The Nassau Music Society

Bringing quality music to The Bahamas!

The Nassau Music Society
P.O. Box SP-61476
Nassau, Bahamas, N.P.
Bahamas

Society News

You will find a series of articles and news in general about the Nassau Music Society and its efforts to support and promote music in The Bahamas.

Nassau Music Society's Quartetto Gelato Melts Hearts
By Anita L. MacDonald
for The Guardan
Published February 25, 2011

The Nassau Music Society under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency Sir Arthur D. Foulkes, Governor General of The Bahamas, was delighted to present Quartetto Gelato at the College of the Bahamas on Friday night. In his opening remarks, Patrick Thomson reminded us that the Nassau Music Society had been established in 1961 by E. Clement Bethel, whose widow, the eminent educator and past President of COB , Dr. Keva Eldon Bethel, was recently deceased and gratefully remembered in a moment of respectful silence.
Quartetto Gelato comprises four multi-talented Canadian musicians possessed of great virtuosity and wit, and with a taste for sparklingly exotic plumage. The laugh lines throughout and the costume changes between the first and second halves of this eclectic, ethnic programme were highly entertaining. You had to be there!
Founding member Peter de Sotto is both an outstanding gypsy violinist and an operatic tenor, with his Estonian background evident in his blond mane, and his Italian background obvious in his powerful voice and impassioned delivery. Indeed, Mr. de Sotto’s voce was anything but sotto, particularly in the last two pieces on the programme. He was resplendent in a dark silver lamé jacket, as befitted the lead vocalist and violinist.
QUARTETTO GELATO
The Tribune -
Published On: Wednesday, February 16, 2011
A UNIQUE multi-instrument quartet whose music once accompanied a Canadian astronaut on a NASA flight into space will be performing two concerts in Nassau this weekend.
The Nassau Music Society presents 'Quartetto Gelato', which for over a decade now has dazzled audiences and critics around the world with classical masterworks, operatic arias, the sizzling energy of tangos, gypsy and folk songs.
The well-known Canadian ensemble is comprised of Peter DeSoto (tenor, violin, mandolin); Alexander Sevastian (accordion, piano, bandoneon); Elizabeth McLellan (cello), and Colin Maier (oboe, clarinet, English horn and many more).
The first concert will take place this Friday at the College of the Bahamas Performing Arts Centre at 8pm.
Then on Saturday, the quartet will perform at St Paul's Church Hall, Lyford Cay at 7.30pm.
Audiences can expect a repertoire that travels the globe.
The programme will include Tango Del Mare, Konzerstuck Opus 79 , Al Di, Oboe Concerto, Meditango, Suite Latinoamericana and Besame Mucho, among others.
In addition to these two concerts and as a part of the Nassau Music Society's programme to educate young Bahamian musicians, Quartetto Gelato will hold a free master class tomorrow from 12noon-2pm at the Performing Arts Centre of the College of the Bahamas.
Attendance is free and open to those who would like to watch and learn.
The concerts were organised by the Music Society in association with Societe Generale Private Banking, Colina, Royal Star Assurance, and Pictet.
The two-night event is being held under the patronage of Governor-General Sir Arthur Foulkes.
Nassau Music Society's Members' Evening Delights Audience
THE NASSAU GUARDIAN - Nassau, Bahamas
Published on January 29, 2011
Submitted by Anita L. MacDonald, MMus, MS, MBA, GPC /MIS
The Nassau Music Society sponsored a Members’ Evening at Government House Saturday night. The concert, expertly managed from its inception to its conclusion by Simone Fitzcharles, Partner with the Lennox Paton law firm and Secretary of the Nassau Music Society, was performed by and for members as well as by representatives of the Bel Canto Singers and COB music students. It was an eclectic programme, offering something for everyone.
We first heard flautist Shavincia Thomas play Chevalier De Saint Georges’ Scena from Ernestine and Passard’s Andalouse. Ms. Thomas is the Nassau Music Society’s most recent scholarship winner. Both she and her accompanist, pianist Calvin Parker, are COB students. ()
Acclaimed opera night is set for an encore performance
THE TRIBUNE - Nassau Bahamas
Published on Thursday, January 27, 2011

