, and I also knew I had to capture her voice, which was the voice of a true storyteller filled with joy and sadness and all those places of contemplation in between. She took the recordings so seriously. She knew that I would be writing her story one day.”

The Spy recently interviewed Biggar via Zoom and talked about flash fiction, how she developed her book, and how the form has given insight into writing her longer novel.

This video is approximately seven minutes in length. For more about Lisa Lynn Biggar, go here.

Two new sculptures from the Peter and Hanna Woicke Sculpture Collection brighten the Chestertown landscape with whimsy, charm, and those moments American poet Robinson Jeffers described as a “joy is a whim in the air.”

The two new installations by North Carolina artist Adam Walls, “Ball and Red Arches” and “Taking the Hill” are found on the southwest corner of Cross Street and along the Wayne Gilchrest Trail, respectively and are part of the 24 sculptures to be placed throughout the community by the Chestertown Public Arts Committee.

Walls, a professor of art at UNC Pembroke says he is drawn to creating sculptures that express the joys found in children’s toys and likes to create structures that convey “play” while including messages of encouragement and the kind observations about life depicted in the “following the leader” motif in “Taking the Hill.”

Discovering that he had a natural talent for drawing at an early age, Walls sought a creative challenge he could not find in painting or ceramics. Large, colorful steel fabrications fulfilled that artistic need, and his work continues today to be discovered brightening many landscapes and galleries.

Never losing his sense of whimsy, the artist says his greatest payoff is to see people physically engage with his work.

Walls also says that after visiting Chestertown, he considers the community’s commitment to public arts as having the potential to become a showcase for the arts on the national stage.

This video is approximately eight minutes in length. To find out more about Adam Wall, go here.

Background video and still provided by Dave Hegland. Lead photo by Hester Sachse

In 2019, CJ Hauser’s Paris Review essay about calling off their wedding went about as viral as a literary essay can possibly go. Though Hauser had been primarily a fiction writer, the essay’s success resulted in a nonfiction book deal, and, happily, we now have the brilliant memoir-in-essays The Crane Wife.

I love and admire this collection. In many of the essays, Hauser deconstructs a familiar pop-culture text—Katherine Hepburn’s iconic film The Philadelphia Story, a William Carlos Williams poem, The Wizard of Oz—re-examining the myths about desire it offers. Frank and funny, the book is about love, and also, as New York Times columnist Jennifer Senior writes, “about the power of stories: The ones we are told versus the ones we tell ourselves; how they shape and misshape our expectations; how those stories can both affirm our instincts and estrange us from our deepest yearnings, sometimes at the same time.” 

CJ and I will be discussing The Crane Wife—which was a Guardian “Best Book of the Year” and a Lambda Literary Award finalist—at the Academy Art Museum on October 13. Register via AAM’s website to save your seat! 

What I’m Reading: 

Stay True by Hua Hsu. Hsu, a loner at UC Berkeley, becomes unlikely friends with Ken, a gregarious frat boy who is also Asian American, and who is senselessly killed in a carjacking. Two decades later, the New Yorker staff writer reflects on the ways Ken’s friendship and death shaped Hsu’s own identity. This exquisite memoir was in my TBR pile for almost a year before I finally got to it. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long. 

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Jackson wanted this to be “the kind of novel you really can’t read alone in a dark house at night.” While I’m usually a big baby when it comes to scary stories, I was intrigued by CJ Hauser’s essay about the book. When A Public Space announced it as their October APS Together read, I signed up—and am praying I don’t get nightmares.

Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. My audiobook rec for the month is this 2017 best-seller, which recaps the horrifying murders of dozens of oil-rich Osage and the FBI’s hunt for their killer in 1920s Oklahoma. Grann’s book, which was a National Book Award finalist, and the much-hyped Martin Scorsese film adaptation coming out later this month have both been endorsed by the Osage community. 

 What Else I’m Looking Forward to on the Shore:

Film: “The Aunties” @ Mt. Pleasant Acres Farms, Preston

3:00-8:00 Saturday, October 14

Donation Based

The finale of the day-long We Will Be Elders Soulfest will be a screening of this short film documenting the preservation work and activism of farm owners Paulette Greene and Donna Dear. 

