The Need for Reed

CONCERT INFO

TWO AMAZING CONCERTS:

Saturday, June 14th at 7PM and Sunday, June 15th at 3PM

Piano by Nature is looking forward to presenting both concerts at the beautiful Hand House and warmly invites you to join us for two memorable days of music, refreshments, and post-concert conversation with our engaging artists.

Doors will open 30 minutes before the performance, and we recommend arriving early to avoid check-in lines. PBN requests a donation of $20 per concert ticket; $5 for children aged 15 and under, or call and volunteer—we’ll offer free admission! Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Reservations are still encouraged due to limited availability. You can reserve your spot via email at pianobynature@gmail.com or by phone at 518-962-8899. We look forward to seeing you there!

 “I feel the need, the need for reed.” —Top Gun. Right?  🙂

“Over twenty thousand years ago, primitive man noticed that a piece of hollow cane or dried-up fruit shell could make a sound if blown in a certain way. If vocal music was the first man-made music and percussion the second, wind instruments would undoubtedly be the third (and the first melody-making instrument). The idea that a dead bone or cut plant had a voice of its own was not simply considered interesting; it was magic – used to aid man with his communication with the world of spirits, to cure illness, protect crops, etc.” —Read more in A Brief History of Wind Instruments.

OUR PERFORMERS

Todd W. Pray currently serves as the District Band Director at Peru Central School, where he conducts three Concert Bands, directs the Jazz, Marching, and Pep Bands, and teaches small group woodwind, brass, and percussion lessons to students in grades 4-12. He also serves as Adjunct Faculty/Saxophone Instructor at SUNY Plattsburgh and teaches a private saxophone studio made up of students of all ages.

Aside from his teaching career, Pray maintains an active performance schedule, regularly appearing with the Frontier Saxophone Quartet (recipients of a 2007 Rockefeller Philanthropy Grant through North Country Public Radio’s UpNorth Music project), the Adirondack Wind Ensemble (AWE), the Northern Symphonic Winds (NSW), and the Adirondack Jazz Orchestra (AJO). He also appears periodically as guest soloist or woodwind player for a wide variety of ensembles. He has been fortunate enough to play in Alice Tully Hall at New York City’s Lincoln Center, and performances with various ensembles have enabled him to perform throughout the Eastern United States and Canada.

Pray has directed the Adirondack Youth Orchestra since January of 2008. He has also led the CCMEA All-County Band and Symphony Orchestra and served as conductor for several Broadway-style musicals presented by Peru Music Theatre and Adirondack Regional Theatre.

Mr. Pray received his Master’s Degree in Saxophone Performance and Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the Ithaca College School of Music in Ithaca, NY, while studying with renowned saxophonist and pedagogue Dr. Steven Mauk. He also holds an Associate’s Degree in Music Education and Performance from Schenectady County Community College in Schenectady, NY, where he studied with saxophonist, clarinetist, and conductor Mr. Brett Wery.

Janine Scherline is a highly regarded clarinetist, chamber musician, soloist and instructor based in the Adirondack region. She has performed at venues across Europe, Canada and the U.S., including Lincoln Center, and participated in masterclasses with prominent clarinetists including Larry Coombs, James Campbell, Howard Klug and Richard Stoltzman. Locally, Janine has performed with the Northern Symphonic Winds, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Trillium Chamber Players and Metamusic, and is principal clarinetist of the Adirondack Wind Ensemble. She holds degrees from James Madison University, Ithaca College and has studied at McGill University. Outside of her musical work, Janine is the Director of Development for the Adirondack Council, where she engages with donors and members who support and advocate for environmental conservation and policy in and across the Adirondack Park. In her free time, she enjoys snowshoeing and gardening, and spending time with her husband and two cats.

Jennifer Moore has taught PreK-12 music in the Northern Adirondacks of New York State for nearly 20 years. Her own educational journey includes a BFA in Piano Performance from Purchase College, SUNY, graduate work in Vocal Accompanying and Coaching at Westminster Choir College, a MM in Music Education from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam, and is currently a DMA candidate in Music Education at Boston University focusing on rural music education research. Additionally, Jennifer spent three summers studying choral conducting at the Choral Institute at Oxford as an Associate and Full Conductor at St. Stephen’s House, Oxford (UK).

Choral music has been at the heart of much of Jennifer’s musical life. As a high school student, she had the opportunity to attend the Gregg Smith Vocal Workshop in Saranac Lake–jumping into the deep end of the choral waters by studying and performing choral masterworks by Fauré, Rorem, Ives, and Billings alongside the Gregg Smith singers. Performances during her time with the Westminster Symphonic Choir during graduate school have taken her to Lincoln Center nearly a dozen times where the ensemble performed and recorded Britten’s War Requiem for Deutsche Grammophon featuring baritone, Thomas Hampson and tenor, Jerry Hadley. The choir also performed Mendelssohn’s Elijah with baritone Bryn Terfel, and Debussy’s Martyrdom of St. Sebastian featuring soprano Natalie Dessay, all under the direction of Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic. She has sung on stage at Carnegie Hall alongside members of her WCS high school choir as part of the Manhattan Concert Productions series. Jennifer has also had the great privilege of preparing students from the Adirondack region for the Ithaca College High School Gospel Choir Invitational for the past 15 years and is one of the founding members of the Adirondack High School Honors Gospel Choir Festival under the direction of Dr. Dexter Criss and Andrea Ogle. Most recently, Jennifer served as interim director of the Champlain Valley Voices in Plattsburgh, NY.

Jennifer has enjoyed decades of performance opportunities on many stages near and far: Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, UNESCO (Paris), Chicago Cultural Center, Middlebury Town Hall Theatre, Piano by Nature, Harborside Concert Series, the Depot Theatre, the Essex Theatre Company, Artistry Community Theatre, Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre (2024 NYSSMA Winter Conference All-State Festival Treble Chorus pianist), and a host of school music festivals as collaborative pianist, chorister, and conductor.

In addition to teaching and pursuing her research interests, Jennifer is a proud member of the Piano by Nature Board of Directors. She helps coordinate a robust virtual and live concert series and supports PBN’s educational outreach programming as a liaison between the region’s public school music programs and PBN. She has also been a member of the Depot Theatre’s Education Committee and serves Mountain Lake PBS as a member of the Community Advisory Board.

Rose Chancler is a frequent performer as soloist, collaborative artist, and teacher. She has played hundreds of concerts across America, including performances in over forty states with a variety of artists and instruments. Currently, Rose is focused on performing chamber music and presenting concerts as a founding member and Artistic Director of the dynamic series Piano by Nature in Elizabethtown, NY. Farther out, she performs with UK marimbist Jane Boxall as a part of the unique ensemble Ricochet Duo, regularly promoting new works written for their unusual instrumental combination. Rose has also enjoyed a long collaborative association with virtuoso double bassist Volkan Orhon, performing throughout the US and Europe. Closer to home, Rose enjoys performing as a member of Metamusic with SUNY Plattsburgh faculty members Dan Gordon and Marilyn Reynolds, focusing on regional concerts which present well-written and less-heard original music for saxophone, violin, and piano.

Rose has held teaching positions at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and the University of Iowa School of Music. She has served on the faculty of SUNYPlattsburgh, and now maintains a private studio in Westport, NY. Rose holds a BM degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and a DMA from Eastman School in Rochester, N.Y.

Piano By Nature’s programs are made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts. We are also supported by the Essex County Arts Council’s Cultural Assistance Program Grant with funding provided by Essex County. And we’d also like to thank our many patrons and donors for their generous contributions over the past 16 years—you are keeping live music ‘alive’ in the North Country!