BIZET-Broadway, an annual operatic evening in Montreal, Canada made its debut in Nassau on over the weekend to rave reviews.
And, opera lovers will be glad to learn, the concert was such a resounding success - raising $20,000 for a voice scholarship fund - that the organisers have decided to hold it again next year.
Unlike other such events, where performers are confined to the restrictions of a stage, the Bizet-Broadway singers performed among the guests, creating an intimate atmosphere in which the audience become part of the performance.
The elegant black tie event saw more than 150 guests treated to a Champaign reception and gourmet dinner before being captivated by four of Canada's top operatic talents.....
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
The Tribune - Nassau, Bahamas
Published On:Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Submitted by Anita L MacDonald, MMus, MS, MBA, GPC/MIS

The "Bizet - Broadway Night at the Opera" was presented in association with the Nassau Music Society under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency Sir Arthur D Foulkes, Governor General of the Bahamas, at the Old Fort Bay Club on Saturday night.
The concert, the proceeds from which will go to inaugurate a voice scholarship fund, was generously and expertly arranged by Cornelia and Alexis Nihon in conjunction with Sandra Wilson, who had originated the event in Montreal in 2005.
Much appreciated assistance was provided by Liz Covington, Melissa Maura, Rosemarie Alexiou, Patrick Thomson and Italia Watkins-Jan. In addition, the room decorations and dinner table settings by Floral Arts looked absolutely lovely, and beautifully set the scene for the evening
By ANITA L. MACDONALD For the Guardian on 11/19/2010

