The Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues this week as the Encore Duo, harpist Jill Pitz and cellist Marjorie Hanna, perform at 7:30 PM Wednesday July 27 in the sanctuary of Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church. As always, the concert is free and open to the public (donations are accepted).
“It’s fair week, and it’s hot,” says Eric Edberg, the festival’s director and a DePauw music professor. “So let me emphasize that the air conditioning at Gobin is working very well! And Jill and Marjie’s music is gorgeous. Cello and harp makes such a wonderful combination. If you’re spending much of the week at the fair, Wednesday’s concert will make a refreshing break.”
“As I put together this summer’s concert schedule,” Edberg says, “I knew I wanted to have the Encore Duo perform. They are two of my favorite musicians. Marjie is a superb cellist and one of my most admired colleagues. And given the diversity of this summer’s concerts, the lush beauty of their ensemble’s playing will make a great contrast with last week’s rock-influenced, electronics-based performance by Seth Tsui and Michael Kelsey.”
Pitz and Hanna will be performing music by Bellini, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazunov, Rachmaninoff, and others. The program will conclude with the Sonata for Cello and Harp by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, perhaps the most famous work for the ensemble.
Jill Pitz earned her Bachelor of Music and her Master of Music from Indiana University, where she studied with renowned Harp Professor Emeritus Susann McDonald. Jill was a speaker and performer at the World Harp Congress in Copenhagen. She enjoys her freelance work playing for many organizations and performs with local orchestras. Jill has been actively performing with her two duos, "Encore" and "Bravo" and her trio, "Trio Vivo" since 1987. She has been featured on CD's recorded of the Christ Church Cathedral Men and Boy's Choir. She serves as Midcentral Regional Director of the American Harp Society. Jill has had the pleasure to perform with such notables as Barry Manilow, the Moody Blues, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Marie Osmond, Steve Lawrence and Edie Gorme. Jill continues to teach harp students in her home. Jill and her husband, John, are enjoying their three young children, while being involved in community service including the Indiana Children's Wish Fund and Girl Scouts.
Principal cellist of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Marjorie Hanna attended Indiana University and received both a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Cello Performance. She studied with distinguished professor Janos Starker and became his "forever student". Marjie has played with a wide variety of superstar musicians including Henry Mancini, Johnny Mathis, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Lyle Lovett and acts as diverse as Page & Plant and Josh Groban. Marjie even gave a private performance for the late, great Michael Jackson. In 1993, Marjie toured Europe with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Later that year she and harpist Jill Pitz represented the United States at the World Harp Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark. Marjie stays active as a studio musician, performer and recitalist.
