Apr 16, 2021
This week’s episode brings you the color and flair of Latin-America’s 19th and 20th century music. From the Caribbean all the way to La Patagonia, you will be enchanted by the melancholic atmosphere of Cuban contradanzas, the ebullience of Brazilian maxixe, and the dramatic passion of Argentinian tango.
BAHIA BLANCA
BY CARLOS DI SARLI | ARRANGED BY PEGGY BRADY AND ALLAN BRIGHTON
PEGGY BRADY, VIOLINS | ALLAN BRIGHTON, PIANO, BASS, AND ACCORDION
DANZAS CUBANAS
BY IGNACIO CERVANTES | ARRANGED BY PATRICIA RUDISILL
LOS TRES GOLPES | NO ME TOQUES | SIEMPRE SÍ| NO BAILES MAS
PAT STRANGE AND JUSTINE JEANOTTE, VIOLINS | TOM MONK, VIOLA | ARLAYNE ESEMAN, CELLO
CLASSIC BRAZILIAN DANCES
BY ERNESTO NAZARETH | ARRANGED BY PATRICIA RUDISILL
BREJEIRO | ODEON
PAT STRANGE AND JUSTINE JEANOTTE, VIOLINS | TOM MONK, VIOLA | ARLAYNE ESEMAN, CELLO
LA BELLA CUBANA
BY JOSE WHITE
PAT STRANGE AND JUSTINE JEANOTTE, VIOLINS | TOM MONK, VIOLA | ARLAYNE ESEMAN, CELLO
PEGGY BRADY – VIOLIN
'Peggy Brady, violinist, studied at the Universität für Musik and darstellende Kunst in Vienna and Arizona State University in the 70’s. She has been a member of the first violin section of the Phoenix Symphony, the violin section of the Göttinger Symphonie Orchester, the Braunschweig Staatsoper Orchestra, Principal Second Violin and Assistant Concertmaster of the Napa Valley Symphony and Principal Second Violin of the Marin Symphony. In 2004 she founded the Eloquence String Quartet and Trio of Napa Valley. The group is now in high demand for weddings and vineyard events throughout Napa and Sonoma. Soon to become a full time resident of Bainbridge Island, Peggy is enjoying a new musical project called “Olympic Serenade” – playing chamber music with other members of the Bainbridge Island Symphony.
ALLAN BRIGHTON – PIANO, BASS, AND ACCORDION
“I'm not a professional musician like my sister, but I was always interested in many different kinds of music. Site-reading piano notes is something I do nearly every day, but it is not my strongest point, so I prefer to play by ear when possible. That is one reason I started learning figured bass and playing harpsichord (and sometimes organ) in a small early music group. The idea was that I would only have to read the bass notes and could improvise the chords, similar to playing Jazz piano with a lead sheet. I had accordion lessons as a kid and later picked up piano on my own, learning jazz chords and figured bass from books and from listening to music. Lately I've been listening to some great tango nuevo music, and although that style of playing is new for me, I wanted to give it a try.
“My day job (which I do from home, mostly at night) is working as a freelance software developer on a large telescope project. When I'm not working or playing music, I like to take long bike rides around the Bavarian countryside and in the foothills of the Alps. I moved here after meeting a German girl in Ireland when I was in my early twenties. One set of twins and three grandchildren later I'm still here.
“Even when there is no global pandemic, Peggy and I live far apart and don't often get to play music together, so I'm glad we found a way to do it remotely. For me, in a way, it is easier than playing live, since I can practice the piece first and record small pieces of it at a time, at a slower speed if needed. Using a MIDI keyboard, computer and sequencer makes it easier for me, as an amateur musician, to get a good sound, without having to have the piano in perfect tune and have the best microphones. You can even edit out small mistakes afterwards, which seems a little like cheating, but gets the desired end result.”
PATRICIA STRANGE – VIOLIN
Pat is a performer of traditional and contemporary violin literature and has performed throughout the US and Europe. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Calif. State University Fullerton and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Calif. San Diego. Before moving to Bainbridge Island in 2001 she held the position of Principal Second violin with the San Jose Symphony. She is currently the Concertmaster of the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra, founder and director of Bridges; A String Orchestra and has frequently performed with Ovation! Performing Arts Northwest and BPA’s musical theatre productions.
JUSTINE JEANOTTE – VIOLIN
Justine was born in The Netherlands, where she began her violin studies at the age of eight. Since receiving her degree in Violin Performance from Pacific Lutheran University, she has played with the Tacoma Symphony, Kitsap Opera, Peninsula Ballet Orchestra, and Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra. Currently she teaches the strings classes at Madrona School as well as privately. She has also played, recorded, and toured both nationally and internationally with the bands "Paundy" and "Before Cars".
TOM MONK – VIOLA
Tom Monk started playing the violin at age eight while a 3rd grader in the California public schools. By the time he had graduated from Issaquah High School he had been a violinist in the Seattle Youth Symphony for three years, had been the concert master of the Washington All State Orchestra, and had won a Poncho Scholarship to study with Maybeth Pressley of the Seattle Symphony. While attending Harvard College he played the Boston premiere of Mendelssohn's First Violin Concerto in d minor (written when the composer was 13 years old and only rediscovered by Yehudi Menuhin in 1951) with the Harvard/Radcliffe orchestra and also played first violin in the MIT symphony for four years. Upon entering Medical School at the University of Washington in Seattle, he put his violin away, but when he joined the staff of the old Winslow Clinic as a pediatrician in 1986, he began playing once again in the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra as well as several local chamber music ensembles.
ARLAYNE ESEMAN – CELLO
Arlayne took her first cello lessons from Marcia Treend in 9th grade. A year later, she began studying with Thaddeus Markiewicz, assistant principal cellist with the Detroit Symphony, and continued with him until earning her Masters in Cello Performance. While in college, she performed in some Motown recordings and played in the pickup orchestras for Paul Anka and Sammy Davis (what an entertainer). In 2013, Arlayne retired as a “computer geek” and moved to Bainbridge Island, where she auditioned for the symphony and made many wonderful friends. In 2015, she started playing in local ensembles as well as musicals performed on the island.