Winterthur Museum Collaboration: A Great Success With More to Come

UD String Quartet at Winterthur

Much to the delight of audiences and performers alike, the University of Delaware and Winterthur Museum and Estate is making great music happen on the Winterthur campus. Our opening season performances included the Faculty Jazz Ensemble in late September, the Graduate String Quartet in late October, Delaware Steel and Vocal Synthesis during the holiday season. We are looking forward to spring concerts and invite you to join us for wonder afternoons of listening to beautiful, delving into historical exhibits and strolling through the Winterthur gardens.

Last fall the Faculty Jazz Ensemble (Vernon James and Todd Groves, saxophone; Harvey Price, vibraphone; Michael Arenson, piano; Craig Thomas, bass; and Tom Palmer, drums) offered original compositions and new twists on old standards to a very appreciative audience in Copeland Lecture Hall. The applause was genuine and the faculty pleased with the facility and happy with the prospect of introducing new audiences to Music at Delaware.

On October 29, we did something very special. One could say, “We dressed the Quartet in history.” Our four talented ensemble members (Stephanie McCullough and Anna Parks, violin; Courtney Boyd, viola; and Heather Hanson, cello) became part of the Fashion in Film: Period Costumes for the Screen exhibition. Presented as the integral part of an early 18 th Century tableau, the musicians were dressed in Jane Austen period costumes, set in a period room and performed Haydn’s “Opus 5 for String Quartet” and Handel’s “Hornpipe” and “Aria” from his Water Music. The beautifully played music resounded throughout the museum halls and rooms, filling the Charleston Room to capacity with a very appreciative audience.

Delaware Steel opened a series of Yuletide lunchtime concerts on December 1. The 18-piece ensemble had museum goers dancing happily (with food trays in hand) while they qued up for a cafeteria-style lunch in the Winterthur Restaurant at the museum’s Visitor Center.

Holiday events also included caroling by Vocal Synthesis, an a cappella group made up of 12 talented music majors and directed by Christopher McGinley, senior – Music Education. On four consecutive Fridays, the ensemble strolled through the Visitor’s Center and Restaurant caroling to audiences of 100 to 150 smiling patrons.

A short tram ride away, as sightseers filed through the Exhibit Hall Center to various museum exhibits, the carolers performed in front of the enormous beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Their voices wafted through the vaulted ceilings and echoed through the museum exhibit halls. The students were delighted with their audiences and the various museum venues. During breaks they strolled through the exhibits vowing to come back for other museum offerings.

This spring, Music at Delaware and Winterthur Museum of Estate continue to offer fine music. The esteemed faculty ensemble, Del’Arte Quintet, will appear in the Copeland Lecture Hall on Sunday, March 4 at 3:00 p.m. As part of the major museum exhibit, Quilts in a Material World, the UD Chorale will be featured in a “Choral Quilt” of 19 th and 20 th century music. The Graduate String Quartet will perform as part of the Quilts in a Material World exhibit in the exhibition entrance hall entrance on Sunday, April 22 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Closing the season will be the UD Brass Choir under the direction of Dr. Donald J. Hildebrandt. They will be in concert at Copeland Lecture Hall on Saturday, May 12, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.

Del’Arte, Chorale and UD Brass Choir will be ticketed events. Remember the price of tickets includes general admission to exhibits and a tour of the estate garden. Please call Winterthur Information and Tours Office at 302.888.4600 for more information and ticket sales. Check dates, times and ticket prices at www.winterthur.org.