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June 16, 2025

Talbot Spy

Nonpartisan Education-based News for Talbot County Community

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Shore Arts: MSO Winner of Elizabeth Loker Competition to Perform

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At 22, Joseph McNure was already a winner in the realm of music performance before he captured the top prize of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Elizabeth Loker Concerto Competition in January. In 2019, he won both the Penn State University woodwinds and the University of Maryland concerto finals, the latter against 50 fellow College Park students.

Paul Creston

But McNure is a rookie in another regard. Thursday, March 5, in Easton, marks his debut as soloist with a professional symphony orchestra, playing the same piece, Paul Creston’s Concerto for Alto Sax, that won him first place at College Park. He’ll follow that with two more performances—one at Ocean View, Delaware, Saturday, March 7, and at Ocean Pines Sunday, March 8. The concerts, along with a $2,000 check, were his prize for winning with flawless virtuosity at the Avalon Theatre.

“It’s a rite of passage for a musician playing his first time with a full symphony orchestra,” McNure says. “You have to prepare differently than you do with just a piano accompanist,” as he did in competition. “With an orchestra, there are so many more musicians to keep in time with.” He’ll have a couple of rehearsals with the MSO musicians under the direction of Maestro Julien Benichou before his “rite of passage.”

McNure chose the Creston concerto because “it’s challenging in a couple of different ways. There are fast sections that switch gears a lot. It’s so dynamic. The second movement is beautiful and heartfelt, while the other two provide more showmanship. You get to show the judges quite a range.”

A native of the Virginia Beach area, McNure graduated with a music education major from James Madison University in the Shenandoah region. At College Park, studying for a master’s in music performance, he credits professor Tim Powell, a fellow saxophonist and interim director of jazz, with helping him prepare.

McNure started on piano at age eight and took up saxophone in middle school. “I’m interested in a military band career someday,” he says. But he also wants to teach. “Music is more of a craft than a job,” McNure says. “I feel a responsibility to teach the next generation.”

This from a 22-year-old.

“I’m really proud to have won this competition supporting live, orchestral music,” he adds.

To help promote the event, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and the Dunes Manor Hotel in Ocean City are offering a “cultural music package”—oceanfront accommodations and tickets for two at either of the Ocean City area venues for $150. Total. As a bonus, music director Benichou will be at the same resort hotel for a morning-after coffee chat on the veranda or in the lobby lounge, depending on the weather.

“With so many snowbirds, we thought this would be a good way to entice some of them to return a little early,” says MSO general manager Dane Krich. After all, most of the celebrity groundhogs on the East Coast, including Punxsutawney Phil, predicted an early spring this year.

Aside from the performance by competition-juggernaut saxophonist McNure, the orchestra will perform Charles Ives’ “The Unanswered Question” and Mozart’s rarely performed (for a Mozart piece) Symphony 33.

There will be a second annual Loker Concerto Competition, Krich says.

Of the competition namesake, who had a distinguished career before falling in love with the Easton-based regional orchestra, Benichou says: “Beth Loker was a most personable, dedicated, and knowledgeable music lover. She came to every concert . . . and always seemed to hear everything during the performance. After her time as the first female vice president of the Washington Post, former publisher Donald E. Graham described her as ‘brilliant, farseeing and gutsy,’ a person who ‘shaped the Washington Post of the last 40 years as much as anyone.’

The same is true of her work at the Mid-Atlantic Symphony. Through her gift to the orchestra and her membership on the board of directors, she provided support and vision, and gave the orchestra a direction for years to come.” Elizabeth Loker died of cancer at her home in Royal Oak in 2015. She was 67.

Inaugural MSO Competition Concert

Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m.: Easton Church of God, 1009 N. Washington St., Easton, Md
Saturday, March 7 at 3 p.m.: Church of Christ, 55 West Ave., Ocean View, Delaware
Sunday, March 8 at 3 p.m.: Community Church, Route 589 and Racetrack Road, Ocean Pines, Maryland

Concert Only Tickets: $45/each
Cultural Music Package: $150/for two, includes room at Dunes Hotel, Ocean City
Or call: 888-846-8600.

Steve Parks is a retired journalist, arts writer, editor, and critic now living in Easton.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Avalon Theater Presents Art Garfunkel

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Art Garfunkel makes his Easton debut in the 400-seat Avalon Theater not only on the most significant romantic night of the year—expect him to sing “I Only Have Eyes for You” during his Valentine’s Day gig Friday night—but he also plays the next two nights.

