Category: Fourth Friday

The Marlborough Arts Center welcomes the group Eclectica for the 4th Friday @ the Arts Center on February 24^th, 2023. They are a very interesting and talented group, as is each one of them individually. Eclectica performs original arrangements of music from the Middle Ages to the present on an eclectic variety of instruments, including recorders, harp, violin, viola da gamba, hammered dulcimer, and more. Each program is a time-travel adventure, with historical commentary about the music. To learn more, continue reading below, and be sure to visit their Facebook page.

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Kasha Breau (harp, percussion) plays original music and folk songs from around the world on modern reconstructions of medieval and renaissance harps, as well as the modern concert harp. A graduate of the Hartt School of Music, Kasha has taught harp, kantele, voice, piano, and organ, in addition to performing and conducting workshops in harp-playing technique throughout the United States. Music groups with which Kasha has played and/or sung include Wild Notes, CitySingers, Celtic Sessions, and Tree of Life (with Carrie Crompton). Kasha fills her life with more music as organist and music director at the Congregational Church in Portland, Connecticut. Kasha was an environmental teacher and educator for over 35 years, and is a state and federally licensed rehabilitator for injured and orphaned songbirds, raptors, various waterfowl, and bats.

Carrie Crompton (hammered dulcimer, bass viola da gamba, accordion) fell in love with the sound of the dulcimer in the 1970s at the beginning of a revival of the instrument in the United States. The dulcimer has been used in European folk music since the late Middle Ages, but it has no literature of its own – players create their own repertoire and arrangements. Carrie has explored many styles of music, from Medieval to pop, while finding ways to adapt the dulcimer to tunes written for other instruments. She has published numerous CDs and books for the dulcimer. An avid quilter, landscape designer and gardener, Carrie is also a Master Naturalist.

Monika Kinstler (bass viola da gamba, violin, viola, percussion) studied at the University of Cincinnati, receiving a Bachelor of Music in Music History and a Master of Science in Metallurgical Engineering. She is proficient on a variety of historical instruments and has performed with early music ensembles in Cincinnati, Phoenix, Hartford, and Buxtehude, Germany. Also a modern violinist, she has performed with orchestras in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Huntsville, Alabama, and is currently a member of the Manchester Symphony Orchestra. As a metallurgical engineer, she is employed as a manager in Pratt & Whitney’s Engineering department. Her musical and engineering interests collide in a passion for woodworking, and she has built several historical musical instruments, including a set of virginals and two vielles.

Deborah Robin (recorders) has played recorder with musical consorts around New England since the 1970s, including the Aston Magna Festival Orchestra, with whom she was featured recorder soloist in the first American recording on “original” instruments of Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 (Smithsonian Collection, 1978). Deborah performs regularly on programs with Eclectica and fellow members of the Musical Club of Hartford.

Eclectica will perform in the Charles W. Hall Gallery at 7:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 7:00 p.m. Admission remains $10 at the door. Masks are suggested but not required. The facility is fully accessible and there is ample parking.

The Marlborough Arts Center’s 4th Friday @ the Arts Cafe opens the season on September 24 with the well-known musical group “Seat of Our Pants” (SOOP) at 231 North Main Street, Marlborough, CT.  The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., but doors open at 7:00. Admission is $10 per person. There is ample parking and the Arts Center is fully accessible.

As one of the most popular shows at the Arts Center, Marlborough’s own SOOP will be back for the 7^th year in a row, except for the hiatus of activities due to COVID-19. They have been very busy during this quiet period by producing an award-winning music video, a pandemic song that literally went “viral”, and new originals to add to their growing library of heartwarming and humorous signature songs. They play an array of instruments you don’t see together every day with Mike Frantzen on fiddle, Mark Hall on Cajon/cowbell/percussion, Jeff Gorman on bass, and Carolyn Brodginski on vocals and whichever stringed instruments she decides to bring along for the night. Seat of Our Pants is an acoustic folk/blues/bluegrass/country/old time/rock quartet who play in the live music scene throughout the state, although they say that they feel like the Arts Center is their “home stage”. Their tastes are quite eclectic and it is the variety of the music that creates the fun for them and their audiences. Their personalities bring humor into their performances so that an evening with them is very interactive and a delight for all ages. If you are looking for a special evening of music that will get your toes tapping and put a smile on your face, we suggest you save this evening of September 24 on your calendars. In anticipation check out their website: https://seatofourpantsmusic.com/home.  

The Marlborough Arts Center is a non-profit regional center for the fine arts, performing arts, and fine crafts. These “4th Friday @ the Arts Cafe” evenings, held in the gracious Charles W. Hall Art Gallery, add music and a convivial atmosphere to the beautiful setting and are an opportunity for people in the communities around to relax together and enjoy art in its many forms.

For everyone’s health and safety we are following CDC and State of Connecticut guidelines for indoor events. For this concert chairs will be set up to maintain social distancing. We are asking all who attend to wear masks and not to bring any wine, food, or other drinks. We thank everyone for understanding. If it is a nice evening, come early to tailgate in the parking lot or have a picnic on the lawn.

The 4^th Friday at the Arts Café is featuring Nick Cutroneo at its July 26 concert.  Nick is a professionally trained guitarist who attended and was graduated from the Hartt School of Music, obtaining Masters and Bachelors degrees in Classical Guitar Performance.  He has been involved with the New England Guitar Quartet, toured extensively with the violin and guitar duo Tempo del Fuoco, performed regularly with Blackledge Music Inc and the Northeast New Music Collective.  Cutroneo currently serves on faculty at Central Connecticut State University and maintains an active private teaching studio, the Nick Cutroneo Guitar Studio, based out of Manchester, CT.

Active in the community, Nick Cutroneo performs regularly at assisted living facilities and public libraries providing an enjoyable and varied musical as well as educational experience.  He also provides master classes and clinics to public school music programs.

In 2015, Nick released his first CD, featuring works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Benjamin Britten, Fernando Sor, Mario Castelnuovo- Tedesco and Andrew York.  Hopefully he will have copies at his 4^th Friday at the Arts Café performance.

The 4^th Friday at the Arts Café is part of the Marlborough Arts Center, 231 North Main Street in Marlborough, Ct.  Concerts start at 7:30pm with doors opening at 7:00pm.  Admission is $10.  The July performance will be memorable, an event not to be missed.