July 16, 2010
Beverly Heritage Days To Feature Period Music
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
The town of Beverly will bring its rich history to life with Beverly Heritage Days July 24 and 25. The bi-annual event celebrates the West Virginia town’s vibrant past with costumed interpreters, period demonstrations, music, food, crafts and other activities.
An added feature for this year’s celebration will be special performances of period music featuring the Blue and Gray Community Choir, musician-interpreter R.P. Hale and several local musicians, including Beverly flutist Richard Evans. “Before the invention of the phonograph, a person either had to play music himself or hire someone else to play it for him,” said Evans.
Dressed in 19th century attire, Evans and other local musicians will entertain visitors inside the Beverly Heritage Center with period chamber music. “This music was played by family members to entertain themselves and friends in their houses.” Evans said the flute was a very popular 19th century instrument for which composers wrote music in a variety of combinations. Visitors can hear some of those combinations as they tour the museum complex.
In the morning Evans and Morris Kittle will play original and arranged 19th century music for flute and clarinet. They will be followed by Linda Wolfersheim and Jessica Agnew, who will be accompanied by Pam Dodds. The three will perform popular 19th century songs arranged for flutes and organ. Later in the day Agnew will join Evans and Wolfersheim to play flute duets and trios. Dodds will also accompany Evans as he sings songs composed by America’s first popular song composer, Stephen Foster, along with war songs that rallied the nation’s soldiers, both Union and Confederate.
Music will also be performed throughout the day on Saturday in the Beverly Town Square. Area musicians joined by Hale of Concord, New Hampshire will play traditional folk music on fiddle, guitar, banjo and dulcimer in the Town Square. Recently cited by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the country’s premier harpsichord and dulcimer makers, Hale works with museums as a re-enactor. He is known to the area through his affiliation with the Augusta Heritage Center of Elkins.
Making its first Heritage Days appearance on Sunday July 25th at 3 pm, the Blue and Gray Community Choir will perform Civil War era songs including “Bonnie Blue Flag,” “Marching Through Georgia” and “The Vacant Chair.” African American Spirituals such as “This Old Hammer,” “If I have a Ticket,” “There’s Room for Many-a-more” and “Old Ship of Zion” will also be part of the program, as well as early American folk songs and patriotic songs.
The choir was founded in 1989 by Rev. John Tenney of Philippi’s Crim Memorial Methodist Church to sing Civil War era music. Its first concert, under the direction of Douglas Fisher, was such a success that the choir is now featured annually during Philippi’s Blue and Gray Reunion in early June. This year’s choir of over fifty members is directed by Dr. Judson Bracey, professor of music at Alderson-Broaddus College, with Michele Moore as accompanist. The concert is free of charge and will be held at the historic 1890 Beverly Methodist Church on North Main Street.
During the two-day event, musicians as well as crafts people, frontier period and Civil War era soldiers and civilians will recreate 18th and 19th century life for visitors. Many of the town’s older buildings will be open for tours. Two museums—the Randolph County Historical Society Museum and the new Beverly Heritage Center complex featuring the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike interpretive display—will also welcome visitors.
For more information on Beverly Heritage Days, call 304-637-7424 or visit www.historicbeverly.org.
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
Beverly Heritage Days To Feature Period Music
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
The town of Beverly will bring its rich history to life with Beverly Heritage Days July 24 and 25. The bi-annual event celebrates the West Virginia town’s vibrant past with costumed interpreters, period demonstrations, music, food, crafts and other activities.
An added feature for this year’s celebration will be special performances of period music featuring the Blue and Gray Community Choir, musician-interpreter R.P. Hale and several local musicians, including Beverly flutist Richard Evans. “Before the invention of the phonograph, a person either had to play music himself or hire someone else to play it for him,” said Evans.
Dressed in 19th century attire, Evans and other local musicians will entertain visitors inside the Beverly Heritage Center with period chamber music. “This music was played by family members to entertain themselves and friends in their houses.” Evans said the flute was a very popular 19th century instrument for which composers wrote music in a variety of combinations. Visitors can hear some of those combinations as they tour the museum complex.
In the morning Evans and Morris Kittle will play original and arranged 19th century music for flute and clarinet. They will be followed by Linda Wolfersheim and Jessica Agnew, who will be accompanied by Pam Dodds. The three will perform popular 19th century songs arranged for flutes and organ. Later in the day Agnew will join Evans and Wolfersheim to play flute duets and trios. Dodds will also accompany Evans as he sings songs composed by America’s first popular song composer, Stephen Foster, along with war songs that rallied the nation’s soldiers, both Union and Confederate.
Music will also be performed throughout the day on Saturday in the Beverly Town Square. Area musicians joined by Hale of Concord, New Hampshire will play traditional folk music on fiddle, guitar, banjo and dulcimer in the Town Square. Recently cited by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the country’s premier harpsichord and dulcimer makers, Hale works with museums as a re-enactor. He is known to the area through his affiliation with the Augusta Heritage Center of Elkins.
Making its first Heritage Days appearance on Sunday July 25th at 3 pm, the Blue and Gray Community Choir will perform Civil War era songs including “Bonnie Blue Flag,” “Marching Through Georgia” and “The Vacant Chair.” African American Spirituals such as “This Old Hammer,” “If I have a Ticket,” “There’s Room for Many-a-more” and “Old Ship of Zion” will also be part of the program, as well as early American folk songs and patriotic songs.
The choir was founded in 1989 by Rev. John Tenney of Philippi’s Crim Memorial Methodist Church to sing Civil War era music. Its first concert, under the direction of Douglas Fisher, was such a success that the choir is now featured annually during Philippi’s Blue and Gray Reunion in early June. This year’s choir of over fifty members is directed by Dr. Judson Bracey, professor of music at Alderson-Broaddus College, with Michele Moore as accompanist. The concert is free of charge and will be held at the historic 1890 Beverly Methodist Church on North Main Street.
During the two-day event, musicians as well as crafts people, frontier period and Civil War era soldiers and civilians will recreate 18th and 19th century life for visitors. Many of the town’s older buildings will be open for tours. Two museums—the Randolph County Historical Society Museum and the new Beverly Heritage Center complex featuring the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike interpretive display—will also welcome visitors.
For more information on Beverly Heritage Days, call 304-637-7424 or visit www.historicbeverly.org.
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
