OB Music Festival Wows Ida May Project Audience

The Ida May Project volunteers enjoy rearranging their boatshop workspace into a concert venue. On Wednesday, June 26th, they welcomed the Oyster Bay Music Festival for the Musical Treasures and FantaSEAS concert.

Lauren Ausubel, (OBMF co-directorwith Pippa Borisy) said, “The IMP concert venue epitomizes the mission of the OBMF of bringing music to the community in both traditional and unusual venues. Our tag line is ‘Global Music, Local Flavor”.

Volunteer/board member George Lindsay, said, “The LIRR trains punctuated the musical pieces a few times. Pippa at one point said that John Cage would have appreciated the Ravel piece being played over diesel horns. But she also reiterated that Building J was the OBMF's favorite concert venue. She thought it was particularly appealing to have a handcrafted Steinway piano in the shop.”

Lindsay, former manager of Tilles Center added, “To my ears, it was the best OBMF concert there to date,” and with his credentials that means a great deal.

“Former Christeen Captain Pete Macandrew took care of the lighting again, he pretty much did it all by himself. There was no sound equipment -- once again, it was an acoustic concert.”

IMP volunteer Bill Shephard was impressed by a young pianist, “He played all night long. He accompanied everyone.” Maxim Lando, 17, rising star on the international piano scene, won First Prize in the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Competition in October. At the concert he performed with two chamber ensembles, as well as the notoriously difficult Liszt’s “Transcendental Etude No. 12”.

IMP board member Gregory Druhak has been recording the concert artists on video since the start. Druhak said, “The acoustics and the surroundings in J-Building are unique. This is the eighth season and it seems likely that some of these talented individuals are going to show up somewhere with their names in lights. Hearing Matt Cerillo (tenor) singing ‘O Del Mio Amato Ben’, not only do I realize how much he has grown artistically over the years but I have a benchmark to compare him to. This year, I was captivated by Annalisa Welinder (violin) and Maxim Lando (piano) in ‘Tzigane’ by Ravel. Jasmine Li, played a very unique Chinese instrument, the ‘guzheng’.”

The show opener was the whole ensemble singing “America the Beautiful” and closed with an acapella version of “O Danny Boy”. Mr. Druhak said, “O Danny Boy is a song that can bring out emotion, but add in a couple of short blasts from a random Long Island Rail Road diesel rumbling by 50-feet away that happen by chance to come at an appropriate point in the song, and you have a most memorable recipe for humor and tears at the same time.” See the IMP at theidamayproject.org on FaceBook.