Musicians of Surf and Sound in performance at All Saints Episcopal Church in Southern shores. Katie Hyun, violin; Amanda Halstead, piano, Jacob Fowler, cello.A Tradition of World Class Music
For the past four years the the Surf and Sound Series has been a part of the Outer Banks August scene that to the Bryan Cultural Series. We have to hope it becomes a summer tradition that becomes a part of local life.
Bringing five world-class classical musicians to the Outer Banks for a series of concerts, Surf and Sound travels from Southern Shores to Duck, Buxton and Manteo in a series of concerts that are musically as fine a performance as there is anywhere.
The Southern Shores always kicks things off at All Saints Episcopal Church.With a concert grand piano at the church, the musical selection allows the musicians a little more leeway and the music they performed this year took full advantage of having a piano on hand.
The Tuesday performance featured a work from a Hungarian composer Ernst von Dohnanyi, who is not all that well-known, but wow, was it amazing. Challenging, and complex, it was the type of music that broadens the understanding of what classical music can be.
The musicians also played a Dvorak composition—his Piano Trio No. 5 in E minor. The von Dohnanyi piece was wonderful, but there was no discernible melody. By comparison the Dovorak trio, with its distinctive melodies, seemed even more beautiful by comparison.
What makes the Surf and Sound Series so special is the musicians don't sit in one place and wait for everyone to come to them. Rather they take the show on the road...and the first stop was an outdoor concert at the Duck Amphitheater.
Unfortunately concert grand pianos don't travel well at all, so the Duck concert was all strings.
But that was fine. With a gentle breeze off the sound and and early evening temperatures in the upper 70s it would be hard to imagine a better setting to for an outdoor concert.
Again the music selection seemed to fit the setting perfectly. The Beethoven Trio was typical of music from the master—complex with moving parts everywhere, yet easily followed by the audience.
The Mendelssohn selection was the last major work he created. Written after the unexpected death his sister, the work was beautiful and sad yet in the final movement, there seems to be a sense of joy or at least acceptance for what happened.
Wonderful concerts. We haven't had a confirmation yet, but hopefully the Surf and Sound Series will be back for a fifth year next summer.
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