SALISBURY — Student musicians performed at the Salisbury Congregational Church Sunday, Feb. 23, during the Open Recital of Area Music Students, an annual event now in its 32nd year.The recital was held in the church itself this year, since the hall in the rear of the building is being renovated.Students and their teachers, from schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts, were on hand for a diverse program.Serena Rhind from the Muddy Brook School in Great Barrington, Mass., started off on the piano with “Professor Umbridge” (from the Harry Potter films) by John Williams, followed by Syona Morrison (Rudolph Steiner School, Great Barrington) playing Fritz Kreisler’s “Tempo di Menuetto” on violin, with piano accompaniment.Soprano Sara van Deusen from North Canaan Elementary School sang an arrangement of Vivaldi’s “Rain,” and Trudy Fadding of Monument Mountain Middle School (Great Barrington) followed with “Bourre” (by W.H. Squire) on cello. There was a brief, unscheduled pause, as Trudy had misplaced her bow. A cellist from the Indian Mountain School in Lakeville volunteered a replacement, and the program proceeded. (The stray bow was found afterward.)The Indian Mountain School Chamber Ensemble, directed by Anton Kuskin, followed with more Vivaldi (“Concerto for Two Violins in A Minor, Op. 3, No. 8,” third movement) and a spirited rendition of the first movement of Mozart’s “Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.”From Kent Center School, pianist Gabrielle Vega played Friedrich Kuhlau’s “Sonatina, Op. 55, No. 1,” and Isabell Costa (Monument Mountain Regional High School, Great Barrington) knocked out “Tonight” from Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” with aplomb.Lindsay Luo (Indian Mountain School) took the piano next with a very solid performance of Chopin’s “Nocturne, Op. 9, No.2,” followed by another strong pianist, Sheridan McAlister (Great Barrington), doing a Brahms piece, “Romance, Op. 118.”The Salisbury School Jazz Ensemble — Nick Hyman, bass, Freddie Mason, electric guitar, and Robert Clayton, drums — closed the show. Their first number, an arrangement of Thelonious Monk’s “Blue Monk,” featured the tricky theme handled on the guitar, a loping bass solo and creative use of a minimal drum kit consisting of a snare drum and two cymbals. Teacher Peter MacEachern joined the group on piano for the finale.Because the usual venue was under construction, there was no reception afterward, but the students were presented with certificates and given a bag of cookies to take home.
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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