Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.
concerts

Music Lovers Find the ‘Golden Section’ at Smithfield Church

The Greek Revival architecture of Smithfield Church in Amenia, N.Y.,  has welcomed worshippers since it was built in 1847, identical in appearance today to when it was erected. Designed by Nathaniel Lockewood, it is an example of the pure “Golden Section” of perfection in balance and symmetry, and it stands today on a hill at the bend in Smithfield Valley Road.

For a reason lost to history, that country corner, its abrupt curve in Smithfield Valley Road and the hill came to be known as “The City.”

Fans of authentic architecture will find much to appreciate in the church detail, including the antique whale oil chandelier and the original vibrant paint colors. The tracker pipe organ, a gift from the Kent Congregational Church, fits right in, musically and architecturally.

As a bonus within today’s 1847 structure, the Golden Section creates superb acoustics for the Bang Family Concert Series, a series of remarkable public performances by the Smithfield Church Chamber Orchestra.

The Bang Family Concert Series

The church is well known for its Sunday worship and enjoys a reputation as one of the fastest-growing churches in the Hudson River area. But visitors are also attracted by the Bang Family Concert Series, endowed by a bequest from the late William Bang, father of Susan Bang, who is a church member.

Susan Bang’s father was a lifelong amateur musician on the string bass and the tuba. An oboist herself, she recalls that he was fond of quipping that he was a child prodigy who never got any better.

Music ran in the family, although her father’s career was in publishing, notably with the Hearst Corporation in New York City and later at publications in California.

“The concert series was his idea. We worked to create a concert series to allow local musicians to have a venue for their talent,” Susan Bang told me recently.

“He was considerate and generous to the end,” she added, noting that he was a founding member of the New West Symphony, an orchestra that still performs today. His philanthropy tended to focus on small enterprises where funding would make a difference.

“The Smithfield Church is so important to me,” Susan said. “I came because of the annual Christmas Concert and then started coming to worship services regularly. I came first for the music and stayed for the church. I found my faith again.”

Concerts in a true chamber setting

“We have our own orchestra,” the Rev. Douglas Grandgeorge, Smithfield Church pastor, said as he welcomed concertgoers to the Bang Concert on Sunday, May 29.

He spoke of the rarity of a small church having a chamber orchestra, especially one versed in all musical tastes from classical to pops.

The orchestra on May 29 featured nine members including a string quartet, two clarinets, one trumpet, and two flutes. At the very last moment, Laura Thompson stepped in to fill a vacancy in the flute section when the call came that the scheduled flute player had tested positive that morning for COVID-19.

Matt Finley is the orchestra’s director. His credits include 60 years as a jazz wind and brass musician with emphasis in Brazilian jazz. He said he had a similar musical experience to that of William Bang.

“I was a child prodigy by the time I was 14, and then plateaued [in his estimation], except for arranging music, a talent that has continued to develop.”

During the May 29 concert, Finley demonstrated the art of arranging. First the string quartet played Gustav Holst’s 1918 composition “Jupiter,” as written. The piece had earned wide acclaim in various forms, including this one. Then the orchestra played an arrangement that Finley created for the ensemble, broadening the tonal experience while staying true to the composer.

“It’s months of work that come to fruition with each concert,” Finley said, “and tremendous fun,” for the performers certainly and for the audience.

The plan for the Bang Family Concert Series has always been to offer a concert on the first Saturday of each month. The pandemic interfered, Finley said.

If COVID permits, a fall concert offering is in the works. The orchestra will certainly perform for the annual Christmas Concert and Tea, already scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3, Finley said.

For more information about the church and its music program, including a video of the May 29 concert, go to www.thesmithfieldchurch.org.

The Smithfield Church Chamber Orchestra performed their spring concert as part of The Bang Family Concert series on Sunday, May 29. An enthusiastic audience enjoyed a Memorial Day weekend concert featuring classical to Broadway to pops at the historic church. Photo by Leila Hawken

Since 1847 the Smithfield Church’s Greek Revival edifice has stood on the hill overlooking Smithfield Valley Road in Amenia. Concertgoers on Sunday, May 29, were treated to another in a continuing series of musical performances by the Smithfield Church Chamber Orchestra. Photo by Leila Hawken

The Smithfield Church Chamber Orchestra performed their spring concert as part of The Bang Family Concert series on Sunday, May 29. An enthusiastic audience enjoyed a Memorial Day weekend concert featuring classical to Broadway to pops at the historic church. Photo by Leila Hawken
Leila Hawken
concerts

Latest News

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

A life reshaped by clay in “Matin”

Left to right: Hannah Wheeler, Matin Malikzada and Yonah Sadeh.

