Bay-Atlantic Symphony Sponsors November Music Lecture Series

OCEAN CITY – Learn about the influences in music after the American Revolution at the November series of free music lectures by Paul M. Somers, sponsored by the Bay-Atlantic Symphony.
In this third installment of a four-part series examining the effects of history on music during the last two centuries, you will see how the American experience after the Revolution was captured in music borne out of freedom and slavery. This will be done with musical examples of composers such as William Billings, William Henry Fry, and Louis Moreau Gottschalk. You will also learn about influences as the Moravians, shape-notes and minstrelsy in this music lecture.
The lectures will take place on Nov. 13, from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the Ocean City Public Library, Room 110, 1735 Simpson Ave., Ocean City; Nov. 15, from 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the Margate Public Library, 8100 Atlantic Ave., Margate; and Nov. 19, from 6 – 7:30 p.m. in the Community Event Room of the Vineland Public Library, 1058 E. Landis Ave., Vineland.
The four-part series concludes in December with an exploration of music between the 20th century wars –from Irving Berlin to the Beatles and beyond.
The November lecture in Gloucester County will take place on Tuesday, November 6, from 6:30 – 8 p.m., and will continue the exploration of nationalism in music with a survey of the music of Italy and Spain. Gloucester County lectures take place at the Monroe Township Library, 713 Marsha Ave., Williamstown. This series will also conclude in December with an exploration of the national music of North and South America.
Subsequent lectures for the 2012 – 2013 season will explore The Golden Thread – an unbroken line of connections from medieval chant to Gershwin, how composers work and folk literature in composed music, along with a question and answer session in April and a Fresh Ears® experience in May.
Somers, Adult Education Director for the Bay-Atlantic Symphony is also a composer, performer, the founder of Maurice River Music, the harpsichordist for the Virtuoso Strings of New York for 25 years, and was a reviewer for the Star-Ledger.
All Bay-Atlantic Symphony music lectures are co-sponsored by the libraries in which they given.
For further information, call the Bay-Atlantic Symphony at 856-451-1169 or Somers at Maurice River Music at 856-506-0580. For the Gloucester County series, you can also call the Monroe Township Library in Williamstown at 856-629-1212; for the Cape May County series, you can also call the Ocean City Public Library at 609-399-2434; for the Cumberland County series, you can also call the Vineland Public Library at 856-794-4244; and for the Atlantic County series, you can also call the Margate Public Library at 609-822-4700.