Musicians of Ma’alwyck makes its Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Debut

Musicians of Ma’alwyck makes its Troy Savings Bank Music Hall debut, offering A Water Bird Talk

An opera by Dominick Argento, paired with Anton Chekhov’s one-act monologue On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco upon which the opera is based.

Musicians of Ma’alwyck, in collaboration with Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, presents Dominick Argento’s 1975 one-act mono-opera A Water Bird Talk, paired with the one-act monologue on which it is based, Anton Chekhov’s On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco. A Water Bird Talk is a cleverly comic piece that follows a gentleman lecturer in a late nineteenth-century ladies’ club as he gives a scholarly talk on the subject of water birds. As he describes each bird, his interpretation transforms into a metaphor for his own sad existence, victim to his domineering wife and daughters, who make him the target of their constant ridicule. Musicians of Ma’alwyck will pay tribute to the accompanying monologue’s star-studded legacy: in 1962, Paul Newman directed a film of the Chekhov play, with music by David Amram. Musicians of Ma’alwyck will use Amram’s score of Conversations to provide musical interludes to the play.

Act 1: On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco – Anton Chekhov’s 1-act monologue featuring musical interludes by David Amram and starring actor David Quinones

Act 2: A Water Bird Talk – A cleverly comic modern mono-opera composed by Dominick Argento and starring acclaimed baritone Joseph Han

The opera features a 12-piece orchestra, including core Musicians of Ma’alwyck personnel Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz, artistic director and violin; Norman Thibodeau, flute;  André Laurent O’Neil, cello; and guest artist Joseph Han, an internationally acclaimed baritone. Stage director Brian Sheldon directs the Sand Lake Center for the Arts and is receiving critical acclaim for this work, including a rave review in the Times Union this winter for his work on Minutes with Albany Civic Theater. Conductor Micah Gleason has interned at Glimmerglass opera, and is currently an assistant conductor at the Spoleto Festival.

A Water Bird Talk continues Musicians of Ma’alwyck’s track record of producing outstanding opera, including Arne’s Alfred; Shield’s The Poor Soldier for which the group received national attention; Blum’s The Ship’s Captain, and Max Caplan’s Aleda.

The opera takes place Saturday, June 15 at 8:00 PM, Troy Savings Bank  Music Hall, 30 Second St.  Troy, NY 12180.

Join us for a Pre-Opera Talk with the performers: 6:30 PM at the Hart Cluett Museum: 57 2nd Street, Troy NY 12180

Ticket prices: $40 for adults, $10 for students. To purchase tickets, visit https://www.troymusichall.org/ or call (518) 273-0038

This concert is underwritten in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the JM McDonald Foundation, and the Arts Center of the Capital Region’s Arts Thrive and Grow Grant.

The Arts Thrive and Grow Grant has been funded by New York State, Kathy Hochul, Governor. We thank Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins for her extraordinary commitment and leadership, and our elected officials who represent our grantmaking region: Senators Jake Ashby and Neil D. Breslin; Assemblymembers Scott H. Bendett, Patricia Fahy, John T. McDonald III, Angelo Santabarbara, Phil Steck, and Mary Beth Walsh.

ABOUT THE MUSICIANS OF MA’ALWYCK

Musicians of Ma’alwyck are a flexible-sized classical chamber music ensemble. The mission of Musicians of Ma’alwyck is to share history through music. Founded in 1999 by violinist and director Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz, the purpose of Musicians of Ma’alwyck is to cultivate and promote an understanding and appreciation for American, particularly New York State, life in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through the performance of chamber ensemble music at historic sites and concert venues in collaboration with other artistic organizations. Based in the Capital Region but performing throughout New York State, the ensemble serves a diverse audience of music lovers, history enthusiasts, and supporters of the arts. Core musicians include Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz, director and violin; Norman Thibodeau, flute; Sten Isachsen, guitar; André Laurent O’Neil, cello. The group frequently works with guest artists of national stature.

Musicians of Ma’alwyck produce several concerts and online programs each year, combining archival research, historic sites in New York State, and classical music. They have been in residence at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany for over twenty years, and currently hold a residency at SUNY Schenectady. The ensemble released its first commercial CD in 2016, Music in the Schuyler Mansion, which the Times Union called “elegant and charming,” and their second in 2021, Hyde Hall & the Silver Goddess: Operatic Brilliance of Auber, Bellini, Meyerbeer, and Rossini from the Drawing Room.