Performances in the Fall 2007 concert season

• Sunday, Sept. 16, 2007, 3:00 pm: Peter will sing bass in the chorus in Vivaldi's Gloria in D, RV589, part of Arcadia Players' presentation of The Italian Connection: Bach & Vivaldi.  Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College, Northampton MA. Program also includes Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in E flat major, op. 8 no 5, "La Tempesta di mare" (Lisa Rautenberg, violin) and Bach 's Concerto for 4 harpsichords & strings in A minor, BWV 1065 (Ian Watson, Gregory Hayes, Donald Meineke and Grant Moss, harpsichords).  For tickets and information, call 413-534-8888, email info@arcadiaplayers.org, or see Ticket Information.   Directions.
  
• Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007, 8:00 pm: Peter will sing 13 lieder by Franz Schubert, accompanied on fortepiano by Monica Jakuc Leverett . Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College, Northampton MA.  All the songs are on texts by Goethe, drawn from the collection that Schubert sent to the great poet in 1816. On the second half of the concert Jakuc Leverett will play Schubert's Sonata in C minor, D. 958.  This is the first in a series of three events, A Celebration of an 1819 Graf Replica Fortepiano, all of which are free.
• Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007, 7:30 pm:  An Evening of Music, Poetry and Prose,  part of the Eastern Native Tree Society's fall conference (at Holyoke Community College on Friday October 19, and in Mohawk Trail State Forest on October 20). Charlemont Inn, Route 2, Charlemont MA.  After dinner at the Inn at 6 p.m. ($23, reservations required, call 413-339-5796), Monica Jakuc Leverett and Peter, as well as chanteuse Charlotte Dewey and others, will make music and give readings relating to nature. If you wish to attend the concert only, donations will be accepted at the door, and refreshments will be available for purchase.
• Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007, 12:30 pm: The Natural World: Songs and Solo Piano Music, with Monica Jakuc Leverett, piano and Peter W. Shea, tenor. Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College, Northampton MA.  Part of the Smith College Music Department's Music in the Noon Hour series. Free.

• Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, 5:00 pm: Peter, with pianist Elise Jackendoff, will perform a program entitled Songs to Seraphine at the Harvard Epworth United Methodist Church, 1555 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass (on Harvard Square). "Seraphine" is a cycle of fifteen short poems written by Heinrich Heine in the 1830s. It will serve as the framework of a musical kaleidoscope -- fifteen songs by fifteen composers, covering the widest possible range of styles, moods and languages, including English, French, Italian and Romanian, in addition to Heine's original German. The program will include songs by well-known composers such as Camille Saint-Saens, Hugo Wolf and Edvard Grieg, as well as premieres of several works composed especially for this program by area composers. To give the audience a sense of the often difficult selection process that goes into a project like this, they will be asked to participate by comparing and ranking several additional musical settings of one of the poems. Free and open to the public. See poster
  
