QUINCY — The staff of the Thomas Crane Public Library is proud to invite community members to Concerts at the Crane in-person and virtual events that will be hosted during the month of April.
Concerts at the Crane: Scott Woolweaver and Lynn Salmonsen – Viola & Piano
- Sunday, April 7 from 3-4 p.m.
- Richardson Building, Main Library, 40 Washington St.
Join the Thomas Crane Public Library for a special musical performance by award-winning viola musician Scott Woolweaver and pianist Lynn Salmonsen.
Scott Woolweaver
Woolweaver plays a Johan Georg Thir viola made in Vienna, 1737. Woolweaver founded the Boston Composers String Quartet, which won the silver medal at the 1993 String Quartet Competition and Chamber Music Festa in Osaka, Japan. He also founded the Vaener String Trio, which has won the Grand Prize at the Joseph Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.
Woolweaver served as a member of both the Ives Quartet and the New England Piano Quartette. He served as the principal violist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and also works at the All Newton Music School and Tufts University in their music programs. Woolweaver is the Director of the Adult Chamber Music Institute at Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill, Maine and is a regular guest of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Music Society. He graduated from the University of Michigan School of Music where he won the Joseph Knitzer and Earl V. Moore awards for outstanding participation in chamber music.
Learn more about Scott Woolweaver here.
Lynn Salmonsen
Salmonsen has extensive experience as an accompanist and chamber musician in the Boston area. As a pianist and organist, she has performed in Europe with the Buckingham, Browne and Nichols Upper School Chorus as well as in Oregon with the Britt Festival Orchestra. Salmonsen has also performed with the Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival in Vermont. Throughout the years, Salmonsen was the pianist for the Handel & Haydn Society Youth Choruses, the Director of the Mount Ida College Choir and the accompanist for The South Shore Children’s Chorus since its founding in 2016. Salmonsen studied with chamber music performers, including Luis Battle, Walter Trampler and Leslie Parnas.
Salmonsen is the Music Director and Organist at the East Congregational Church in Milton and the Artistic Director for the Milton Young Musicians Festival. She also has private teaching studios in Quincy and Milton. She graduated from the Longy School of Music with an Artist’s Diploma, holds a bachelor’s degree in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the Hartt School of Music, and has completed additional graduate coursework at the Boston University College of Fine Arts.
Learn more about Lynn Salmonsen on Facebook.
The Reclaiming Folk: Celebrating the Voices of People of Color in Folk Music
- Wednesday, April 10 from 7-8 p.m.
- Community Meeting Room, Main Library, 40 Washington St.
Community members are invited to attend The Reclaiming Folk Event Series – a celebration of people of color in Folk Music. Three Massachusetts-based folk artists, Naomi Westwater, Almira Ara and Kemp Harris, will sing folksongs – both original and traditional. Following the performance, the musicians will talk about their songs and their life experiences as folk musicians.
Naomi Westwater
Westwater is a queer, Black-multiracial singer-songwriter from Massachusetts. Their work combines folk music, poetry and spirituality. Their hope is that through ritual and storytelling, they can aid nature in the end of capitalism and the return of community, creativity and collective joy. They are part of The Club Passim Folk Collective where they produce “Re-Imagining Lilith Fair: a tribute to the feminist music scene of the 1990s with an intersection lens for today.” Westwater holds a Master of Music in contemporary performance and production from Berklee College of Music.
Learn more about Naomi Westwater here.
Almira Ala
Ala is a 21-year-old singer, songwriter and producer who focuses on melding Rock and R&B to create a genre that is truest to their creations. Their music is heavily influenced by their community, consisting of queer Black and POC people. They use the music from Queen, Tracy Chapman, Kehlani and more to capture aspects of the past and present to create music that can resonate with future generations.
Learn more about Almira Ala on Instagram.
Kemp Harris
Harris is a composer, musician, children’s author, actor and teacher. Born in North Carolina, Harris taught himself piano at the age of 14. Harris has shared the stage with Freebo, Taj Mahal, Gil Scott-Heron and Koko Taylor. He wrote and performed “If Loneliness was Black” for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Complexions Dance Company. Harris has also composed for WGBH Public Television.
Learn more about Kemp Harris here.
This event is generously funded by the Quincy Cultural Council.
Concerts at the Crane: Wayman Chin – Piano
- Sunday, April 21 from 3-4 p.m.
- Richardson Building, Main Library, 40 Washington St.
Join the Thomas Crane Public Library for a performance by world-wide performing pianist Wayman Chin. Chin has performed widely throughout the United States, Asia and the United Kingdom.
Chin is devoted to chamber music and has collaborated with artists such as the Pacifica Quartet, Cassatt String Quartet, violinist Eric Rosenblith, violist Masumi Rostad, cellist Thomas Kraines, sopranos Nancy Armstrong and Maria Jette, and baritone Thomas Meglioranza. He was a member of the artist faculty at the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival and performed and taught at the Stamford International Music Festival in England for 12 seasons.
During his longtime chamber music career, Chin has premiered a number of works by noted composers, including those of Scott Wheeler, Marti Epstein, Meyer Kupferman, Jeremy Van Buskirk and Paul Brust. Chin Joined Longy’s faculty in 1994. From 2008-2020 he served as Dean of the Conservatory and for 13 years, he served as chair of the Chamber Music Program. He was awarded the Longy’s George Seaman Award for Excellence in the Art of Teaching in 2007. In 2020 he was named Dean Emeritus.
Chin received his Bachelor of Music with honors from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School and a Master of Music degree from Yale University.
Learn more about Wayman Chin here.
About the Thomas Crane Public Library
Thomas Crane Public Library inspires curiosity, sparks imagination, fosters community, and connects people to the online world. To learn more, visit www.thomascranelibrary.org.
To learn more about events at the Thomas Crane Public Library, visit the library’s Events Calendar, Facebook, or Instagram.
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