FORT MYERS, FL. (August 24, 2009) – The schedule for Shell Point Retirement Community’s eighth annual Fine and Performing Arts Concert Series of 2009/2010 has been announced by Dawn Boren, director of resident life for Shell Point Retirement Community. This series will feature five concerts including:
The Raleigh Bell Ringers – Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 7:30pm
The American Boy Choir – Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 7:30pm
The River City Brass Band – Monday, March 1, 2010 at 7:30pm
Ensemble Galilei – Friday, March 12, 2010 at 7:30pm
Contiguglia Brothers – Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 7:30pm
“The residents at Shell Point appreciate the arts and cultural choices available to them right here in our community,” said Boren. “Each year, the line-up of the series is comprised of new and various musical offerings that are sure to please all who attend.”
Tickets for the concerts are $35 each, or a season ticket of all five concerts can be purchased for $125, for a savings of $50. Tickets go on sale September 10th. To purchase tickets or receive additional information about the concert series, please call (239) 454-2067 for payment information on individual or group packages.
Shell Point Retirement Community is a not-for-profit continuing care retirement community located in Fort Myers just off Summerlin Road, two miles before the Sanibel causeway. Shell Point has received national accreditation from CARF-CCAC, and is a nationally recognized leader in the retirement industry. The community offers retirement living in a resort-style environment with an 18-hole championship golf course, deep water boating access, and recreational and fitness facilities. To learn more about Shell Point Retirement Community, visit us at www.shellpoint.org or call 1-800-780-1131.
— The Detailed Concert Schedule —
THE RALEIGH RINGERS — November 12, 2009 at 7:30pm
The Raleigh Ringers is an internationally acclaimed, advanced community handbell choir based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Since its founding in 1990, The Raleigh Ringers has been dazzling concert audiences with unique interpretations of sacred, secular and popular music, including famous rock ‘n’ roll tunes arranged just for handbells. Under the direction of David M. Harris, The Raleigh Ringers has released four CDs, and a DVD of a holiday concert titled “One Winter Evening at Meymandi.” This same concert was also broadcast on more than 250 public television stations in 44 states.
THE AMERICAN BOYCHOIR — February 2, 2010 at 7:30pm
The American Boychoir is regarded as the United States’ premier concert boys’ choir. It continues to dazzle audiences with its unique blend of musical sophistication, effervescent spirit, and ensemble virtuosity. Boys in grades 4 through 8, reflecting the ethnic, religious and cultural diversity of the United States, come from across the country and around the world to pursue a rigorous musical and academic curriculum at The American Boychoir School in Princeton, NJ.
Maintaining an active national and international touring schedule, the Boychoir performs with world-class ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. The Boychoir appears regularly as featured artists with James Levine at the Tanglewood Music Festival, and has performed with the internationally renowned soprano Jessye Norman, prominent jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, pop diva Beyoncé, and at Carnegie Hall with Sir Paul McCartney. Often called upon for boy soloists, members of The American Boychoir have performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Berkshire Music Festival, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
The American Boychoir has been extensively recorded and broadcast on radio and television, with some forty-five commercial recordings to its name.
THE RIVERCITY BRASS BAND — March 1, 2010 at 7:30pm
Founded in 1981 by the late Robert Bernat, (conductor and music director 1981-1994) the River City Brass Band was the first professional concert band to be established in the United States in over 25 years. From California to New York, and everywhere in between, River City Brass Band has delighted audiences with its signature style. Every performance features the witty and insightful commentary of Conductor Denis Colwell, superb soloists, and some lighthearted fun! Often called the “Boston Pops — In Brass,” the band’s extensive repertoire includes American tunes, Big Band swing and jazz, music from Broadway and Hollywood, classical and contemporary masterworks, and — of course — traditional marches.
River City Brass Band receives praise from audiences and critics alike: “It’s not a reach to say that this may be the most fun with music you’re going to have all year,” touts the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. And, most tellingly, “River City Brass Band puts the fun back into music,” explains The Tribune Review of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ENSEMBLE GALILEI — March 12, 2010 at 7:30pm
Ensemble Galilei performs Irish, Scottish, Early and Original music on a variety of ancient and modern instruments, including the Celtic harp, Scottish small pipes, gamba, fiddle, recorders, whistles and percussion.
Their performance, First Person: Stories from the Edge of the World is a remarkable collaboration between the National Geographic Society, NPR’s Neal Conan (host of TALK OF THE NATION), and Ensemble Galilei. Spectacular photographs and images are projected on a large on-stage screen, with Neal Conan’s compelling narration, and evocative music created specifically for this project, they work seamlessly to take the audience along on some of the world’s most extraordinary expeditions.
GONTIGUGLIA BROTHERS, duo-pianists — April 8, 2010 at 7:30pm
American identical twins, Richard and John Contiguglia, are among the most acclaimed and versatile piano-duos in the world today. Since their London debut in 1962, following which the London Daily Telegraph described their playing as setting “a new standard for this intimate form of music-making,” Richard and John are now the proprietors of their own recording company, Gemini CD Classics . Their releases on the Gemini label, Schubert Piano Duets – The Final Year, Live from the Holland Liszt Festival – Duos of Franz Liszt for One and Two Pianos, Music of Gershwin-Grainger and, most recently, Beethoven/Liszt 9th Symphony, reflect their lifelong commitment to popularizing the great body of music for two pianists.
They graduated in the top 1% of their class at Yale, with identical averages of 91%, receiving their B.A. degrees summa cum laude, with Philosophical Orations. Two years later they received M.Mus. degrees from the Yale Graduate School of Music at the top of their class. Subsequently, they studied for four years in London with the great British pianist, Dame Myra Hess. In recognition of their associations with Dame Myra, Richard and John were invited to be the featured pianists for Dame Myra Hess Day, 2008, at the National Gallery in London on November 25, 2008.
