For Immediate Release
Contact: Barbara Dawson, 856-981-9388
Music Around the County Announces New Season of Concerts
The Music Around the County team is excited to announce the 2014-2015 musical season
concert series. Music Around the County programming traditionally features the artists and pipe
organs of Salem County but this season we have expanded the selection to include some
musical guests from beyond Salem County. Mark your calendars!
The first program of the season will be “New Jersey Composers Celebrate New Jersey”
featuring the Bay Atlantic Symphony Chamber Ensemble on Sunday, October 5 at 3:00 PM in
the Pennsville Memorial High School auditorium. The concert is part of the year-long
celebration of New Jersey’s 350th anniversary and is sponsored by the Pennsville National
Bank, the Salem County Freeholders and the NJ State Council on the Arts. The concert will
feature a repertoire of music composed in New Jersey inspired by the local landscape and
history. The Bay Atlantic Symphony Chamber Ensemble is a 6 player chamber orchestra (flute,
clarinet, violin, viola, violoncello and piano). Pennsville Memorial High School is located at 110
South Broadway in Pennsville.
Our annual concert of spooky music, “Tunes from the Crypt”, usually held on the Friday night
before Halloween, will not be held this year since the sanctuary at St. John’s Episcopal Church
is undergoing major renovation and is not available for our program. “Tunes” will return to our
programming next year in the restored sanctuary.
Next up is an annual favorite, “Pictures and Pipes”, on Saturday, November 15, at 7:00 PM in
Elmer Methodist Church. This year’s movie will be Buster Keaton’s, “The General”, with music
provided by Wayne Zimmerman on the Church’s 1958 Wicks Organ. The program will take the
audience back to the days of the silent film era. This is Wayne Zimmerman’s fifth
appearance in a Music Around the County program. He studied piano for seven years
and organ for three. Through the 1960s and 1970s, he served as organist at the
Lansdowne Theatre, in Lansdowne, PA, the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby, PA, and the
Brookline Theatre in Havertown, PA, providing Theatre Pipe Organ music before and
between the featured movies. In June 1990 he was engaged as organist for the newly
opened Merlin Theatre in suburban Philadelphia, where he appeared on Friday and
Saturday evenings for more than three years. He has concertized from coast to coast
and in Hawaii and performed locally for the Delaware Valley Theatre Organ Society,
Garden State Theatre Organ Society, Dickinson Theatre Organ Society and on the
famous Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia. He enjoys performing the theater organ
standards and accompanying silent films and “sing-alongs.” The Elmer United
Methodist Church is located at 21 South Main Street in Elmer. There is free parking
and the Church is handicapped-accessible.
The first concert of the Spring will feature the Wilmington Handbell Ensemble on Sunday, April
12 at 4 PM in the Davidow auditorium at Salem Community College. The Wilmington Handbell
Ensemble was founded by Michael Helman in 2000 and is the only community based
handbell ensemble in Wilmington. Membership is by audition or invitation and the group
draws from various church bell choirs in New Castle County. The purpose of the
Wilmington Handbell Ensemble is to educate and introduce audiences to the beautiful
and varied repertoire for handbells as well as promote excellence in musicianship
among its members. In addition to their own concerts, the Ensemble has played at
Longwood Gardens, First Night Wilmington, Delaware Art Museum, Christmas in Old
New Castle, Salem County Christmas Open Houses in Salem and Woodstown. They
have also been featured with the Rainbow Chorale of Delaware and the Wilmington
Madrigal Singers in their holiday concerts.
Wrapping up the season will be “Pop Goes the Classical” at 3 PM on Sunday, May 15, featuring
pianist Joseph Krupa and baritone, Robert Edwin. Experience the magnificent acoustics of the
First Presbyterian Church on historic Market Street in Salem in a program of classical music and
the popular music inspired by it. Joseph Krupa, Director of Music at Salem Presbyterian Church
received a Master of Music (Piano Performance) from the University of Calgary
(Canada). He performs solo recitals and chamber music recitals also serves as
accompanist and conductor for opera and musical theatre productions at community,
high school, and college, and other private productions. Since 1990, he has been
based in the Philadelphia, PA area. Krupa serves on the Music Around the County
Planning Team. In recent years, he and Robert Edwin have been experimenting with
combining different genres of music and first premiered “Pop Goes the Classical” on
April Fools’ Day in 2006 in suburban Philadelphia. Edwin is known internationally as a
singer, songwriter, teacher and author. His repertoire ranges from Bach cantatas in
cathedrals to rock songs in Greenwich Village coffeehouses. Edwin has toured
throughout the United States and abroad and has appeared with famous artists
including opera star, Jerome Hines, and jazz legend Duke Ellington.
The concerts are open to the public and there is no admission charge although donations are
appreciated. For information go to www.VisitSalemCountyNJ.com . For more information about
Music Around the County programs, contact Joanne Owen at 856-769-3212.