D.H. Callahan

On Monday, Oct. 26, a group of students, teachers and local residents gathered at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville for a screening of the new short documentary “Matin.” The film tells the story of Matin Malikzada, a seventh-generation Afghani potter making a new life in New Milford, Connecticut. The film was made by local filmmaker Yonah Sadeh, creator of the Video Wall at the David M. Hunt Library, and Berkshires-based potter Hannah Wheeler, who were both present for the screening, along with Malikzada himself.

As a member of the seventh generation of his family to master the art of pottery, Malikzada had done things the way his family had for over a century. Istalif, the village where his family has lived for generations, was known throughout Afghanistan for its pottery, with wares sent across the country for use as everyday cups, bowls, plates and other vessels. The pottery-making families of Istalif gathered clay from the same mountain, about 30 to 45 minutes away by donkey. Every July, they would head north toward the Uzbekistan border to gather ishkar, a plant they processed by hand to make their signature glazes.

Keep ReadingShow less
film

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher finds her calling among the stacks

Meg Sher, executive director of the David M. Hunt Library in Falls Village.

L. Tomaino

When Meg Sher came to Falls Village in 2006 from Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up, she never imagined she’d someday be the executive director of the David M. Hunt Library.

Although, in hindsight, perhaps it makes sense.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community

A feast of cookbooks in Wassaic

A feast of cookbooks in Wassaic

Erika DaSilva at Ten Mile Table.

D.H. Callahan

On Nov. 7, Ten Mile Table, the independent wine and spirits shop in the hamlet of Wassaic, will host its first Cookbook Fest and Swap. Erika DaSilva, the shop’s owner, is a big fan of cookbooks. While most people will flip to a recipe that piques their interest, she reads them cover to cover like novels. She’s already published two volumes of her community-based cookbook, “The Corner Table,” featuring recipes and writings from cooks and foodies all hailing from Wassaic and the surrounding towns. For DaSilva, community is half the reason for the event.

Spend any amount of time at Ten Mile Table, located in Wassaic’s old candy shop, and one thing will becomes obvious: Community comes first. DaSilva stops to talk with local residents as they pass by her open door, asking about health updates or letting them know she has something they requested back in stock. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that, as publisher of the hyperlocal newspaper the Hamlet Gazette, DaSilva knows more or less everything about everybody in town. But despite having all that knowledge, she doesn’t treat it like gossip. She holds it with care until the story is ready to be told — or kept forever as a secret.

Keep ReadingShow less
cookbook
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Ancram Play Lab explores the wars that follow soldiers home

Ancram Play Lab explores the wars that follow soldiers home
Composer and lyricistStephanie Salzman
Provided

In 2020, the Ancram Center for the Arts launched Play Lab in response to the challenges facing live theater during the COVID-19 pandemic. It continues today as a thriving residency program where artists develop original work and experiment with new forms of performance. Community connection is central to the Play Lab mission, with audiences invited to share in the creative process through interactive workshops, open rehearsals, discussions and more.

The next Play Lab work-in-progress presentation, “Be Safe, I Love You,” is a new musical theater piece based on Cara Hoffman’s acclaimed 2014 novel. It follows Iraq war veteran Lauren Clay as she returns home to Watertown, New York, where post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) drives her to protect her family from an enemy only she can see. It is a story about class, loyalty and the wars that follow soldiers home.

Keep ReadingShow less
performances

The case for leaving the leaves

The case for leaving the leaves
Dee Salomon, aka “The Ungardener,” at The Scoville Memorial Library.
Patrick L. Sullivan

Dee Salomon, the “Ungardener,” whose advice appears regularly in Compass, told a packed house at the Scoville Memorial Library on Sunday, Oct. 25, what to do in the garden before the ground freezes and what can wait until next year.

Salomon emphasized the importance of creating and maintaining diverse ecosystems. She said that, from a human perspective, paying attention to biodiversity has practical benefits.

Keep ReadingShow less
education

Stissing Center hosts the Pine Plains Festival of Shorts

Stissing Center hosts the Pine Plains Festival of Shorts

Comedian Maria Bamford plays a therapist in

“Too Many Buddhas” at Pine Plains Festival of Shorts.

Provided

For 15 years, Rhinebeck has welcomed Sinterklaas, a Dutch tradition celebrating community and togetherness with giant puppets, elaborate costumes and whimsical holiday cheer. Created by artistic visionary Jeanne Fleming, the event brings light to winter’s darkness.

This year, however, Sinterklaas is on hold as Fleming faces new financial challenges. SUNY New Paltz filmmakers documented what may be the Hudson Valley’s final celebration, at least for now. Their film screens Nov. 1 at Stissing Center as one of seven shorts in the Pine Plains Festival of Short Films.

Keep ReadingShow less
film
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.