TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2021
Conductor Miriam Burns Brings
New Chamber Orchestra
to Grace Church in The Plains
Chamber Series starts October 17th

Traditional Grace Church Concert Series
Starts October 3rd
MIRIAM BURNS BY LELAND SCHWARTZ
Growing The Plains as a regional center for music and the arts, conductor Miriam Burns is bringing the new Paragon Philharmonia chamber orchestra to Grace Church.

The first concert, ‘A Joyous Beginning,’ will be held on Sunday, October 17 at 5pm, with the Chamber Orchestra performing the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, a Mendelssohn String Symphony and Mozart’s Symphony No. 29.

Paragon Philharmonia joins the acclaimed two-decade-old Grace Church Concert Series, which will start its season on Sunday, October 3rd with Music from the Heart: A Celebration of Connection in Aria and Song with sopranos Camille Zamora and Monica Yunus and pianist Josephine Riggs.
A resident of New York City, Miriam Burns serves as Visiting Professor and Director of Orchestral Studies at The Ohio State University and is Principal Guest Conductor of the Youngstown Symphony. Recent past music directorships include the former Tysons McLean Orchestra of Northern Virginia, the Tallahassee Symphony, Kenosha Symphony, Lawton Philharmonic, and she has guest conducted numerous orchestras in the US and abroad.

Ms. Burns was also on staff with the New York Philharmonic as one of the cover conductors for eight years serving under music directors Kurt Masur and Loren Maazel, having been invited as a result of a competitive audition.

Paragon comes to Grace through the efforts of Lena Scott Lundh, the former Chair of Washington Performing Arts, and Grace Church Rev. Weston Mathews.
REV. WESTON MATHEWS AND LENA SCOTT LUNDH BY LELAND SCHWARTZ
“No matter who you are or where you come from you are welcome to participate in everything Grace Church offers,” Rev. Mathews said, adding that “music is one of the universal languages that helps knit us all together.”

“I agree,” says Ms. Scott Lundh. “Music can of course be just entertaining, but also serious, helping in healing and uniting us in times of sorrow and divisiveness.

“Now, 20 years after 9/11, we remember how people in New York came together in the aftermath of the horrific tragedy, singing We Shall Overcome and America the Beautiful while orchestras around the world presented the requiems of Brahms and Mozart.

“Music also has the ability to speak to us without words, expressing feelings and emotions, helping us understand life with our hearts rather than our minds,” Ms. Scott Lundh said.”
Grace Church and Paragon Philharmonia will focus on three areas of collaboration:

  • Hosting a new series of accessible, high-quality concerts for the community that will complement the long-established Grace Concert Series. 

  • Partnering with the Church’s Director of Music, Jason Farris, and the Grace Church Choir for concerts and enhanced congregational worship, and

  • Musical outreach to youth in the community, including local schools in the Northern Piedmont region.

The Grace Church Concert Series, created 22 years ago, is funded in part through the generosity of Mrs. Jacqueline Mars in memory of her mother, Mrs. Forrest Mars, who was devoted to music and loved Grace Church.

Grace Church is also home to Dark Horse Theatre and Shakespeare Opera Theatre, the Piedmont Regional Art Show and Sale and The Piedmont Singers at Grace.

In addition, a new film organization, the Piedmont Film Club, will show a movie the third Thursday of every month starting Oct 21st. The first film will be David Attenborough’s “A Life On Our Planet” described as “a powerful first-hand account of humanity’s impact on nature and a message of hope for future generations.”
The Season Schedule

Sunday, October 3, 2021 (Grace Church Concert Series) 
‘Music from the Heart: A Celebration of Connection in Aria and Song’ with sopranos Camille Zamora and Monica Yunus and pianist Josephine Riggs.

Sunday, October 17, 2021 (Paragon Philharmonia) 
‘A Joyous Beginning’. Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, Mendelssohn String Symphony No. 10 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 29.

Sunday, November 14, 2021 (Grace Church Concert Series)
Carl Reinecke, Sonata “Undine,” Op. 167, Sergei Prokofiev, Sonata in D Major; Anthony Trionfo, flute; Albert Cano Smit, piano.

Sunday, November 21, 2021 (Paragon Philharmonia)
‘Fall Fanfare’. Revel in the majesty of our Brass Quintet with a special guest appearance by Grace Church organist Jason Farris. Music by Albinoni, Scheidt, Bernstein, Widor, Ellington and others.

Sunday, December 12, 2021 (Paragon Philharmonia) 
‘A Baroque Christmas’. Comfort and joy! Relish both the solemnity and exuberance of Baroque orchestral music and be filled with holiday cheer. Music of Corelli, Bach, Telemann and others, featuring a collaboration with the Grace Church Choir in excerpts from Vivaldi’s beloved ‘Gloria’.

Sunday, January 30, 2022 (Paragon Philharmonia) 
‘Ringing in the Year’. Join us for an afternoon of sublime chamber music featuring Schubert’s monumental “Cello Quintet.” Program to also include works by Chevalier de Saint-Georges and others.

Sunday, February 27, 2022 (Grace Church Concert Series) 
‘From Darkness’. Thomas Tallis, If ye love me; J. S. Bach, Ein feste Burg; Stacey V. Gibbs, This Little Light of mine, The King’s Singers.

Sunday, March 20, 2022 (Paragon Philharmonia) 
‘Spring Celebration’. Usher in the freshness of springtime with this delightful, varied orchestral program. Boyce Symphony No. 1, Piazzolla Primavera Porteña, Walker Lyric for Strings and Copland Appalachian Spring.

Sunday, April 24, 2022 (Grace Church Concert Series)
Johannes Brahms, Andante from Symphony No. 3 Robert Schumann, Cello Concerto in A Minor, op. 129 Henry Mancini, Theme from The Pink Panther, Amit Peled Cello Gang, Amit Peled, Conductor.
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