Art Talk: Amy Boon McCreesh @ Academy Art Museum, Easton

11:00 Saturday October 21

Free

McCreesh will discuss her current exhibition, Visual Currency, which critiques luxury through exuberant mixed-media work.

Opera: Dead Man Walking @ Avalon Theater, Easton

1:00 Saturday October 21

$25 general, $23 senior, $17 student

Based on the memoir by Sister Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking has become the most widely performed opera of the past several decades. The Met’s first-ever staging will be live-streamed at the Avalon as part of the “Live in HD” series.

Theater: Stage Fright II: 1964 @ Avalon Theater, Easton

Thursday October 26-Sunday October 28

$40 / $135 for the 10/28 “Director’s Cut” performance

Marguerite has been haunting the Avalon Theater since 1927, when she tragically fell down the elevator shaft. How does her story end? Featuring the music of Jenny & The Teen Spirit, this mid-century sequel picks up where we were left hanging last Halloween. 

Shore Lit aims to enhance cultural offerings on the Eastern Shore with free community author events. This newsletter is written by Shore Lit Founder and Director Kerry Folan. If you see her walking her greyhound Pilot around town, stop and tell her what you’re reading!

Composer Jessie Montgomery

The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra opened its 2023-24 season with something old and something entirely new, led by its Grammy-winning music director, Michael Repper.

The first selection of Thursday night’s program signals that the new season will feature, along with classical masterpieces by long-dead composers, music by our contemporaries, and works by women and men of color, living or dead. First up was Jessie Montgomery, an African-American woman born in New York City in 1981, which makes her at least 23 years shy of Medicare eligibility. Her “New York Strum” debuted in 2006 as a string quartet piece and, over the next six years, evolved into a full orchestral “voice,” as Montgomery calls it, giving “Strum” a more expansive sound.

Montgomery was among the black female composers whose works comprised the recording that won the New York Youth Orchestra and Repper their 2022 Grammy. In introducing the piece, Repper stated what would become apparent – why it was called “Strum.” The first notes and a great many that followed were plucked on strings, starting with first cellist Katie McCarthy as violin and viola pizzicato joined in to create a percussive throughline. A thoroughly modern piece emerged, without atonal digressions, to mimic a NYC vibe, much as Gershwin did for another city in “American in Paris” nearly a century ago (1928). Bouncy changes of pace introduced with gliding bows led to a rapid-fire coda featuring a sonorous bass undertone by Chris Chlumsky and T. Alan Stewart.

Moving back a couple of centuries, Tchaikovsky created some of the most recognizable and romantic melodies in all of classical music. Some of his most beloved pieces were ballets – “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker.” But most of his work was written for full symphony orchestration. “Serenade for Strings,” second on the opening night program, is a Tchaikovsky rarity – strings-only. While it is not a greatest-hits medley for strings, its melodies are so accessible and memorable – ranging from melancholy to a folk romp – they may leave you humming them at intermission, even if you’re unfamiliar with the entire “Serenade.”

The highly romantic sonata opening features dramatic flourishes typical of Tchaikovsky that blend seamlessly into the busy second movement with violins in charge of the balletic cadence challenged by cello and bass counterpoint. The third movement sets a lighter dance mood with a flowing waltz refrain heard in other contexts, such as cinematic soundtracks. The finale begins with what could be a requiem before settling into a pastoral disposition that morphs into a reawakening embroidered with spirited repeats of earlier themes.The finale, post-intermission, takes us back still one more century to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. For all its ingenuity, his Fourth is dwarfed in significance and widespread recognition by the bookends of his Third (“Eroica”), which revolutionized classical music of the 18th Century, and his Fifth, featuring the most famous phrase in musical history (“da-da-da DUM”). The Fourth wanders at times, seemingly aimlessly, to an uplifting allegro. In context, the celebratory finish seems ironic in that Beethoven is said to have endured serial rejections by women he desired and was worried, to the point of suicidal thoughts, about the onset of deafness. Without the light-hearted Fourth, maybe there would be no Fifth. 

The ominous opening, with soft strings and echoing brass and reeds, breaks into a gallop and the declarative bombast we expect of a Beethoven symphony, executed here with conviction. The lighter second movement gives us and the musicians a breather with melodic changes in tempo and temperament. The third movement introduces one of the more relatable passages dominated by the higher strings led by concertmaster Kimberly McCollum and first violist Yuri Tomenko. The finale is a high-energy race to a happy ending that brought the appreciative opening night audience to its feet.

