PHM is very happy to announce a new – Music at the Mansion. The Music at the Mansion Series will feature local musicians playing a diverse variety of music. Many musicians have told us that they particularly enjoy playing at PHM because of the wonderful natural acoustics in the building. We have already been doing musical programs and want to make it more of a regular event. We have invited some groups for return engagements for this spring and hope to keep this as an ongoing series, funding permitting. The Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council was very generous this past fall in helping PHM to fund two musical events. First, we had local Salisbury quartet, or as it would have been called during the period, consort, Canzona Diversa do a reception full of period music featuring the pianoforte in Novemeber. The quartet features Susan Parker on the violin, Jim Ressegger on the viola da gamba, Karen Zera on the recorder, and Bill Alexander on the guitar and the pianoforte. The group has agreed to come back for an encore performance on February 11, 2018. Another performer who was featured was harpist Kara Dahl Russell. She graced us with her beautiful harp music for our Yuletide Open House. This was the second year she has agreed to play holiday music at the Mansion, and we hope it is a tradition that continues for many years to come.
PHM will also be welcoming back Mickey Justice and Mike O’Loughlin this March 15th to play some of their favorite Irish Folk music in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. This is always of special interest to PHM since Dr. John Huston was of Irish decent and surely, Irish music would have been heard in the house during his lifetime. Also, this May 12th, PHM will be hosting a Mother’s Day Tea Reception featuring the music of Judy Willing, Becky Joseph, and Bill Alexander. They played last year for our Mother’s Day event and were such a hit, that we had to bring them back! They bring to life many of the classic hits of the 1950s and 1960s and present a great show where everyone can sing along with their favorite songs.
The Music at the Mansion Series will be free and open to the public and is our way of saying thank you to the community. Please note that these are not formal concerts. Limited seating will be available throughout the Mansion. Tours of the mansion will also be available. If you haven’t visited Poplar Hill Mansion for a while, now is the perfect opportunity to see some changes in the exhibits and to see what’s new.
The Music at the Mansion Series is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Salisbury Wicomico Arts Council, awarded by the Maryland State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank them for their continued support of the arts and music programming throughout the greater Salisbury area.