Quick Center presents Storytelling and Music event featuring the Live Music Project | Press Releases

Four local storytellers and The Live Music Project, a conductor-less orchestra, will celebrate the spoken word tradition with "Storytelling and Music," a family event taking place on Sunday, Nov. 28, at 2 p.m. at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. Geared to children of all ages, the performance will weave together a selection of classical music and stories from around the world and will conclude with a question and answer session with the readers and musicians.

Founded by pianist/composer Daniel Smith and violinist Netta Hadari, the Quick Center-based Live Music Project aims to change the way audiences think about chamber music. Smith and Hadari, both of New Haven, have created a haven for musicians who want to create exciting concerts in a friendly and open environment with an emphasis on interaction with the audience. Now in its second year, the group includes some of the region's top musicians, including several members of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the oldest orchestra in the United States.

The Nov. 28 concert is a departure from the Live Music Project's usual performances. The music for the day includes a section of Handel's oratorio "Solomon," Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings," Barber's "Adagio for Strings" and music written for the program by Smith.

The stories, chosen and edited by Smith, are a selection of tales from China, Ethiopia, Ireland and other countries, that offer a wide range of subject matter and emotional content. Titles include "The Name That Was Too Long," "The Stonecutter," "The Dove's Egg" and "The Ballad of Belle Dorkas," an old American slave story. In addition to Smith, who will read a story he wrote for the Barber piece, the storytellers are: John Watson of New Haven, Fairfield resident Brianne Schickler, and Stamford resident Lot Therrio.

Watson and Schickler are known to Quick Center audiences for several appearances in the venue's popular Live Radio Drama series. Therrio is a storyteller, psychotherapist and minister, who has told stories professionally at schools, libraries, houses of worship, nursing homes, corporate seminars and camps across the area. His work has been featured in The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

The Live Music Project offers two more concerts this season. "Fiddler's Three," a program of classical, Klezmer and American fiddling, will take place on Friday, Dec. 10. "The Letters and Music of Mozart" is scheduled for Friday, April 15.

Tickets to the Nov. 28 performance are $15 for adults, $10 for children. For tickets, call the Quick Center box office at (203) 254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396. FFor more information, visit www.quickcenter.com