Over the course of the next two weeks, a group of professionally trained musicians and composers - all friends, all in their 30s - will perform several concerts in our area. Their reality includes magic, transcends centuries, humbles and awes with youthful energy, and is populated with characters striving to fulfill and display human potential. The magic is what they produce with all those qualities, and it spans and blends musical styles from Celtic to Classical, Baroque to Bluegrass.
Sheridan Seyfried has brought friends together to Delaware's Cape Region for three years. It gives these musicians, who play all over the world, a chance to reunite and have fun enjoying the beach, nurturing their friendships, and playing exceptional music.
Seyfried has been coming to the beach all of his 34 years, from the time he was born to his parents, Elise and Steve Seyfried of Rehoboth Summer Children's Theatre fame. He inherited his parents' passion for the full spectrum of arts and entertainment including writing and composing, performing, directing and producing.
Under the Celtic to Classical brand, the shows typically last 60 to 70 minutes, have no intermissions, include a wide variety of music, and are open to all. "We charge no admission, but we do accept a freewill offering. Our suggested contribution is $15, but for those who can't afford that, we would still love them to come,” said Seyfried.
In the first week, he calls his shows Baroque to Bluegrass. "Celtic is the forerunner to bluegrass, and Baroque is the forerunner to classical music. There are connections between all of our selections. We want to present an evening of memorable music."
The opening selection for the Baroque to Bluegrass shows will be a Concerto Grosso by 18th century composer Arcangelo Corelli. "It's kind of flashy, very charming, and not played nearly enough. It includes two lead violins - dueling violins."
Another selection in that first week's shows is a movement from a Seyfried concerto influenced by bluegrass music and which also includes dueling violinists. "These pieces show that there is more in common with Baroque and Bluegrass than just the letter B," he said.
A medley at the end of the Baroque to Bluegrass show features traditional bluegrass and music from the '70s and '80s known as newgrass, which pushes aspects of traditional bluegrass. "Newgrass is a little more complex and written out, with more development of melodies. It's kind of cool, a microsom of what I'm doing as a composer: taking from other styles, expanding on them, and using the classical form to create dramatic arcs and threads that you can't craft with just playing verses over and over."
Other selections in their first week's concerts include Gaelic, American and '30s café music with some Dixieland influences.
"We'll be cutting a wide swath," he said.
In addition to Seyfried, the first week's musicians will include Dennis Kim and Alexis Meschter on violins, Sean Kennard on piano, and Jonah Kim on cello.
Songs and dances
The second week's concerts will feature internationally acclaimed cellist Jonah Kim along with Meschter, Seyfried and Seyfried's wife, Ya Jhu Yang, on flute and piano.
"We will be playing a variety of music that approaches definite types of dances and songs," said Seyfried.
The centerpiece will be a concerto written by Seyfried for Kim: "It's a 25-minute piece in three movements with a piano, flute and violin functioning as a pared-down orchestra to accompany Jonah. The first movement is a dance, the second is a song, and the third is a blend of dance and song inspired by Bob Dylan's ‘Don't Think Twice.’ We both love that song, have been friends forever so we built a piece around that. There's a melodic continuity to it - like some of what Beethoven and Brahms do - in terms of material returning again throughout."
Other pieces in the Songs and Dances shows will include Bulgarian dances by Bartok, an original lyrical piece by Ya Jhu Yang about her Taiwan homeland, a piece called “Gabriel's Oboe” written by Ennio Morricone for the film called “The Mission,” a suite of Celtic dances, and an American bluegrass finale.
Where the first week's shows will be energetic, Seyfried said the second week will be more of a soulful and heart week.
The first week's shows will be Tuesday, Aug. 7, at Georgetown Presbyterian Church; Wednesday, Aug. 8, at Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth; Thursday, Aug. 9, at St. Martha's Episcopal Church in Bethany Beach; and Friday, Aug. 10, at Avenue United Methodist Church in Milford.
The second week's shows will be Tuesday, Aug. 14, at the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist in Milton; Wednesday, Aug. 15, at Epworth UMC in Rehoboth; and Thursday, Aug. 16, at St. Martha's Episcopal in Bethany Beach. All will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Seyfried said the musicians will be flying into Philadelphia this weekend and practicing at the beach starting on Sunday.
"My friends are familiar with some of the pieces. I'm definitely the vision and composer guy. I can play violin, viola and piano, as long as I've practiced. I love to play, and I will play. But my friends? I know what they can do. It's not fair - they can play anything just by looking at it."
It might not be fair, but for those who get to experience these musicians’ talent and dedicated, impassioned work, they will hear and see where the magic lives.
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Dennis Forney has been a journalist on the Delmarva Peninsula since 1972 and has been writing his Barefootin’ column for The Whale and then the Cape Gazette for more than 30 years. He blogs at www.capegazette.com/blogs/dennisforney. Contact Dennis at dennisforney@capegazette.com.
