Sunday, June 4, 2023 at 3:00pm
Flute Orchestra of Groton Hill
Season Finale
in loving memory of Laura Feltus
Meadow Hall at Groton Hill
Ruby and Silver Anniversary Season
Eileen Yarrison | Artistic Director & Conductor
PROGRAM
Overture to Die Zauberflöte
W.A. Mozart
arr. Martin Melicharek III
An Harmonic Disquisition on Types of Cheese – World Premiere
Brandon J. Nelson
1. Feta
2. Moose Cheese
3. Wensleydale
4. Flower of Rajya
5. Mozzarella
6. Gouda
7. Roquefort
8. Square Yellow Cheese-like Product
Roses: Potpourri of Pain and Peace
Emma Rogers
1. Elegant Utterances
2. Breathe
3. Crimson
4. Fragments of Dance
Flights of Passage
Judy Nishamura
3. First Love
4. First Flight (From the Nest)
Mock Morris
Percy Grainger
arr. Claudia Bissett
INTERMISSION: 10 minutes
Jupiter, Bringer of Jollity (from The Planets)
Gustav Holst
arr. Rick Pierce
Bancroft’s Castle – World Premiere
Commissioned for this very special occasion
Jonathan Cohen
1. The Castle
2. The Lost
3. The Glory
Radetzky March
Johann Strauss Sr.
arr. Shaul Ben-Meir
Meditations on “Abide With Me”
Kelly Via
Members of the Ensemble
Eileen Yarrison, Artistic Director & Conductor
*David Deifik, concertmaster
Stephanie Connors
Blythe Cowen
Jeanne Hebert
Forest Kerr
Casey Koulalis
Lisa Mitchell
Joel Nolan
Nicole O’Toole
Stephanie Rempel
Lois Reynolds
Elaine Cheng Sinclair
Bruce Taylor
Jessica Gist Volk
Dani White-Yellito
Guest Performers Today (Nashua Flute Choir and New England Flute Orchestra Alumni):
Constance Bair-Thompson
Claudia Bissett
Hannah Bitterman
Debbie Franks
Suzi Gabriel
Marje Bollinger Hogan
Haley Laken
Chris Leogrande
Judy Manning
Melynda Matheke
Elise MacDonald
Aiven O’Leary
*Rick Pierce
Maria Ramey
Shari Shaw
*Linda True Stromski
Kim Vespo Tower
Kristen Turner
Stijn VanEven
Elizabeth Watson
Beth Anne West
Cassie White
Cindy Winsor
*Founding member of the Nashua Flute Choir, 1983
Special Guest Contrabass Flutist/Composer:
Jonathan Cohen
Guest Percussion:
Tom Bissett, Amy McGlothlin, Joe Wright
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.
