By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer

Amidst the rush to try and do everything we can during the short period of time we can actually call, “summer,” every now and then there’s an event that allows us to sit back, exhale, calm down and actually enjoy what we’re hearing and seeing.

Aroostook Republican photos/Barb Scott
Musicians who performed a variety of classical selections during the Summer Musicale Opus VI and Afternoon Tea are, in front, from left: Dan Ladner, organist; Larry Hutchinson, pianist; Mari Jo Hedman, pianist; and Harrison Roper, French horn. In back are Margaret Cyr, pianist and Molly Bouchard, vocalist.

    This type of event recently took place when the Gray Memorial United Methodist Church held its Summer Musicale/ Opus VI and Afternoon Tea. With guest pianists, organist, vocalist and an accomplished French horn player the large audience, seated in the warmth of the Sanctuary enjoyed an afternoon of classical music performed by local artists.
   Opening the afternoon program with, “Holy, Holy,” (with concerto No.2 in C Minor) was Dan Ladner, organist and Margaret Cyr pianist. The combination of the sound from the amazing pipe organ and that from the expertly played piano created an atmosphere of energy that filled the church. Cyr is choir director and substitute organist at the Gray Memorial Methodist Church and also plays at weddings and funerals in other area churches. Ladner is organist and choir director at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and the Grant Memorial United Methodist Church in Presque Isle. He is the director of the Caribou Choral Society and teaches classes in the SAGE program.
   Following Cyr and Ladner was local vocalist Molly Bouchard who sang, “Sonntag,” composed by Johannes Brahms, “Standchen,” a German serenade by Schubert and “Non Lo Diro Col Labbro” by Handel. The former Miss Caribou and most recently the 2008 Miss Potato Blossom Queen, will be a sophomore at the Boston Conservatory of Music this fall and was accompanied by Mari Jo Hedman, an elementary music teacher in Fort Fairfield. Hedman also plays at the Lidstone United Methodist Church in Washburn and is the accompanist for the Caribou Choral Society. She also is a private piano teacher.
   Roper, the former conductor of the Northern Maine Chamber Orchestra and who presently plays the French horn in the same, performed a self-composed abstract French horn concertino/ First movement. A member of McGill’s Community Band in Houlton, and composer of a large library of music, Roper also performed, Handel’s “Love ye the Lord,” from “Xerses,” during which he informed those in attendance he hoped the notes would “fill up the back corners of the church’s balcony.” Other pieces for the French horn included, “My Heart Ever Faithful,” by Bach and Mendelssohn’s “If With All Your Heart,” from “Elijah.”
   Accompanying Harrison Roper on the piano was Larry Hutchinson, organist at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Houlton and past conductor and accompanist of the Houlton Community Chorus.
   Other classical music pieces performed throughout the program included a second piano and organ duet by Cyr and Ladner, “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” composed by Mozart/McKechnie, and more vocal selections from the talented and very composed Bouchard, including “Have You Seen But a White Lily Grow,” based on a poem by Ben John and “Early in the Morning,” composed by Ned Rorem.
   The finale of the Summer Musicale/ Opus VI was Handel’s allegro from “Water Music,” performed by Cyr and Lander, whose talent and concentration once again filled the church.
   After the musicale program, guests and musicians were invited to attend an afternoon tea held downstairs at the church. This affair pleased two more of the senses — smell and taste, as the aromas of an afternoon light repast greeted those entering the room.
   It’s Caribou’s 150th birthday — Be a part of it— there is something for everyone.

Dan Ladner and Margaret Cyr discuss their performances at the completion of the recent classical music and afternoon tea event at the Gray Memorial United Methodist Church in Caribou.