Music At St. Mary’s opens season Oct. 13

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The Music At St. Mary’s concert season begins Oct. 13 with Sords & DiMio in concert.

American-born violinist Andrew Sords is acclaimed as a soloist with extraordinary abilities. Appearing on four continents with both his piano trio and with orchestras, his performances have been cited for combining visceral virtuosity and ravishing tone, while international critics endorse Sords as “a fully formed artist” (Kalisz-Poland News), “utterly radiant” (Canada’s Arts Forum), and “exceptionally heartfelt and soulful” (St. Maarten’s Daily Herald). Closer to home, Cleveland Classical gushed: “The stunner of the afternoon was a breathless but magnificently controlled performance of Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” sonata, which Sords charged through with giddy aplomb.”

Sords has received numerous awards and distinctions reflecting his career trajectory, including the 2012 Pittsburgh Concert Society Career Grant and the 2005 National Shirley Valentin Award.

Born in Newark, Del., Sords was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and asked for piano lessons at age 5. A year later, he began studying violin with Liza Grossman, and continued studies with Linda Cerone, David Russell and Chee-Yun Kim at the ENCORE School for Strings, the Cleveland Institute of Music and Southern Methodist University.

As a teenager, Sords garnered prizes from concerto competitions, signed with management, and has since collaborated with 300 orchestras worldwide. Of Sords’ debut in Australia, the Melbourne Age declared, “Sords made a voluble soloist in the A Major Turkish concerto, forging his statements with an admirably firm clarity and bringing out the work’s virtuosity as often as possible. His bowing arm showed an attractive suppleness and an attention to variety of phrasing that made even the episodic finale a pleasure.”

A man of diverse interests, Sords has competed in the charity fundraiser “Pittsburgh’s Dancing With The Stars” as the first classical artist to do so. Sords makes his home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and can be found on the web at http://www.andrewsords.com.

Concerts to follow include an organ recital with Hillsboro born Jim McLaughlin on Nov. 10. The Southern State Singers will present their Christmas Concert on Dec. 8, followed by the musicians of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Dec. 22 with “A St. Mary’s Christmas.”

After taking the winter months off, the first concert of 2020 will be on March 15 with a vocal recital featuring Justin Wiget and Dr. Stanley Workman, both of Portsmouth. On March 29, the musicians of St. Mary’s will present a Lenten Concert. For something completely different, The Queen City Sisters, an a cappella trio from Cincinnati, will present music of the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s on April 19. Rounding out the series will be Southern State Singers with their spring concert on May 3.

Music At St. Mary’s is provided to the community and supported by donations offered at the concerts, as well as by several friends in the community. The organization believes good music should be accessible to all. Concerts are held at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 234 .High St., Hillsboro, and each begins at 3 p.m.

More information may be accessed a www.masmhillsboro.weebly.com.

Submitted by John Glaze.

Andrew Soards will open the upcoming Music At St. Mary’s Concert Series on Oct. 13.
https://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2019/09/web1_Music-at-Marys.jpegAndrew Soards will open the upcoming Music At St. Mary’s Concert Series on Oct. 13. Submitted photo

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