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On this page (to skip directly to one of these, click on link):
Press release
Program / Menu - detailed information
Directions to concert site
General Information on the program begins below
Concert and Dinner with
Michael Arnowitt & Friends
Susan Olander, chef
a unique multi-sensory event!
music about food performed simultaneously with the serving of food dishes suggested by the musical selections.
Friday, June 27, 2008
8 pm
Wood Art Gallery, College Hall, Vermont College
Montpelier, Vermont
Classical music by Bach, Purcell, Rossini, Mozart, Ravel, Bernstein, and Rachmaninoff; jazz tunes by Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Phil Markowitz (recorded by Bill Evans), Barney Kessel (recorded by Charlie Parker), Vincent Youmans/Irving Caesar, and the premiere of a surprise new jazz song by Michael Arnowitt about a local restaurant. (For complete program details, click here.)
Performed by Michael Arnowitt, piano, with:
Betsy Brigham - soprano
Erik Nielsen - tenor
Larry Rudiger - bass
Raymond Malone - violin
Deborah Black - cello
Jenna Cameron - flute
John Wilson - jazz vocals
Dave Ellis - trumpet
Dan Haley - bass
Kirby Nickels - drums
The food will be catered by a team headed by chef Susan Olander. She is working with Michael in collaboration to develop a menu of food dishes related to the music on the program. Take a look at the projected menu below on this page. Some of the likely dishes will be: almond-stuffed dates wrapped with bacon and broiled, biscuit with pulled pork and barbeque sauce (also a vegetarian version), snow peas with boursin cheese piped in and diced peppers garnish, scallops, melons, Swedish apple pastry and other desserts.
Tickets $25, must be purchased in advance by end of day Tuesday, June 24.
Tickets available at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier or from Michael at 150 Main St. floor 2.
(Vegetarians are asked to call in advance to provide the chef a count.)
Space is extremely limited at the gallery (maximum seating capacity probably about 60-70).
Information number for this event: (802) 229-0984
Pianist Michael Arnowitt will perform his new program, “If Music Be the Food of Love,” at the Wood Art Gallery at Vermont College in Montpelier on Friday, June 27 at 8 pm. This special event will present a creative combination of food and music: classical and jazz music about food will be performed while the audience will be served the particular food dishes suggested by the music selections' titles.
Arnowitt says, “the event will be a unique multi-sensory experience. At a standard music concert people primarily use their sense of hearing and secondarily their sight, but in this performance the audience will be simultaneously stimulated by their senses of taste, touch, and smell as they enjoy the food flavors and textures that inspired the composers to write these pieces of music.”
Pianist Michael Arnowitt will be joined by a dozen area classical and jazz musicians for the various pieces on the program, including violinist Raymond Malone, cellist Deborah Black, soprano Betsy Brigham, tenor Erik Nielsen, bass Larry Rudiger, flutist Jenna Cameron, jazz vocalist John Wilson, trumpeter Dave Ellis, bassist Dan Haley, and drummer Kirby Nickels.
The jazz tunes on the program are Dizzy Gillespie's comic "Salt Peanuts," Louis Armstrong's classic New Orleans number "Struttin' With Some Bar-B-Q," "Sno' Peas" (recorded by Bill Evans), "Swedish Pastry" (recorded by Charlie Parker), the jazz standard Tea for Two, as well as the premiere of a special surprise song composed by Michael Arnowitt about a local restaurant.
On the classical music side, the program will include Henry Purcell's song "If Music Be the Food of Love," a 1692 song based on the famous line from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Rossini's "Almonds," a light romantic piece from his collection "Sins of My Old Age," Leonard Bernstein's "Plum Pudding," where the words of the song are literally the lines of a recipe from a French cookbook by Emile Dumont, and excerpts from Bach's "Coffee Cantata," a humorous dialogue where a father schemes to cure his daughter of coffee addiction.
Also on the program are a few of Michael Arnowitt's favorite pieces of classical music for piano, paired with food dishes according to his own personal opinions and those of the evening's chef, Susan Olander. Maurice Ravel's piquant "Pantoum" section of his Trio for piano, violin, and cello, with its vibrant jazzy chords and special effects for the string instruments, will be paired with a spicy but delicate dish. Mozart's opening movement to his 25th Piano Concerto in C major, K. 503 will be heard while a palate-cleansing portion of melons and other refreshing fruit is served. Rachmaninoff's "Liebesleid" ("Love's Sorrow") will be combined with a rich, creamy eclair.
The special dinner will be catered by Susan Olander, executive chef at Montpelier's Westview Meadows and owner of Northern Lights Catering. The pianist and chef are collaborating to produce a menu where the dishes match the style of the music. The projected menu for the audience will include an appetizer of almond-stuffed date wrapped with bacon and broiled, biscuit with pulled pork and barbeque sauce, snow peas with boursin cheese piped in and diced peppers garnish, scallops, Swedish apple pastry, and more.
The concert is supported in part by the City of Montpelier's Community Arts Grants fund.
Tickets for the combined dinner and concert are $25 and are available at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier or through appointment or mail-order at Michael Arnowitt, 150 Main St., Montpelier. Seating is limited and to best plan the dinner it is requested all tickets be purchased in advance no later than the end of day Tuesday, June 24, and that vegetarians should call in advance to provide the chef a count. For more information, call (802) 229-0984.
“If Music Be the Food of Love . . . play on”
- William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Concert Program and Projected Menu
(music is piano solo unless otherwise indicated)
preludeDirections to the Wood Art Gallery:
From the central intersection of Montpelier, take East State Street (between the Coffee Corner and City Center) up the hill until the road ends at College St. On the right you will see the college green. College Hall is the tallest building at the head of the green, and the Wood Art Gallery is located on the first floor.