The Chamber Players of the NJ Symphony Orchestra (above) come to Navesink’s Old Stone Church Sunday. Piano prodigy Michael Davidman (below) tackles keyboard classics at Red Bank’s Monmouth Conservatory.
Ah, to have the ability to be in three places at once. This Sunday offers a trio of riches for Red Bank-area music lovers in the 4 p.m. hour — beginning with one that takes interactivity to the next level.
Back for a 15th edition, the annual “United We Sing” Celebration once again invites people of all faiths to lend their voices and join in an intercultural service of music, word and dance at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County on West Front Street in Lincroft.
Subtitled “Music of Gratitude” — and sponsored by the Monmouth Center for World Religions and Ethical Thought (MCWRET) and the Social Action Committee of the UUCMC, the intercultural service (which traces its origins to the aftermath of September 11, 2001) has celebrated the healing power of music, word and dance with representatives from the Muslim, Jain, Christian, Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Native American, and UU communities.
Children are especially welcome to take part in the event, and refreshments will be served after the conclusion of the program, which is presented free of charge. For more information, contact Esmat Mahmoud at (732) 371-5412 — and read on for more.
From the far outposts of West Front we trace a path back to the heart of Red Bank, where one of the downtown’s best-kept secrets — the monthly series of classical music concerts at the White Street campus of the Monmouth Conservatory Of Music — offers up another special guest-artist event this Sunday. A genuine piano prodigy who’s soloed with top orchestras and won major accolades at a precociously early age, 18-year-old Michael Davidman takes to the MCM’s Steinway for a 4 p.m. program that’s scheduled to feature selections by Beethoven, Chopin, Balakirev and Tchaikovsky. Reservations are recommended, and tickets ($20 adults; $10 seniors and stduents; 18 and under admitted free) can be reserved in advance by calling (732)741-8880 or emailing [email protected].
If it’s atmosphere you’re looking for — and perhaps a little oasis of civilization, away from the stripmall strafe — continue heading east to All Saints’ Memorial, the historic “Old Stone Church” at the crossroads of Navesink and Monmouth Avenues in Middletown.
Also beginning at 4 p.m. and continuing past twilight time, the church hosts the Chamber Players ensemble of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in the 35th annual edition of the Candlelight Concerts at the National Historic Site first consecrated in 1863.
The program — including Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat Major, Opus 127 and Dvorak’s String Quartet No. 12, Opus 96 (American) — will be performed inside the candle-lit sanctuary by violinists Eric Wyrick and Brennan Sweet, with violist David Blinn and cellist Na-Young Baek. It’s followed by ”a sumptuous candlelight reception with savory light fare and beverages (including the famously festive All Saints’ hot cider punch) in the parish house, with $25 tickets available by calling (732) 291-0214 or emailing [email protected].
