Showing posts with label Rebecca Anstine Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rebecca Anstine Smith. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Free noon harp and organ concert March 2, St. John's, Lafayette Square

Michael Lodico and Rebecca Smith/St. John's Episcopal Church

The Washington, D.C. premiere of Peter Mathews' Fantaisie for Harp and Organ will be presented in a noontime concert Wednesday at St. John's Episcopal Church by the Lafayette Square Duo with organist Michael Lodico and harpist Rebecca Smith.

The performance is part of the church's First Wednesday Concerts series and shall include this Wednesday a set of Irish jigs (for an early start on St. Paddy's Day) and "colorful" hymns.
 
The musicians are dedicating Fantaisie to Ms. Smith's mentor, Jeanne Chalifoux Goddin, and Mr. Lodico's daughter, Florence Asha Lodico. 

Ms. Smith and Mr. Lodico first teamed up in 2010 when they performed with the choir at St. John’s where Mr. Lodico is interim director of music ministry and organist. The duo have played at many area venues and at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston.

Mr. Lodico is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and a 2004 recipient of a Fulbright grant for graduate study in the Netherlands on historic instruments.


Ms. Smith is a former principal harpist for the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and teaches at St. Mary's College and Anne Arundel Community College. She graduated from Dickinson College and received a M.M. from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Ms. Smith studied at the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony and at Tanglewood Institute. In 2008 she recorded Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols with the Washington National Cathedral Girls Choir.

 St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie
 

St. John's is known to many Washington residents as the yellow church at Lafayette Square and is often called the “Church of the Presidents” since beginning with James Madison who was president from 1809 to 1817, every president has been a member of St. John's or has attended services at the church. A plaque at the rear of the church designates the pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by St. John's during the Civil War.

This year the church celebrates its bicentennial, and its history and stained-glass windows are described in books and booklets available at St. John's.

First Wednesday concerts begin at 12:10 p.m. and last about 35 minutes. Food trucks are located two blocks away at Farragut Square.

Who: Rebecca Smith and Michael Lodico in concert


What: First Wednesday Concerts

When: 12:10 p.m., March 2, 2016

Where: St. John’s, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW, at the corner of 16th, Washington, D.C. 20005

How much: No charge

Duration: About 35 minutes

Wheelchair accessible


Metro stations: McPherson Square (White House exit), Farragut North, or Farragut West

For more information: Contact Michael Lodico at 202-270-6265.

Future dates and artists of the First Wednesday Concerts are:

April 6: Soloists from St. John's Choir will sing.

May 4: The U.S. Air Force Strings Chamber Orchestra with harpsichordist Brandon Straub will play Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.

June 1: Concert organist Roderick Demmings, Jr., will play works by Bach, Wammes, and Widor.

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Friday, July 5, 2013

Free harp and organ concert Sunday at Immaculate Conception




Michael Lodico will play the organ and Rebecca Anstine Smith, the harp, in a free concert at 6 p.m. July 7 at Crypt Church, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.


The Lafayette Square Duo, composed of Michael Lodico on the organ and Rebecca Anstine Smith on the harp, will play Fantasy in F-Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and "Rhapsodic Poem" by Dewey Owens (1925-2006) at Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday.

It will be the first performance in the church's 2013 summer organ recital series.

This Sunday's program will also include "O Festive Day" (Dan Locklair, b. 1949), "Wondrous Love Variations" (Daniel Pinkham, 1923-2006, with arrangement by Burton/Lodico), "Aria in Classic Style" (Marcel Grandjany, 1891-1975), "Salamanca" (Guy Bovet, b. 1942), and "Prelude in A" (Henry Martin, b. 1950).

Ms. Anstine Smith and Mr. Lodico first teamed up in 2010 when they performed with the choir at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, where Mr. Lodico is the assistant organist, choir director, and artistic director of the church's First Wednesday Concert series.  



He is also keyboard artist at St. Albans and National Cathedral schools, and director of choral activities at St. Anselm’s Abbey School in Washington.

Mr. Lodico is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, and a 2004 recipient of a Fulbright grant for graduate study on historic instruments in the Netherlands.


Ms. Anstine Smith is a former principal harpist for the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra who teaches at St. Mary's College and Anne Arundel Community College.  She graduated from Dickinson College and received a M.M. from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. She studied at the Salzedo Summer Harp Colony and at Tanglewood Institute. In 2008 she recorded Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols with the Washington National Cathedral Girls Choir.
Who: Rebecca Anstine Smith and Michael Lodico
What: Harp and organ concert
When:  6 p.m., July 7, 2013
Where: Crypt Church, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, 400 Michigan Avenue, N.E., Washington, D.C.
How much:  It's free
Metro station:  Brookland/CUA