REVIEW - Stanford Olsen, the current extremely accomplished guest artist of the Nassau Music Society’s 2010 fall season, offered a Vocal Master Class at College of The Bahamas (COB) to young adult Bahamians. Participating vocalists included soprano Candace Bostwick, who sang Rossini’s Inflammatus from the Stabat Mater; tenor Demetrius Delancey, who sang von Flotow’s M’appari tutt’amor from the opera Martha; tenor Kent Forbes, who sang Mallotte’s The Lord’s Prayer; and baritone Allan Butler, who sang Mendelssohn’s It Is Enough from the oratorio Elijah. Piano accompanists were Dr. Christy Lee of COB and Dion Cunningham of Eldridge McPhee’s Bel Canto Singers. Ms. Bostwick, known to many for her role as Treemonisha, and Mr. Butler also ably represented the Bel Canto Singers. Mr. Delancey and Mr. Forbes joined us from the High Grove Singers.
Tenor Stanford Olsen is as enjoyable and expert a vocal coach as he is a singer. Professor of Voice and Shelfer Eminent Scholar at Florida State University at Tallahassee, Mr. Olsen focused on the individual’s musical style, helping each to articulate and then “sell” his or her message by transmitting the excitement and/or urgency of the text, and by capitalizing on the singer’s chosen mode of vocal delivery. He did this by exploring a variety of articulations to lend weight to the notes and by presenting a palette of dynamic shadings. Mr. Olsen also stressed that the singer must remain emotionally engaged throughout the piece, not cutting in and out. He suggested that one way to facilitate this is to select the most important word in a phrase so that it becomes not just a noun or a verb, but rather something that is truly meaningful. All the techniques that Mr. Olsen advanced were used in the service of the text and the music.
Mr. Olsen also offered suggestions to the accompanists as well. Noting that being a good accompanist is quite different from being a good soloist, Mr. Olsen said that the accompanist must be especially careful to play full orchestral reductions more transparently so that the singer doesn’t have to overcome the thick orchestral texture and the percussiveness of the piano. On the other hand, the singer needs to invite the accompanist into a close collaboration in order to be wafted into the musical embrace of the accompanist. Both then need to invite the audience into the spirit of their joint testimony.
Among the other suggestions imparted by Mr. Olsen were to think strategically about how to enable the audience to share one’s artistic vision; to use the phonetic alphabet translation of songs in foreign languages with which one is not familiar; to start singing vowels on the beat, meaning that consonants should precede the vowels so that the vowels will not be late; to sing into or through the consonants instead of stopping or popping them; to exaggerate the “squareness” of rhythms with more precise, sharper execution of sixteenth notes, thus treating them a bit more like unaccented grace notes; to sing two adjacent notes on “ah” very slowly to train a vibrato and then to get progressively faster; not to apologize for taking breaths, since the intake of air is part of expressive language, but rather to make the time for deep breaths as needed by shortening the previous note; and, in a related fashion, to exhale completely at the end of a phrase so that one’s body begs for a huge intake of air which can then be used to support and energize the following phrase.
Stanford Olsen is not only a great teacher, but also a warmly humorous yet gentle human being. Being a vocal student under his tutelage would also mean being a student of Life. He is eloquent and expressive without being the least bit pedantic. One feels that he is saying, “Come, let’s explore this wonderful music and our feelings about it together.” That is not only communication, but also respectful, artistic communion.
The Tribune
Published On:Tuesday, November 02, 2010
THE Nassau Music Society has begun its 2010 -2011 season. Sir Arthur Foulkes, Governor General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas will be the patron and once again the society has organised events that will interest the public and provide a variety of genres of good, quality music. Concerts are scheduled at the Ballroom at Government House, the recently renovated College of the Bahamas Performing Arts Centre, and St Paul's Church Hall.
The season continues this weekend with a concert by Stanford Olsen -Tenor and Christy Lee - Piano "From Bach to Britten":
Friday - November 5,- Government House - 8pm
Sunday - November 7 - St Paul's Church Hall. Lyford Cay - 5.30pm
One of this generation's most versatile concert performers, Stanford Olsen regularly performs with the world's top orchestras and conductors in repertory from Bach to Béla Bartók. He will perform with Christy Lee, assistant professor at the College of the Bahamas in Nassau where she teaches piano, theory, and is Director of the COB Concert Choir. Dr Lee holds the DM in Accompanying and Chamber Music from Florida State University where she was the recipient of the prestigious University Fellowship and the Gwendolyn Koldofsky Accompanying Award.
Nassau Music Society's Jue Wang gives concert and master class at COB
The Tribune - Nassau, Bahamas
Published On:Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Submitted by Anita L MacDonald, MMus, MS, MBA, GPC/MIS
A standing ovation was the well-deserved response to a bravura piano recital performed with grace and style by Chinese pianist Jue Wang at the Nassau Music Society's season opener at the College of the Bahamas Performing Arts Centre Saturday night.
Mr Wang, the 26-year-old First Prize Winner of the Santander International Piano Competition as well as of many other awards too numerous to mention, awed and delighted the audience with a programme well-suited to his sparkling, crystalline technique and to his moving, evocative renditions as well. ....
See Jue' s performance (encore) at the College of the Bahamas
President's Report 2009-2010
The Nassau Music Society held its AGM in May. Below is the President's Report for the 2009-2010 Season.
This Season has seen some changes within the Society as we have tried to improve our administration and organise our affairs in a more appropriate manner.
Our concert season as you will hear was successful although we had to cancel one concert in February due to the weather in New York when the flights of our performers were cancelled.
We had more students attending our concerts than ever before and our audiences seemed thrilled with the performances of the artists who generally received standing ovations. We would of course like to see larger audiences but we were largely happy with the numbers we had attending.... (click here to read more)
$80,000 Donation Creates the Nassau Music Society Entrance Scholarship at The College of The Bahamas
26th October, 2009
Nassau, BAHAMAS
The Nassau Music Society has made an $80,000 donation to The College of The Bahamas to fund four major entrance scholarships of $5,000 per year, with total value of $20,000 per award.
This donation represents the Nassau Music Society’s largest donation to The College of The Bahamas . It also represents the largest scholarship specifically for the study of music at The College. The donation will allow for one new music scholarship to be awarded every two years starting this academic year and ending in 2018.(click here to read more)
Nassau Music Society Supports Bel Canto Concerts
In addition to organising its own concerts, The Nassau Music Society lends a helping hand, financially and logistically, whenever possible and within its financial means, to other deserving Bahamian groups and organisations. Mr. Patrick Thomson, President, is seen here donating funds to Me. Eldridge McPhee, Founding Directo of the Bel Canto Singers for their Spring concert this year.