Thursday, December 15, 2022 at 7:30pm
Flute Orchestra of Groton Hill
Holiday Concert
Meadow Hall at Groton Hill
Ruby and Silver Anniversary Season
Eileen Yarrison | Artistic Director & Conductor
Guest Artist: Joseph Wright, tuba
PROGRAM
Christmas Overture
Bill Holcombe
The Christmas Banquet
Music from the Renaissance
arr. Judy Nishamura
There Is No Rose
Z. Randall Stroope
arr. Phyllis Avidan Louke
Nicole O’Toole, piccolo
The Holly and The Ivy / Carol of the Bells
arr. Rick Pierce
Excerpts from The Nutcracker
P.I. Tchaikovsky
arr. Martha Rearick
1. March
2. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
3. Dance of the Reed-Flutes
Them Basses
G.H. Huffine
arr. Claudia Bissett
Joseph Wright, tuba
∼ INTERMISSION: 10 minutes
Under the Christmas Mistletoe
Richard Leibert
arr. Martin Melicharek, III
Casey Koulalis, flute
Go, Tell It on the Mountain
arr. Ann Cameron Pearce
Deck the Halls
arr. James McKelvy
Kinda Blue Xmas
arr. Peter Senchuk
The Twelve Jazzy Days of Christmas
Sonny Burnette
Helicon Schottische
J.H. Woods
arr. Klaus Bjerre
Joseph Wright, tuba
Members of the Ensemble
Eileen Yarrison, Artistic Director & Conductor
David Deifik, piccolo
Concertmaster and founding member of the Nashua Flute Choir, 1983
Nicole O’Toole: piccolo, E-flat flute, C flute, alto flute
Dani White-Yelito: piccolo and flute
Stephanie Connors, Blythe Cowen, Forrest Kerr, Stephanie Rempel, Jessica Gist Volk: flute
Casey Koulalis: flute and alto flute
Lois Reynolds, Elaine Sinclair: alto flute
Lisa Hill Mitchell, Joel Nolan: C flute and bass flute
Jeanne Hebert: bass flute
Bruce Carey Taylor: bass flute and contrabass flute
About Today’s Guest Artist: Joseph Wright, tuba
Tubist Joe Wright is a middle school band director in the Belmont, MA schools. He has previously taught in Andover, Chelsea, Boston University, and Waterville, ME. As a tubist, Joe has performed with many groups, including Colby College Community Symphony, Mayflower Hill Brass Quintet, Blue Hill Brass Quintet, Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, The Salem Winds, The Acadia Wind Ensemble, Hilyer Festival Orchestra, and the North Worcester County Symphony Orchestra. He holds degrees in Music Education from the University of New Hampshire and Boston University as well as a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Education from Fitchburg State University. Joe studied with David Winer, Donald Rankin, Nicolas Orovich, Julian Dixon, and J. Samuel Pilafian.
About Dr. Eileen Yarrison, conductor
Chair of Groton Hill Music School’s Woodwinds and Brass Department, Eileen has been teaching flute to students of all ages for more than forty years. She is a faculty member at Gordon College and Salem State University, and maintains a private studio at her home on the North Shore. Eileen holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Flute Performance from the University of Nebraska, a Master of Music from Pennsylvania State University, and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of New Hampshire. She is also conductor of the Me2/Boston Flute Choir, an organization devoted to supporting mental health through classical music, and serves as coordinator of the National Flute Association’s Professional Flute Choir Competition. As a performer, Eileen is principal flute of TOOTH, a contemporary chamber orchestra based in Ipswich. Additionally, she is one-third of the contemporary woodwind trio Triage (flute, clarinet, sax) which performs around the country, and has just released its first album, Coffee Break.
History of the Nashua Flute Choir/New England Flute Orchestra/Flute Orchestra of Groton Hill
The Nashua Flute Choir was founded as a four-person ensemble in 1983. Current concertmaster and piccoloist David Deifik is a founding member of the ensemble. The group was devoted to the cultural and musical enrichment of Nashua, its surrounding communities, and many other locales in New Hampshire and Massachusetts for more than thirty years, through performances at church services, libraries, outdoor concerts, senior residences, weddings, corporate functions, and charitable events. The Nashua Flute Choir also performed at five National Flute Association Conventions: New York City (2009 and 1996), Washington, D.C. (2002), Atlanta (1999), and Boston (1993).
The Nashua Flute Choir celebrated its twentieth anniversary by making its first commission, resulting in the world premiere of Views from Falls House, by Gary Schocker. Additional works commissioned and premiered by the Nashua Flute Choir/ New England Flute Orchestra include Concertante Dragon Court by Katherine Hoover (a joint commission with Bickford Brannen), Bone, Wood, Silver, Granite, by Lisa LeMay, and Dancing Among Colored Leaves, by Brandon J. Nelson.
The ensemble has recorded three CDs: Sounds of Christmas, A Falls House Christmas, and Views from Falls House (a classical and contemporary album), and was also featured on an episode of TV’s New Hampshire Chronicle. (There are numerous performance videos currently available to view on YouTube.)
In 2014 The Nashua Flute Choir changed its name to the New England Flute Orchestra, reflecting the growth of the ensemble, the geographic range of its performing venues, and plans for the future. In 2015, the group merged with Indian Hill Music, and enjoyed performing in Blackman Hall for six years. At the time of the move to Groton, the decision was made to change the name of the group to the Flute Orchestra of Groton Hill.
Our members have come from all walks of life: professional musicians, doctors, teachers, clergy, businesspeople, and engineers from various communities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. These dedicated flutists play all members of the flute family: piccolos, Eb flute, C flutes, altos, basses, and the contrabass flute.
The 2022-23 season is both the 40th anniversary of the Flute Orchestra and Eileen Yarrison’s 25th year as its conductor. We hope you will celebrate with us as we look back on favorite pieces from the past, premiere the new music of the present, and look to the future for this exceptional group of musicians.
The Flute Orchestra of Groton Hill’s Ruby-Silver Anniversary season continues with an “All In The Family” concert on Sunday, March 19th at 3 pm in Meadow Hall. Our Guest Artists are the members of the flute orchestra! Come for the novelty, stay for the music! Everyone is welcome.