Which brings me back to the actual first notes of the concert, which are not listed on the program: “The Star-Spangled Banner,” played, of course, with lyrics unsung, had me keeping pace up to the moment where at any sporting event, I shout out “O” at the “O say can you see” line. Professional decorum persuaded me to reduce my shout to a whisper. But in acknowledgment of my urge and perhaps that of others, Repper pointed out that the national anthem had just been played (and sung) at Camden Yards in Baltimore about an hour earlier as the Orioles went on to clinch the American League East division title on their way, hopefully, to the first World Series ever at Oriole Park since its debut in 1992. Go O’s! And the MSO, too.

Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra Season Opener

Thursday night at Church of God in Easton. Also, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, Cape Henlopen High School, Lewes, Delaware, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 1, Community Church, Ocean Pines

midatlanticsymphony.org

Steve Parks is a retired New York arts critic (and Oriole fan) now living in Easton. 

Barely a month ago, James William Buffett departed the beach party for good. But “Margaritaville” parties again just a short drive from Maryland’s beach capital, Ocean City. “Parrotbeach: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett” throws a one-night-only dinner party and concert on Saturday evening, Oct. 14, at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center in Salisbury. The Parrotbeach tribute band, with Remy St. Martin as Buffett fandom’s leading man, plays his greatest hits, from “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” to “Come Monday,” culminating, of course, with “Margaritaville.” Dinner starts an hour before the 7:30 show with a salad menu, key lime slaw, margarita chicken, Caribbean pork loin, Jamaican rice, and mac-cheese. Adult beverages – featuring margarita concoctions for sure – are available on your tab. Tickets are on sale until 4 p.m. Oct. 10.
wicomicociviccenter.org

Meanwhile, two more tribute events are coming up at the Avalon Theatre in Easton. “Forever Tina” features Suzette Dorsey in the title role of a theatrical show with 12 cast-and-crew members that has toured three continents to keep the music of Tina Turner alive. “Forever Tina” comes to the Avalon for one performance on Oct. 6. 

A week later, on Oct. 13, The Weight Band takes the same stage for the evening. Led by Jim Weider, a longtime member of The Band and the late Levon Helm’s spinoff band, The Weight takes its name from one of The Band’s greatest hits, written by Robbie Robertson, who died in August. Also on the show’s playlist is “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and a new song by The Weight Band.
avalonfoundation.org

***
The national tour of the Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” starring Katerina McCrimmon of the New York City Center’s Encore production of “Light in the Piazza” in the title role of Fanny Brice with Melissa Manchester as her mom and Stephen Mark Lukas as Fanny’s gambler boyfriend and later her jailbird husband. The musical runs for eight performances Oct. 24-29 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center downtown.
france-merrickpac.com

***
Whether or not you’re worried about the writers and actors strike putting new releases of movies in deep freeze, or even if you haven’t been to a movie theater since the COVID shutdown, the Chesapeake Film Festival has you covered every which way. Starting with a preview reception at the Academy Art Museum on Saturday, Sept. 30, the live festival presents 31 films – documentaries and features along with topical shorts – on opening night and Sunday, Oct. 1, at the Avalon Theatre and the Ebenezer Theatre in Easton. Among the live film presentations are the Maryland premiere of “Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection” and “The Life and Legend of Jane Goodall,” who devoted her life’s work to studying chimpanzees.

The virtual festival continues Oct. 2-8 with 37 films you can stream at home. Among them are “Delmarva and the Ground for Change,” about family-owned farms and the effect of climate change on local agriculture.  A documentary short on a similar theme, “Dear President Biden,” asks the question, “How’s he doing?” regarding his promise as a candidate to do everything he can to address the “existential threat” of climate change on water, land, and air.
chesapeakefilmfestival.com  

 ***
The Phillips Collection, which opened on Washington, D.C.’s DuPont Circle in 1921 – eight years before Manhattan’s Modern Museum of Art – bills itself with apparent justification as “America’s First Museum of Modern Art.” 