“Art specifically wanted to play smaller rooms for multiple days to reduce the travel grind,” says Al Bond, president of the Avalon Foundation, referring to Garfunkel’s current autumn-through-spring tour. “Otherwise, his brand is too big for the Avalon.” Translation: We couldn’t afford him for one night only.

“We’re thrilled to present Mr. Garfunkel, and we’re so looking forward to next weekend,” says Suzy Moore, Avalon’s artistic director. “The town should be bustling with the three Art shows and the inaugural Fire & Ice Festival.” Fire & Ice brings three days of ice sculptures, outdoor ice-skating, and other winter-themed happenings, along with music and “Stews & Brews” starting on Valentine’s Day, when Garfunkel arrives in town.

So, if you don’t yet have Artie tickets—it’s a sellout—you can celebrate anyway.

Garfunkel also played three nights last weekend at Wolftrap in Vienna, Va. at its indoor venue, The Barns, also with about 400 seats. There was a time, of course, when Simon and Garfunkel, the highest-profile folk-rock duo possibly of all time, could easily sell out the much larger outdoor Wolftrap venue, including overflow lawn seating, or draw an estimated million fans for a free Central Park concert. I once reviewed Simon and Garfunkel for the Baltimore Sun at Laurel Race Course, an outdoor concert with a video projection resembling a drive-in movie screen.

After years of squabbling following their breakup, Garfunkel has long enjoyed concert rights to perform the songs—all written by Simon—that made both of them famous. So, you’re almost homeward bound, excuse the pun, to hear his solo versions of “Sounds of Silence,” “Scarborough Fair,” and “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Not sure about my personal favorite, “The Boxer.”

There are also a dozen solo albums of cover songs—including Great American standards-plus others written or co-written by Garfunkel, which will expand your expectations about one of the greatest vocal collaborators of 20th-century chart-topping music.

Among some of the songs, you may not recognize may be “Bright Eyes,” a solo hit in Europe that somehow went mostly unnoticed in the States. Also, “Everything Waits to Be Noticed,” Garfunkel’s title song of his 2002 album. More familiar are his “(What a) Wonderful World” and “Someone to Watch Over Me” (George and Ira Gershwin).

Garfunkel also weaves an enigmatic tapestry of stories from the life of a celebrity. Besides being a world-class troubadour, he also once enjoyed a promising acting career in the 1970s, with roles in “Carnal Knowledge” and “Catch 22. I say “enigmatic” based on the title of his 2017 memoir, “Life Is All but Luminous: Notes from an Underground Man.” Inspired by Balzac and a subtitle borrowed from Dostoyevsky, Garfunkel says of Balzac, “He’s a forgotten man. You don’t hear his name at all nowadays. Honoré de Balzac. When you see pictures of him, he was so ruddy and alive. You just know he was a steak eater and a drinker. He’s got such a furious amount of energy.”

Apparently so does Garfunkel, who muses about his walking trips across Europe and America in relatively short hikes at a time.

At a recent concert in Los Angeles, he joked (we presume), “There’s a lot of mortality in this show.”

Of his current tour, which takes him to Florida after Easton and an eight-day performance cruise out of Miami, he told nashvillescene.com: “I don’t look at it as a tour. I just look at it as ‘this is what I do.’ I go out on the road, and I do shows, usually on weekends. Are they tours? They’re mini-tours. This is my life: I sing, I have a booking agent, he finds me stages, and I go all over the world. . . I love it. It’s a great way to get away with singing, warbling [Garfunkel’s way of making fun of his now-less-than-crystalline voice]. Ah, to do that and get away with it, and that’s your living, and you do these famous songs—and they pay you! And you move on to the next town—I love this deal!”

On tour, Garfunkel is accompanied by Ted Laven on guitar, Paul Beard on keyboard and, occasionally, by his son, Arthur Jr., on harmonizing vocals.

ART GARFUNKEL at the Avalon.
Tickets: sold out; call 410-822-7299 for possible cancellations

Steve Parks is a retired journalist, arts writer, editor, and critic now living in Easton.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Spy Review: Avalon Theater Presents Ziggy Stardust

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David Bowie, the late British singer-songwriter and actor, drew on both his musical and theatrical skills to launch him into rock superstardom with the 1972 release of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and subsequent concert tour dates.

You can catch it live—although without Bowie, of course, as his androgynous alter ego, Ziggy—thanks to Classic Albums Live, which, as the name implies, performs classic albums note for note in order of appearance on the original vinyl LPs. The Toronto-based concert touring company, which last came to Easton’s Avalon Theater in November to play The Doors’ LA Woman, brings Ziggy Stardust to life on the main stage Saturday, Jan. 25.