  
• Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007, 7:30 pm: Arcadia Players presents Cantabile (the vocal ensemble in which Peter sings bass) performing Music of Salamone Rossi, Italian madrigals and canzonets, sonatas and dances, and Hebrew psalm settings from the cusp of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods by Monteverdi's Jewish colleague. With guest instrumentalists from Arcadia Players. Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St. Holyoke MA. For tickets and information, call 413-534-8888, email info@arcadiaplayers.org, or see Ticket Information.   Directions.
• Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007, 3:00 pm: Arcadia Players presents Cantabile (the vocal ensemble in which Peter sings bass) performing Music of Salamone Rossi. See details for Nov. 3 concert above. First Church of Deerfield ("Brick Church"), 71 Old Main St., Deerfield MA. For tickets and information, call 413-534-8888, email info@arcadiaplayers.org, or see Ticket Information.   Directions.
• Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007, 3:00 pm: Peter will sing three songs, a vocal trio and in works for men's chorus, all by Franz Schubert, in a concert presented by The Schubert Society at Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St. Holyoke MA. Free and open to the public. Directions.
• Cancelled due to vocal indisposition Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, 8:00 pm: Peter, with pianist Elise Jackendoff, will perform a program entitled Songs to Seraphine at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, 121 North Pleasant St., Amherst MA. "Seraphine" is a cycle of fifteen short poems written by Heinrich Heine in the 1830s. It will serve as the framework of a musical kaleidoscope -- fifteen songs by fifteen composers, covering the widest possible range of styles, moods and languages, including English, French, Italian and Romanian, in addition to Heine's original German. The program will include songs by well-known composers such as Camille Saint-Saens, Hugo Wolf and Edvard Grieg, as well as local premieres of several works composed especially for this program by area composers (listen to Gray night by Joshua Stamper). To give the audience a sense of the often difficult selection process that goes into a project like this, they will be asked to participate by comparing and ranking several musical settings of one of the poems. Peter has presented nine concerts in the past decade devoted entirely to musical settings of Heine's poetry. This tenth concert will anticipate the tenth anniversary of the first of those concerts, a celebration of Heine's 200th birthday that was presented in the same venue on December 13, 1997 with pianist Monica Jakuc. Free and open to the public, donations accepted. See poster
• Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007, 3:00 pm: Cantabile (the vocal ensemble in which Peter sings bass) will perform an eclectic program of Italian and English works from the cusp of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Italian madrigals, canzonets and Hebrew psalm settings by Salamone Rossi, and English madrigals by various composers from the famous collection "The Triumphs of Oriana." Trinity United Methodist Church Sanctuary, Sumner Avenue, Springfield, MA.
  
  
• Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007, 3:30 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which Peter sings baritone and tenor), presents the first performance of its annual Christmas Carol Festival at First Congregational Church, 18 Broad St., Westfield MA. This is a program for people of all ages, with audience participation in several carols accompanied by brass quartet and organ. Novi will perform a portion of their fine arts program, and the New England Brass Quartet and organist John Anderson will each perform solo numbers.
• Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007, 4:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which Peter sings baritone and tenor), presents the first performance of Christmas with Novi Cantori at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Front St., Chicopee MA.  This program is Novi’s traditional fine arts concert, with Christmas music spanning the ages, from the Renaissance to contemporary works. Organist John Anderson will again join the group as accompanist and soloist.
• Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007, 1:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which Peter sings baritone and tenor), presents the second performance of Christmas with Novi Cantori at the Old Meeting House, Route 57, Granville MA. See details for Dec. 2 concert above.
• Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007, 3:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which Peter sings baritone and tenor), presents the second performance of its annual Christmas Carol Festival at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 335 Longmeadow St. (Rt.5), Longmeadow MA. See details for Dec. 1 concert above.
• Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007, 7:30 pm:  Peter is soloist and chorister in Arcadia Players' complete performance of Handel's "Messiah." St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 3 Elm St., Northampton MA. Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, Ian Watson, conductor. For tickets and information, call 413-534-8888, email info@arcadiaplayers.org, or see Ticket Information. Directions and maps
• Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007, 3:00 pm:  Peter is soloist and chorister in Arcadia Players' complete performance of Handel's "Messiah."  Old First Church, Court Square, Springfield MA. Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, Ian Watson, conductor.   Cancelled due to winter storm. Rescheduled for December 23.
  
• Friday, Dec. 21, 2007, 8:00 pm:  Peter is featured soloist and chorister in It Was the Winter Wild - Hodie's Celebration of Christmas 2007, Abbey Chapel, 50 College St, South Hadley, MA. In this third annual Hodie Christmas benefit, Deanna Joseph conducts a select choir drawn from Western Massachusetts, Connecticut and  Vermont. Explore the mystery of the season in readings and song, and  help make the holiday of a poor family in the Pioneer Valley a little bit brighter. A freewill donation will benefit the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund. For more information visit hodie.choralcalendar.org
• Sunday, Dec. 23, 2007, 3:00 pm:  Peter is soloist and chorister in Arcadia Players' complete performance of Handel's "Messiah."  Old First Church, Court Square, Springfield MA. This is the last musical event to take place at Old First Church, the founding church of western Massachusetts, which expects to close on January 1. Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, Ian Watson, conductor. For tickets and information, call 413-534-8888, email info@arcadiaplayers.org, or see Ticket Information.  Directions (on the church's website)   PDF map on website of Springfield District Court (church is unnamed rectangle above words "Elm St.")