Dr. Ryan Brandau leads the Monmouth Civic Chorus in song, Sunday at Tower Hill Church — while pianist Julia Muench salutes her immigrant heritage in a free Monday evening concert at Middletown Library.
Vibrant vocal music in Hebrew and Latin — and a musical history lesson accented with the German immigrant experience in America — are on tap in the days and nights to come, courtesy of some of the area’s premier performers.
Up at Tower Hill Church — aka First Presbyterian Church of Red Bank — Dr. Ryan Brandau and the assembled voices of The Monmouth Civic Chorus inaugurate their 2015 slate of public-welcome concerts with A Joyful Noise this Sunday.
Beginning at 4 pm, the program mixes Leonard Bernstein’s jazzy Chichester Psalms with Zoltan Kodaly’s impassioned Missa Brevis and Eric Whitacre’s tender Five Hebrew Love Songs, for the first of several eclectic presentations at the Harding Road landmark (in addition to the MCC’s annual performance of Handel’s Messiah at the Count Basie Theatre). Individual tickets ($30 adult, $27 senior, $25 group (10 or more), $5 student) — as well as season subscriptions for the Tower Hill concerts ($75 for three events) can be reserved in advance here or by calling (732)933-9333. Subscribers can add premium Messiah seats for an additional $25, and student subscriptions are $15, with student Messiah seats for $10.
Continuing a recently inaugurated series of free classical music concerts curated and hosted by Middletown Township Public Library, the building’s Community Room serves as venue for a unique Monday night event that combines musical recital with history lesson — courtesy of ASCAP award-winning composer, pianist and educator Julia Muench. In a program that she previously performed at the German-American Heritage Museum in Washington DC, the faculty member at Monmouth Conservatory Of Music pays tribute to a time during the 1830s when German immigrants — including her ancestor, Frederick Muench — came to America to forge a better life for themselves; in the process helping to change America for the better.
During the March 9 presentation, the pianist will perform selections that range from well-known pieces by Chopin, to songs written by Frederick Muench, an Abolitionist who served as a Missouri State Senator for at least a decade (working to pass legislation to end the practice of slavery). There is no charge to attend the 7 pm concert, and while seating is limited, no reservations are required.
