Summer Garden Party this Sunday at Garvan Woodland Gardens

The Muses Creative Artistry Project and Garvan Woodland Gardens proudly present “Summer Garden Party” at 3 pm, on Sunday, June 19 at the gardens’ Anthony Chapel. The concert is the second in the Muses’ concert series, Four Seasons in Art and Song.

Marla Crider, Associate Executive Director for Administration and Marketing at Garvan Woodland Gardens, commented, "We are delighted The Muses will be performing seasonal concerts at the awe-inspiring Anthony Chapel. The beauty of the music they produce is the perfect complement to the Gardens' ever-changing backdrop. It's the ideal cultural partnership -- the Muses and the Gardens."

“Summer Garden Party” will feature the music of Trio Arkansas, with violinist Geoff Robson, cellist David Gerstein, and pianist Louis Menendez. Classically trained soprano Deleen Davidson will perform summer-flavored art songs and light arias by Handel, Schubert, Debussy, Moross, Gershwin, and Lehar, with balmy titles such as “Lazy Afternoon,” “The Daisies,” “Silent Noon” and “Summertime.”

Trombonist Steve Suter will perform summer band music by Arthur Pryor, John Philip Sousa’s principal trombonist. Of special note on the program will be several original compositions and specially adapted arrangements by Menendez and Suter.

Louis Menendez, originally from Manhattan, New York, has conducted and facilitated more than 140 opera productions in the United States, Europe, Israel, and Japan. He served on both faculties of The Curtis Institute of Music and the Academy of Vocal arts for a number of years after his graduate studies at Temple University. As a vocal coach and pianist, he has collaborated with such artists at Sherrill Milnes, Birgit Nilsson, Renata Scotto, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Yo Yo Ma, and others. Most recently, he has formed Trio Arkansas with a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. He is a prinicipal player in the Muses Creative Artistry Project and organist at First Presbyterian Church in Hot Springs.

Geoffrey Robson has served as Associate Conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra since 2008. He has designed and conducted many of the orchestra’s subscription series concerts, as well as its children’s concerts and special events. In addition, Robson writes and produces At the Symphony, a concert preview radio series on KLRE Classical 90.5 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Robson completed his masters degree in music at Yale University in 2004, studying violin performance with Erick Friedman. In Connecticut, he served as co-concertmaster of the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and assistant concertmaster of the Waterbury Symphony. Robson also worked as a public schoolteacher in New Haven, CT , and has privately taught violin, piano, viola, and music theory for many years. Robson graduated from the honors college at Michigan State University in 2002, studying violin with Dmitri Berlinsky and conducting with Leon Gregorian.

David Gerstein, a devoted performer of chamber and contemporary music, has played concerts all over the world, from the stage of Carnegie Hall to the Great Wall of China. David is currently the principal cellist of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, where he has been a member since September 2008. Gerstein has played as principal of the Shepherd School Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, the Eastman Philharmonia, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. He received a bachelors in music with distinction from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with David Ying. He completed his studies at Rice University in 2008, where he earned a masters degre in music under the direction of Norman Fischer.

Steve Suter, a native New Orleanian, is a member of a real New Orleans musical family. His grandfather was the lead trumpet player with The Dawnbusters, the studio orchestra for local New Orleans radio station WWL. His father played bass for years with many musical groups in and around New Orleans. Continuing the legacy, Steve has been fortunate to have performed with such varied musical groups as the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra, the trombone funk/rock group Bonerama, the award-winning Asbury Brass Quintet, the Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown Blues Band, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. In 2008 Steve performed with Bonerama and OKGO’s Damian Kulash on the “Late Show” with David Letterman. In 2006, Suter was honored as one of New Orleans Magazine’s “Jazz All-Stars.” He currently resides in Hot Springs, splitting his time between performing, master classes, clinics, and working with The Muses Creative Artistry Project.

Deleen Davidson is President and Principal Artist of The Muses Creative Artistry Project, a multi-disciplined non-profit arts organization dedicated to preserving classical art and music through performance and education. The Muses partners regularly with other arts organizations to enhance the cultural life of the region and grow the creative economy. Based on nature’s four seasons, The Muses offers a regular series of concerts, art exhibits and creativity seminars, and has recently opened the 3Arts Café and Bookstore in the lobby of the historic Hale Bathhouse in Hot Springs National Park. An active recitalist, Davidson presents monthly salon concerts through The Muses. She has also served as Artist-in-Residence at Garvan Woodland Gardens, taught art appreciation at National Park Community College, and is currently Music Director at First Presbyterian Church in Hot Springs.

Other performances this season include the “Magic Flute Cocktail” on September 18 and “Voices of Angels” on December 18. Tickets for the three-concert series are available for $60, or can be purchased individually for $25. Tickets are available at the door or by advance purchase at www.themusesproject.org . For more information, call 501-463-4514.