Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 4, 1992 TAG: 9202040129
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS-BANKS
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES TO PLAY AT CHAMBERFEST
In the world of country music, Garth Brooks has friends in low places.Sharon Polifrone is luckier.
In the world of classical music, she has friends in high places.
Polifrone, artistic director of the Virginia Chamber Music Academy based in Blacksburg, has persuaded some of her friends to perform in Chamberfest, the upcoming annual benefit concert for the academy.
"Going Baroque!" is what Polifrone is calling this year's concert.
Featuring a program that includes works by Baroque composers Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Vierdanck, the concert is Saturday at 8 p.m. in Squires Recital Salon at Virginia Tech.
Of course, Polifrone's friends in high places will be there.
"We have a stellar roster of nationally recognized musicians," she said.
Soprano Mary Burt, winner of the 1987 Metropolitan Opera National Auditions; flutist Barli Nugent of the Aspen Wind Quartet; and Lionel Party, a harpsichord professor at the Julliard School, will travel to Blacksburg from New York.
From Chicago, there's mezzo-soprano Emily Lodine, a soloist with the Music of the Baroque ensemble.
And trumpeters Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer, professors at the Eastman School of Music, will come straight from an engagement with the Houston Symphony.
Polifrone, a noted violinist in her own right, will perform as well.
Since it opened three years ago, the Virginia Chamber Music Academy has shown a steady growth.
Young musicians from major music schools around the country come to Blacksburg in the summer to study chamber music with an internationally renowned faculty, including the Audubon Quartet, Susan Starr, Ulrich Boeckheler and Teresa Gravino Ehrlich.
While they are studying in Blacksburg, the musicians also give several public performances. This year the festival is being expanded to three weeks, from June 1 to June 21, and six concerts are planned.
Polifrone said the academy's activities are financed by student tuitions, foundation grants, ticket sales at concerts and individual contributions.
Chamberfest is the one event of the year where local patrons are asked to donate financial support.
Tickets for "Going Baroque!" are $25 per person and will be available at the door Saturday evening.
"And they are tax deductible," Polifrone is quick to point out.
Members of the Roanoke and Charleston, W.Va., symphony orchestras will join the guest artists for this performance. They will provide the string accompaniment.
Following the concert, a reception for the musicians will be held in the Brush Mountain Room on the third floor of Squires Student Center.