After an absence of more than a year, South Shore Conservatory (SSC) announces a highly anticipated return to live, in-person performances, with Evenings Under the Stars and the Duxbury Music Festival. Tickets are currently on sale to the public at Performances - Summer at SSC (sscmusic.org).
“We are thrilled to be once again reunited in music, brought together by the power of live performance,” said Robert Cinnante, who took over as SSC President on February 1. “This summer we celebrate our belated 50th anniversary, which we missed last year, with cherished collaborations featuring gifted faculty, alumni, and guest artists, and a core focus on celebrating the diversity of works by American composers past and present.
Evenings Under the Stars (EUS) presents a mix of both new and traditional classical, jazz, blues and Broadway, showcasing SSC faculty members and alumni on the stage of South Shore Conservatory’s Jane Carr Amphitheater, in Hingham. The series kicks off on July 10 with Four Seasons of Hope, a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and the world premiere of Cristina Spinei's Whirl, inspired by Vivaldi’s masterpiece. Conductor and SSC alum Nicholas Palmer, a native of Hingham, leads members of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra in their EUS debut.
Photo Credit: South Shore Conservatory
On July 17, Duxbury Music Festival (DMF) and Summer Music Festival (SMF) musicians join forces as part of EUS for an All-American program of 20th and 21st century works, with Better Together, featuring Libby Larsen’s Fanfare for Women, Undine Smith Moore’s Afro-American Suite, John Harbison’s Songs America Loves to Sing, and vocal and instrumental selections from Leonard Bernstein’s iconic West Side Story, a nod to Steven Spilberg’s latest film adaptation, set to be released later this year.
EUS continues with husband and wife piano duo Mark Goodman and Jennifer Cope Goodman on
July 24 for It Takes Two: Sonatas and Tangos and Rags, Oh My!, followed by Saturday Night Blues on July 31, featuring SSC’s Jazz/Rock/Pop faculty, with a mix of traditional and contemporary blues and jazz. EUS rounds out the series with American Souvenirs, a collection of 19th and 20th century music inspired by the sounds of America, through the lens of European visitors, performed by SSC faculty and guest artists.
Photo Credit: South Shore Conservatory
Stage to Screen, a prelude to the Duxbury Music Festival (DMF) on July 16, features DMF artists and SSC faculty in a program of classic and modern film music and Broadway show tunes. DMF kicks off on July 18, under the direction of Artistic Director and pianist Stephen Deitz, for Opening Night: Together Again, a reprise of the collaboration spotlighting DMF and SMF artists and alumni.
Duxbury Music Festival presents its Artist Showcase on July 19, with DMF artists-in-residence and alumni artists performing side-by-side. Varied repertoire for the showcase includes Schubert’s String Trio in B-flat and Copland’s Waltz and Celebration from Billy the Kid. On July 21 DMF artists perform works by Ives and Mendelssohn, and Three Negro Spirituals for Violin and Piano by Florence Price, in Ev’ry Time I Hear the Spirit. DMF closes out the series with classical works inspired by jazz, ragtime, and the blues, with Sounds Like…Jazz? on July 22.
DMF will take listeners to three different locations this season, with concerts at Pilgrim Church of Duxbury, Miramar Retreat Center, and South Shore Conservatory’s Duxbury Campus, the Ellison Center for the Artists.
With safety as its top priority, South Shore Conservatory will continue to follow recommended CDC COVID guidelines for all performances. At this time, ticket capacity to each performance is limited, and all tickets must be purchased in advance. To learn more visit https://summer.sscmusic.org/performances/ or find South Shore Conservatory on Facebook.
About South Shore Conservatory
Having celebrated 50 years in 2020, South Shore Conservatory (SSC) is committed to providing access to music and the arts for South Shore residents. Recognized as a national model for arts education by the National Guild for Community Arts Education, SSC is the largest, nonprofit community school for the arts in Massachusetts, serving more than 4,500 students of all ages at two beautiful campuses in Duxbury and Hingham. Students participate in more than 50 diverse programs in music, dance and drama. With more than 100 exceptional musicians on faculty, SSC offers over 200 professionally produced concerts and performances annually. Through innovative partnerships with schools, social services and community agencies throughout the South Shore, SSC brings music and the arts out to the community to enrich the lives of residents. Through its Creative Arts Therapies, SSC offers the benefits of music and the arts to people with developmental and emotional challenges. For more information, visit https://sscmusic.org/.
In keeping with SSC’s inclusive mission to provide access to quality education in the arts for all, the Conservatory offers programs for all segments of the population to enjoy, regardless of age, ability, geography, and financial means. Furthermore, South Shore Conservatory admits students and families of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school.