A century later, the Phillips, now at 1600 21st St. NW, opens a special exhibition examining the emergence of modern African and African-American artists in the post-World War II era. “African Modernism in America, 1947-67” runs Oct. 7-Jan. 7, 2024, featuring works by 50 artists from Africa and the United States – among them Jacob Lawrence, David Driskell, and Ibrahim El-Salahi. The exhibition draws on transcontinental connections between artists and curators to challenge racial assumptions about African artworks. Along with pieces from the postwar period, the show also includes “The Politics of Selection,” a 2022 commissioned work by Ndidi Dike addressing the absence of women artists in recognizing African modernity.
phillipscollection.org

***
The 26th annual craft show of the Academy Art Museum, one of its most popular events, brings 70 artists from all over the United States to Easton for a preview event Oct. 27 and a two-day show and sale – from jewelry to woodworks, fabrics to glass-blowing – Oct. 28 and 29.
academyartmuseum.org

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

In 1985, a dedicated group of chamber music lovers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore was approached by the late Ralph Bloom to establish what was initially called the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival. Assisted that year by clarinetist J. Lawrie Bloom and later by cellist Marcie Rosen, Artistic Directors, Donald Buxton of Royal Oak became the organization’s founding Executive Director. The festival continued to blossom over the next 38 years under their leadership. In August, Buxton retired from Chesapeake Music, the Festival’s parent organization, leaving a musical legacy he hadn’t dreamed could happen.

Buxton, a Juilliard graduate, first helped found the Talbot Chamber Orchestra, which did concerts at the Talbot County Historical Society Auditorium. He served as Associate Conductor of the orchestra and he and his wife Merideth played with the orchestra. Over the years, he was also conductor of the Dover Symphony and along with others founded the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and served as its conductor.

“The personal journey to make the arts important in Talbot County was a journey of love and necessity. When Meredith and I moved here in 1982, there was not a lot happening in the arts. I felt there needed to be a robust arts community in Easton and the surrounding area. Building that legacy has been one of the greatest joys of my life,” stated Buxton.

Over the years, the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival grew into a two-week event in early June, including concerts, recitals, and open rehearsals in venues ranging from concert halls to churches, museums, and waterfront estates across the Mid-Shore. The organization was one of the first organizations to do concerts in the renovated Avalon space and Buxton helped Ellen General become the Avalon’s first executive director while also serving on its board.

In 2002, the organization expanded its operation to include the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition, a competition for young emerging chamber music ensembles. In 2004, the first biennial Competition became international in scope, drawing from international conservatories. Concerts between the annual Festivals joined the programming mix in 2004. In 2006, the organization was approached by musician Merideth Buxton, Don’s wife, who made a presentation about an outreach program that became the First Strings Program. The program helped elementary school students in third or fourth grade to improve listening, gain self-confidence in performing, use teamwork to exhibit cooperation and self-control, and have fun while learning the skills needed to play the violin. In 2006, Chesapeake Music’s YouthReach program was developed as a response to an ongoing nationwide decline of funding and lack of prioritization for music education, bringing musicians into the schools for live and virtual work with students.

In July 2008, Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival became Chesapeake Chamber Music, Inc., to better reflect the organization’s geographic location and scope near the Chesapeake Bay. In 2009, Chesapeake Chamber Music offered a single concert featuring the renowned jazz pianist Monty Alexander, creating the Monty Alexander Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend. Chesapeake Music soon added its Interlude concerts which feature chamber music stars of the next generation and jazz greats. The organization’s move in 2021 to the Ebenezer Theater enabled Chesapeake Music to acquire its own 9-foot Steinway Concert Grand piano something the festival musicians wanted for many years. At the Ebenezer Theater, Chesapeake Music now had an opportunity for year-round programming.

Running such an ambitious music program over the years with only a part-time staff has had its challenges. According to Buxton, “It took a village to run an organization this large – in particular a volunteer cadre of 150 people. In addition, I relied on a dedicated board of 19 members with diverse professional backgrounds, who brought energy, talent, and treasure to the organization.”

Don added, “Chesapeake Chamber Music is a much broader organization today because it has continued to grow and evolve strategically while bringing renowned musicians to delight, engage, and surprise today’s audiences and educate, inspire, and develop tomorrow’s.”

Barry Koh, President of Chesapeake Music, reflected on Don’s impact and said, “Chesapeake Music will continue to grow in its offerings of fine music and musicians thanks in large measure to Don having built a robust arts appreciation in our mid-shore community.”