A different group of musicians is assembled for each album to meet Classic Album Live’s commitment to achieving as close as possible the same sound, riff-for-riff, as the recording that first turned you into a fan of, say, The Beatles, the Stones, Led Zep or The Boss.

Bowie had his first major success on the pop/rock charts with “Space Oddity” in 1969. But it was Ziggy Stardust that rocketed him to the top in the “glam rock” era of the 1970s.

This is a concept album in that its songs comprise a loose storyline about the travails of Ziggy, a space alien. He’s come to Earth as a rock star to warn humanity to change habits that pose an existential threat to the planet as a habitable island in the universe. Sound familiar?

As Bowie himself described the concept, “The time is five years to go before the end of the Earth. It has been announced that the world will end because of a lack of natural resources.”Or maybe it’s just so hot that the seas will soon flood all the planet’s landmasses.

Whatever. Here’s Ziggy Stardust, in first-cut-to-last order as you’ll experience it at the Avalon Saturday night:

“Five Years,” the low-key percussion-driven opening number, seems to have been influenced by the Plastic Ono Band (Yoko Ono/John Lennon). Drummer Mick Woodmansey also figures prominently in the undertone of “Soul Love,” accented by Bowie’s unique vocal lyricism and Mick Ronson’s layered electric guitar riffs. “Moonage Daydream” suggests a deep space sonic invasion with Trevor Bolder’s steadily accelerating bass leading to a furious piano, backing vocals, and electric-guitar finish.

The album’s hit single, “Starman,” remains one of the greatest in Bowie’s career. As an acoustic ballad, it brings to mind his breakthrough single, “Space Oddity,” with eerie sound effects, orchestration, and deft Ronson riffs following each chorus. The song represents a turning point in Ziggy’s persona from a manipulative would-be savior to a delusional refugee from another world. Side one closes with, oddly enough for a concept album, a cover—”It Ain’t Easy” by the late American songwriter Ron Davies. It fits right in with the “Stardust” vibe accented by 12-string acoustics and a harpsichord.

“Lady Stardust” opens side two with a moody piano-driven ballad featuring bass virtuosity but almost no guitar. Next, “Star” could be a piano-led rocker from the ‘50s or early ‘60s, while “Hang on to Yourself,” a punkish interlude with glam accents starring Ronson on slide guitar, sets up the climactic final numbers.

The title song represents the beginning of the end with serial classic rock riffs by Ronson, plus Bowie’s vocals delivered in a way to distinguish each of the number’s two parts from each other. In the original recording, “Ziggy” segues into “Suffragette City,” which became the No. 2 hit from the album. It’s a tight rock highlighted by stellar performances by Bowie and Ronson, suggesting a Velvet Underground influence. After that electric romp, the album closes with the acoustic “Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide,” which finds Ziggy as a washed-up stage presence, before the song and album conclude with subtle electric guitar effects building slowly to full orchestration and a fittingly dramatic coda to a truly classic album.

Bowie, who died of cancer in 2016, went on to play another space role, this time on the big screen—”The Man Who Fell to Earth” in 1976, playing an alien from a dying planet. Twenty years later, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Next up in the Classic Albums Live series at the Avalon: the late Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes, Apr. 30.

CLASSIC ALBUMS LIVE: David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust
8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, Avalon Theatre, 40 E. Dover St., Easton
Tickets: $40, 410-822-7299

Steve Parks is a retired journalist, arts writer and editor now living in Easton.

 

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Talbot Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Shore Arts: MSO Selects Winner of Elizabeth Loker Competition

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The winner of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Elizabeth Loker Concerto Competition is Joseph McNure, a 22-year-old graduate student in music at the University of Maryland College Park, whose instrument of choice is the alto saxophone.

Joseph McNure

McNure was awarded $2,000 and a three-concert reprise in March of the winning performance of Paul Creston’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone, along with the full orchestra performing Mozart’s Symphony No. 33. The Creston concerto was a bold choice, composed by an Italian-American born to Sicilian immigrant parents in 1905. Creston died in 1985, and although he was a prolific composer whose work was widely performed through the 1950s, he was better known as a teacher in his later years. McNure interpreted the piece in an original classical jazz format, ranging from frantic piercing to quieter riffs that seemed to evoke familiar refrains you think you know but can’t quite place.

McNure, a Virginia Beach native, was the last of six finalists to perform Thursday night, January 9, at the Avalon Theatre in Easton. Six competitors were selected among about 40 applicants who were judged in December based on audio performances submitted to an MSO team. The team led by Terry Ewell, graduate director of music at Towson University, also consisted of Dane Krich, the orchestra’s general manager, and Julian Benichou, its music director. Ewell and Benichou were judges of the final round of the competition, while Krich emceed the evening’s proceedings.

