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St. John’s Episcopal Church Hosts Summer Concert Series

Courtesy of ValleCrucis.com
Courtesy of ValleCrucis.com

St. John’s Episcopal Church, a mission of Holy Cross Episcopal Church of Valle Crucis, will once again present a Summer Concert Series. Located on Herb Thomas Road, off Mast Gap Road, historic St. John’s is the perfect venue for music with its acoustically perfect wooden walls. All concerts are free of charge.

July 6: Performing will be Ensemble 322, a quintet consisting of faculty from ASU’s Hayes School of Music for Bow and Strings. Playing together for the past 15 years, Ensemble 322 boasts a repertoire that includes works from the renaissance to contemporary times and have performed both individually and as a group at such venues as Appalachian Summer Festival, Blowing Rock Arts Theatre, Raleigh Arts and Sounds Museum, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Caracas Philharmonic, Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall and others. They are planning to take us on a romantic musical journey through Spain.

August 3: Presenting nationally recognized hammered dulcimer artist and old-time fiddler Ken Kolodner and his son Brad, who is an award winning clawhammer banjoist. Brad plays the fiddle and provides vocals as well composing parts of their repertoire. The duo, who excel in traditional Appalachian music, began playing together in 2009 and released their first recording at that time “Otter Creek,” which became the most played instrumental recording on the international Folk DJ Radio charts. Several albums have been released since, all in the top 20 on Folk and Roots Music Charts. Concert appearances have included the Kennedy Center, The Birchmere, Helicon’s Winter Solstice and many Folk Festivals all over the country. In addition to performing, both Ken and Brad regularly teach and are avid supporters and developers of the old-time community in their hometown of Baltimore, MD.

August 31: The annual Labor Day Concert will again feature the a cappella choir from Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, SC. This group of 12 exquisite voices has thrilled a packed house over the past 3 years and are back again. Their repertoire includes everything from medieval chants to old spirituals and each one is sung to perfection. Audiences throughout the United States and abroad have been awed by their performances.

The concerts begin at 5 p.m. and are free and open to all. Bring along a picnic to share and greet the musicians after the concert. Call 828-963-1666 for more information.