What began 20 years ago as a way to celebrate young musical talent has blossomed into a unique partnership between St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock and the internationally renowned Juilliard School in New York.
Billed as “The Juilliard Young Artists Concert Series,” since 2005 about 100 concerts have been produced and nearly 400 Juilliard pre-college students have performed in the unique St. Gregory’s A-frame venue on Route 212.
This year, six concerts are scheduled, with the next performance set for Sunday at 3 p.m., featuring William Lauricella, a 19-year-old pianist, percussionist, and composer. His program includes piano sonatas by Beethoven and Bach, as well as works by Chopin. Lauricella began his music studies at the age of 5. He has attended the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Brevard Music Center Festival, and the Lucerne Festival. He has the distinction of performing with the Empire State Youth Orchestra’s Symphony, and has placed first in many competitions.
Opening the doors of St. Gregory’s to showcase the work of young musicians was an idea first conceived by a former priest at the church, the Rev. Charles Dupree, and one of its parishioners, Marie Duane.
“Charlie wanted to get a musical program launched at St. Gregory’s that focused on young people,” Duane said. “The students love to come here because we offer an intimate setting and give them an opportunity to have a close-up exchange with the audience—a much different experience from performing at Lincoln Center or Carnegie Hall.”
While Dupree has now moved to another church in Richmond, VA, Duane continues to coordinate the program at St. Gregory’s along with Adelaide Roberts, of Kingston, who teaches music at Juilliard.
According to Duane, both Woodstock and the Catskills region have “a lot of cache” in the music realm so it’s a natural to host these events at St. Gregory’s. In addition to the Juilliard partnership, in recent years, St. Gregory’s has partnered with the Hunter-based Catskill Mountain Foundation and The Orphée Musique Association (L’association Orphée Musique in French) to showcase the work of French music talent.
Duane noted that when the first concerts were staged that the audience typically numbered around 40 people. “We have gradually gone to a full house now (of 100). It has really taken off.”
The Young Artists Concert Series is a free offering provided by St. Gregory’s to the community. The next installment in the series will take place on Sunday, March 9 at 3 p.m. St. Gregory’s is located at 2578 Route 212 in Woodstock.
Scott Widmeyer, co-founder of The Overlook, serves on the vestry of St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church. Send correspondence to scott@theoverlooknews.com.