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Desperate times call for desperate music: Desperate Music Housewives,
January 11
In the gallery: visual artist Daisy McConnell’s Would you
like to see my etchings?
Colorado Springs, CO (December 15, 2006) – If truth is stranger than fiction,
then the Thursday Night Recital Series’ January 11 presentation of Desperate
Musical Housewives is a must-see. Seven of Colorado Springs’ most gifted women
musicians will combine their talents to bring a varied program of voice and
instrumental music (sans murders, comas, and child-rearing disasters) to the
stage of the Louisa Performing Arts Center.
Pianists Chee-Hwa Tan and Mary Beth Shaffer join violist Catherine Hanson,
cellist Nancy Snustad, flautist Leslie Smith, and sopranos Michele Hammerton and
Victoria Hansen in a program that includes music by Ravel, Dvorak, Bolling,
Clark, Martinu, Porter, Gershwin, Rossini and Rogers. The program begins at 7:30
p.m. Tickets are $15 for the general public; $10 for students and senior
citizens and are available at the door. Visual artist Daisy McConnell brings her
unique visions of the American woman in her show Would you like to see my
etchings? that opens at 5 p.m. in the Gallery at Louisa in the lobby of the
performing arts center.
“The seven of us were whizzing through some Ravel, in the midst of trying to
respond to non-stop cell phone interruptions from our children, when we decided
that it was time to take matters into our own hands,” said Mary Beth Shaffer.
“Our desperate need to be heard, appreciated and well, perhaps just a little
idolized overcame us like a Chinook wind pouring down Lake Avenue. The Louisa
Center stage seemed the ideal spot to make our musical stand.”
Victoria Hansen, soprano
Victoria is desperate to release her inner soprano. Actually, her inner soprano
is not very repressed; she performs key roles with the Opera Theatre for the
Rockies, the Colorado Opera Festival, Colorado College’s New Music Symposium,
and in musical theater. Victoria is also featured in two CDs with Colorado
College’s Bowed Piano Ensemble and has taught private voice in Colorado Springs
since 1980. She joined the Colorado College Music Department in 2000 as
Principal Instructor of Voice.
Catherine Hanson, viola
Cathy, the dutiful wife of Colorado Springs Philharmonic Concertmaster
Michael Hanson, is she herself Principal Violist for the orchestra. She attended
the Eastman School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music and the
University of Denver. Cathy and Michael are the co-founders of the Hanson Music
Academy. Catherine is desperate for real girl friend time and depends upon this
from her other desperate musical housewife colleagues.
Mary Beth Shaffer, piano
Mary Beth is a professional pianist with a very successful teaching studio
who is the resident pianist and artistic administrator for the Thursday night
Recital Series. She’s performing in three of the Series’ five concerts this
season. She also has a child, Rachel, in the 6th grade at The Colorado Springs
School. She works non-stop and is desperate for intimate moments with the true
great loves of her life, Chopin and Debussy
Leslie Smith, flute
Leslie is the 2nd flutist in the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, mother of
seven children and grandmother of five, and is, of course, very desperate, being
married to the orchestra’s music director Lawrence Leighton Smith. She is also
desperate to share her beloved instrument with as many strangers as possible.
Michele Hammerton, soprano
A longtime member of the Colorado Springs Chorale and fixture in their
select show choir, Mosaic, Michele made a desperate decision to leave music to
become a wife and mother and now is back pounding the pavement in the real
estate world. She is desperate for the world to know that real estate can be a
profoundly musical experience. Michele has a 6th grader at CSS-- Emily!
Chee-Hwa Tan, piano
Composer and Pianist Chee-Hwa Tan has she has served on the piano pedagogy
faculties at the Oberlin Conservatory and Southern Methodist University but came
Colorado Springs to “support” her cardiologist husband. Her four children, all
under the age of 8, make her even more desperate to display the genius that
placed her at the top of the music world when she was single and musically
available.
Nancy Snustad, piano
Cellist Nancy Snustad brings an impressive pedigree to the Louisa stage, having
earned a DMA in cello performance from the prestigious Indiana University School
of music where she studied with one of the century’s great cellists, Janos
Starker. She has had extensive experience as soloist, chamber musician and
orchestral player and performs frequently with the Colorado Springs
Philharmonic. She is desperate to spread the glory pf the cello through
performance, teaching and the musical development of her three children.
Visual artist Daisy McConnell is not desperate, but her works exploring the
inner lives of women fit perfectly with the theme of the evening. She serves
professionally as the Gallery Director for the Coburn Gallery of Colorado
College, where she also received her degree in art. As a printmaker, her work is
informed by the mundane and sublime of everyday life, including threads from her
own daily experiences. Would you like to see my etchings? opens at 5:00 p.m.
January 11 with an artists reception. She often works sculpturally with her
prints, creating both traditional 2D prints and singular, sculptural
installations from prints.
The Colorado Springs School is a Preschool through 12th Grade day school that
combines a rigorous college preparatory curriculum with experience-based
teaching to create a passion for learning in students. Small classes and
excellent teachers create learning opportunities that engage, challenge, and
excite students.
CALENDAR: Music and Visual Art
The Thursday Night Recital Series 2006-2007
Desperate Musical Housewives
Daisy McConnell in the gallery
Who: Chee-Hwa Tan, piano
Mary Beth Shaffer, piano
Cathy Hanson, viola
Nancy Snustad, cello
Leslie Smith, flute
Michele Hammerton, soprano
Victoria Hansen, soprano
&
Daisy McConnell
Printmaker
What: Seven of Colorado Springs’ most gifted women musicians will combine their
talents to bring a varied program of voice and instrumental music (sans murders,
comas, and child-rearing disasters) to the stage of the Louisa Performing Arts
Center to perform music by Ravel, Dvorak, Bolling, Clark, Martinu, Porter,
Gershwin, Rossini and Rogers
&
Would you like to see my etchings? Unique visions of the American woman by
printmaker Daisy McConnell
When: Thursday, January 11: Free gallery opening at 5:00 p.m.; Concert at 7:30
p.m.
Where: Louisa Performing Arts Center at The Colorado Springs School, 21
Broadmoor Avenue.
Tickets: $15.00 for adults, $10.00 for students and seniors available at
the concert or by calling 475-9747, ext, 110.
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