Spencertown, New York – Spencertown Academy Arts Center will host two benefit concerts for Kids Need Music (www.KidsNeedMusic.org) — one on Saturday, April 2 at 3:00 p.m. and the other on Sunday, April 3 at 2:00 p.m. “Metamorphoses: A Recital of Songs by Mozart, Poulenc, and Ives” will feature acclaimed soprano Amanda Boyd accompanied by Timothy Dunne on piano. All proceeds will be used to purchase band instruments to be donated to the Hudson City School District. Tickets ($30 general admission) may be purchased in advance via www.spencertownacademy.org.
“The metamorphic essence of these songs reflects our lives as we emerge from pandemic hibernation to evolving beginnings,” says Kids Need Music President Craig Bender. “Kids Need Music is a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that underprivileged schools have musical instruments for their music programs. Now more than ever, we need to support access to music education for everyone!”
Soprano Amanda Boyd has been hailed by critics as one of Britain’s “Rising Stars.” She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she won the Susan Longfield prize and was supported by the Countess of Munster Trust. She also trained at the National Opera Studio in London, where she was supported by Friends of Covent Garden and the Foundation for Sports and the Arts. Boyd was coached and supported by Elizabeth Vaughan and Dame Janet Baker throughout her training. She has appeared in countless operatic and contemporary roles in Rome, London, and Lincoln Center, as well as locally in Columbia County and Albany. Her credits also include the leading role in the film "Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor." Under BoydSong, she continues to keep the Art Song repertoire alive, regularly performing recitals with piano, her trio Trimonious, and other chamber groups in concert halls, private homes, and galleries both in the USA and Europe.
Composer and pianist Timothy Dunne has written music for orchestra, choir, chamber music, and solo instruments. A native New Yorker, he lived much of his adult life in St. Petersburg, Russia, whereas a pianist, he was afforded the auspicious opportunity to give several first performances of important works by Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, and Pierre Boulez—pillars of European modernism and major influences on his own work. A resident of Austerlitz for the past 13 years, he is involved in teaching, researching, and designing alternative approaches to music education.
Proof of vaccination or proof of a negative Covid 19 test will be required for admission, seating will be distanced and limited, masks are optional. The Academy has installed air purifiers in the auditorium. This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Spencertown Academy arts organization, and the 175th year since the Academy was built as a school in 1847. Now an all-volunteer organization, it offers a varied schedule of concerts, lectures, classes, and gallery shows. Its signature events—Hidden Gardens, Revels, and the Festival of Books—are yearly highlights. This summer, the anniversaries of the building and the organization will be celebrated together with a day-long community festival.
Housed in a landmark 1847 Greek Revival schoolhouse, the Academy is located at 790 State Route 203 in Spencertown, New York.
For more information, please contact info@spencertownacademy.org.
