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RED BANK, MIDDLETOWN: CLASSICAL DUETS

Calmes KoharskiKeith Calmes and carry on: the classical guitarist teams with flautist Marjorie Koharski for a free public recital at Middletown Library, on Monday evening.

Classical music connoisseurs in and around Red Bank have long known that the borough has stood as the county’s capital for quality orchestral, chamber and choral concert offerings — all of it accessible minus the gown-and-tux price tags of the big-city halls and theaters. A big reason for that is the Monmouth Conservatory Of Music, whose monthly series of weekend afternoon concerts (in the casual and quite convenient setting of their downtown White Street all-purpose room) resumes on Sunday, September 21, with a recital of rare pedigree.

Going up at 4 pm and presented free of charge, the concert is a mother-son duet featuring pianist Nina Kogan and violinist Daniel Miklis — respectively the daughter and the grandson of legendary violinists Leonid Kogan and Elizaveta Gilels. Kogan often performed with her Ukrainian-born father — one of the Soviet Union’s most celebrated international musical ambassadors — and she extends the family business into a new generation with this program of chamber selections with her son. Bring a free-will donation to the door — and take it around the corner for more.

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LITTLE SILVER: THOSE FLUTES ARE SUITE

The Festive Flutes performing the theme from the ‘Pink Panther’ films Thursday night. (Video by Wil Fulton. Click to enlarge)

By WIL FULTON

The Little Silver Public Library served up a some aural treats Thursday night via the Festive Flutes‘ presentation of its “Suites for the Sweets” program.

“A suite is made up of a group of short, individual pieces that have a relationship with each other and a theme that ties them together,” Marjorie Koharski, founder and director of the Festive Flutes, said, pre-program “So even though we stop playing, please hold your applause till we finish the suite.”

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FLUTISTS ALIGHT IN LITTLE SILVER

Surrounded by hardcover murder mysteries and ‘Glee’ DVDs, The Festive Flutes, a Monmouth County-based quintet, performed a sprightly program of Vivaldi, Handel, Gershwin and others for an audience of several dozen at the Little Silver Public Library Thursday night (Click to enlarge)