While McNure said he was “thrilled” to win the competition, he’s been a winner before—capturing top honors in the University of Maryland Concerto Competition last fall.

Second-place was won by Joshua Lauretig, 25, who performed the oboe solo of Vivaldi’s Concerto in C Major. Honorable mention went to 12-year-old Sophia Lin of Longfellow Middle School in Virginia, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major. The other contestants were saxophonist Tae Ho Twang playing Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto in E-flat Major and cellists Yejin Hong and Eunghee Cho, both of whom performed, separately, Dvorak’s Cello Concerto.

In the awards presentation, Maestro Benichou noted that music competitions are not to be compared to athletic battles in that each contestant in music is out to play one’s best rather than to defeat fellow musicians. In solo competitions, he said, “We don’t learn music so much as learn about ourselves.”

Benichou also paid tribute to the competition’s namesake, the late Elizabeth Loker, longtime Easton supporter of the orchestra who bequeathed a gift to the MSO in her will.

As the winner of this first annual Elizabeth Loker Concerto Competition, Joseph McNure, will perform his triumphant Paul Creston piece with the orchestra, also performing the Mozart symphony, on March 5 at the Easton Church of God, March 7 at Ocean View Church of Christ, Ocean View, Delaware, and March 8 at the Community Church in Ocean Pines, Maryland. Tickets: $45, 888-846-8600.

Steve Parks is a retired journalist, arts writer and editor now living in Easton

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Shore Arts: MSO Elizabeth Loker Competition for Emerging Artists

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And now for something brand new in this new year for the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and the rest of us. The inaugural Elizabeth Loker Concerto Competition moves into its final round Thursday night, January 9, at the Avalon Theatre with six solo musicians performing concertos they have selected for their particular instrumental skills. The winner, chosen by a pair of musician jurists, will be announced on stage shortly after the last note of the concertos is played.

“We’ve been looking to reach out and discover new talent,” says Dane Krich, general manager of the MSO as well as one of the orchestra’s percussionists. “We wanted to find the next young person we’d like to showcase.”

The winner takes home a $2,000 check and a trip back to Easton for a March 5 showcase, plus two reprise matinee performances in Ocean View, Delaware, and Ocean Pines, Maryland March 7 and 8. The March concerts also feature the full Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra’s rendition of Mozart’s Symphony No. 33.

“The competition is named for a longtime supporter of the orchestra, Elizabeth Loker, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago,” Krich says. “So, this is in her memory.”

“The competition is the brainchild of our board president,” Terry Ewell says of Jeffrey Parker. “He and Julian Benichou have been wanting to make this happen,” he added, referring to the MSO music director now in his 15th season.

One reason Ewell, graduate director of music at Towson University, and a bassoonist with the MSO, was brought on board for the project was his administrative experience, especially in running competitions such as this one. “You’ve got to know who and where to send letters and applications and how to set up the judging,” he says.

Letters went out at the start of the MSO current season in September. Approximately 40 applicants submitted video performances by way of YouTub for a blind first-round competition. They came from as far as Austin, Texas, Miami, Florida, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, and as nearby as several cities in Maryland. “We sent our jurists only the audio of the recordings, identified by number. Neither of the judges saw any names or any video,” Krich says. “Their decisions were based solely on how each musician played their instrument and how they interpreted the concerto they selected.”

Of these contestants, jurors were given until December 12 to choose six finalists ranging in age from 12 to 25.

The six musicians and the concertos they’re performing Thursday at the Avalon are:

Tae Ho Hwang, 25, saxophone: Alexander Glazunov, Concerto in E-flat Major

Yejin Hong, 22: Dvorak, Cello Concerto

Joseph McNure, saxophone, 22: Paul Creston, Concerto for Alto Saxophone

Joshua Lauretig, 25 oboe: Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto in C Major RV 447

Sophia Lin,12 piano: Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K 453

Eunghee Cho,22 cello: Dvorak, Cello Concerto

ELIZABETH LOKER CONCERTO COMPETITION, final round..
7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, Avalon Theatre, 40 E. Dover St., Easton
Tickets: $10; 410-822-0345

. . . and the winner’s concert performance
7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 5, Easton Church of God, 1009 N. Washington St.; Ocean View Church of Christ, 55 West Ave., Ocean View, Delaware; Community Church, Route 589 and Racetrack Road, Ocean Pines, Maryland
Tickets: $45; 888-846-8600

Steve Parks is a retired journalist, arts writer and editor now living in Easton.

Don’t miss the latest! You can subscribe to The Chestertown Spy‘s free Daily Intelligence Report here

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.