GUILFORD — Cellist and long-time Guilford resident Judith Serkin has remained an ardent lover in an affair that has lasted 55 years - with the musical instrument she has chosen to play for over five decades.
“I think the cello is the most beautiful sound in the world,” Serkin says fervently, like someone caught in the enthusiasm of her first schoolgirl crush. “I just melt when I hear it.”
Serkin says that everywhere she travels with her instrument, people come up to her to proclaim that they love the cello, that it is their favorite instrument.
“I don't think that happens to people who play other musical instruments, like the violin,” Serkin adds. “I believe the reason may be that the cello has a very human sound.
Like the human voice, the instrument has a huge range.
“First there are the low sonorous sounds of the bass, which is perhaps what the instrument is most celebrated for. But then there is the equally glorious middle range, the tenor, followed by the alto. The instrument also can sometimes venture into the soprano range. The cello produces remarkable vocal colors that are gloriously sonorous.”
Audiences will get a chance to hear Serkin's love in action next month when she performs a cello concert in her hometown. But Serkin's playing is only the beginning of this cello-fest. For this very special concert, she will be joined by three (yes, three) other cellists for a veritable feast of string music.
A concert with four cellists playing together is a very rare indeed, but what exactly will such an ensemble sound like?
“If you love the cello, be prepared to love it four times as much,” enthuses Serkin.
Lavish spread
Three renowned cellists - Paul Wiancko, Peter Wiley, and Theodore Mook - will join Serkin on Saturday, June 3, at 7:30 p.m. to serenade the citizens of Guilford and surrounding towns. The musicians are generously donating their talents to benefit the Guilford Free Library, one of the oldest continuously operating public libraries in Vermont.
But there will more to this event than just music. In an attempt to satisfy more than just the auditory senses, the Guilford Free Library trustees will provide a lavish spread of desserts after the concert, creating the opportunity to bask in the afterglow of the music as well as visit with friends and neighbors.
The Springtime 'Cello Celebration is a biannual event that started with two cellists. A third was added two years later, and now the concert will feature four.
“In the initial concert in 2013, also a fundraiser for the Guilford library, I played cello duets with Paul Wiancko,” Serkin says. “It was great, but the next time the benefit came around we thought it might be fun to try repertoire for three cellists, so Peter Wiley came on board. It was such a success, that this time we figured why not have four, so we asked Theodore Mook to join us.”
While Serkin asserts that there is an astonishing number of good cellists is the area, she chose old friends to join her in these benefit concerts.
“I have played duets with each of these artists many times,” she says. “I know Peter Wiley as far back as when we went to school together at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1968. I have been friends with Ted since 1971. Paul is the youngster of the group, but I have had good times with him also for many years.”
Accomplished ensemble
The four musicians make up quite an illustrious group.
Both a cellist and composer, Wiancko has collaborated with a diverse array of artists from Midori, Yo Yo Ma, and the Guarneri Quartet to Terry Riley, Etta James, Joe Cocker, and Stanley Clarke.
He recently composed the score for the film Heartlock, as well as a new Mars-exploration-based work commissioned by Peter Smith, principal investigator for NASA's Phoenix mission to Mars.
Wiley has enjoyed a prolific career as a performer and a teacher. He is well-known as a member of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Guarneri Quartet and is a founding member of the piano quartet Opus One.
He has been a cellist for the Pittsburgh Symphony and was principal cellist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He participates in numerous music festivals and is best known in this region for his long association with the Marlboro Music Festival. Wiley teaches at Curtis Institute of Music and Bard College.
Mook is new to the Guilford cello extravaganza. He has played in more than 1,000 Broadway performances in New York City, produced records, played on motion picture soundtracks and, along with Ezra Sims, invented computer fonts used in microtonal music composition.
Mook serves on the faculties of the University of Rhode Island, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School. In two of his most unusual ventures, Mook directs a chamber series on Star Island, 10 miles off the coast of New Hampshire, and curates a concert series at the spectacular Towers, perched on the edge of the sea in Narragansett, R.I.
The glue that binds these musicians together is Serkin herself, whose connections to each of them form the groundwork for this memorable event. One of the founders of the Brattleboro Music School, Serkin is a member of the Iceland Symphony, and she has played with the Guilford and Hebrew Arts (later known as Mendelssohn) String Quartets.
She has performed extensively throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe and is a longtime participant of the Marlboro Music Festival. Serkin also has participated at the Yellow Barn Festival. She is currently a member of the Con Moto Ensemble. She teaches both in Brattleboro and at the New England Conservatory through their Prep Department.
'The glory of the cello'
Serkin has chosen the somewhat large repertoire of miniatures for the Springtime 'Cello Celebration.
“I tried to pick pieces that would showcase the glory of the cello,” she explains. “In this concert, the four of us will be performing 15 works. Although many are very short, each is a little jewel to highlight the beauty of the cello. Some works may be transcriptions made suitable for four cellos while others originally were written with four cellos in mind.”
The repertoire of Springtime 'Cello Celebration ranges from the early 1600s up to two pieces written by living composers.
“The first half of the concert will be dedicated to baroque music,” Serkin explains. “We will be playing several pieces by Bach, mainly transcriptions, but glorious nonetheless. The second half of the concert will be by later composers, such a Brahms, from whom we will do the transcription of a choral piece. We will also be performing works written in the late 1800s by cellists who really knew the instrument. These are pieces actually written specifically for four cellos to perform.”
All the artists are pleased to be able to help out the Guilford Library.
“Our building may be small, but through the library you can access anything you need,” says Serkin, who is on the library's board.
In addition to the library's own collection, borrowers have access to books throughout the state via the interlibrary loan system. The library hosts preschool story time, summer camps, and reading groups, and provides computer access and more.
Of course, in the end the sweetest part of Springtime 'Cello Celebration may come after the music.
“There are lot of fantastic bakers in Guilford who are working to make an amazing array of post-concert desserts,” Serkin says. “A tent is set up so the audience can enjoy their treats and get a chance to mingle with the players no matter the weather. It's a delightful way to end a lovely evening.”