Plainfield Opera House Boast Classical Musicians

For some eight years now, the Plainfield Town Hall Opera House (Plainfield Opera House for short) has presented concerts that continually grow in stature. The Winter Series 2023 boasts three of Vermont’s foremost classical musicians.

“We’re really happy with how it turned out. Isn’t it great?” explained Steven Light, co-director with his wife, Kathy, of the Friends of the Plainfield Opera House. “All three of them contacted us, asking if they could be on the series.”

Middlebury flutist Karen Kevra will be joined by pianist Jeffrey Chappell (March 26), the popular new Champlain Trio will return (April 23), and renowned Middlebury pianist Diana Fanning will make her Plainfield debut (May 21).

And that’s not all. The series opens Jan. 22 with a concert of Irish music by three of the area’s favorite traditional musicians, and features a play about the blacklisting of one of America’s most successful screenwriters.

“Kathy and I more or less brainstormed about who we might like to have,” Light said. “Karen Kevra called and said she and Jeffrey wanted to do some concerts together. Both of them I like a whole lot,” Steven Light said. “Karen’s just amazing, and she’s a friend.”

The Champlain Trio — pianist Hiromi Fukuda, violinist Letitia Quante and cellist Emily Taubl — performed on last year’s series, and the audience was standing room only.

“God, they’re just so dynamic and so good,” Light said. “Emily emailed and said, ‘We’ve got to come back,’ and we said, ‘Great! We’ll have you back.’”

The trio will perform its new program, “Brilliant Colors,” featuring music of Lili Boulanger, Jennifer Higdon, Brookfield composer Erik Nielsen, and the Trio in A minor by Maurice Ravel.

“They are a hot group,” Light said. “And Diana actually has been asking for a few years if there was room for her to play at the Opera House. This year, it finally worked out.”

Fanning will perform Franz Schubert’s Sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959, plus music by Chopin, Ravel and Lili Boulanger.

“In terms of classical music, I just think it’s so great to have a piano recital, Champlain Trio as a trio doing contemporary work mostly, and Karen doesn’t play very often with a pianist,” Light said. “It’s going to be really great.”

Steven and Kathy Light had run into Hilari Farrington and Benedict Koehler in Montpelier.

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