PORT TOWNSEND — Pianist Mike Carroll admits it. Some of the classical music out there is long, serious and just not pretty.
None of that stuff, he promises, will be on the agenda when he gives a public performance this week.
Instead, Carroll, who will give the September Candlelight Concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, has picked out music that is sprightly, romantic and dance-like by turns — in other words, he said, “it’s a lot of fun.”
In a concert to run just less than an hour, the Port Ludlow-based musician and teacher will offer pieces from Johann Sebastian Bach and Maurice Ravel, plus classics by Mozart, Chopin and Scarlatti.
Tuning in is a matter of going to the website of Trinity United Methodist Church, presenter of the monthly Candlelight Concerts.
Admission is free with donations welcome; proceeds will support Gatheringplace of Port Townsend, a provider of enrichment programs for adults with developmental and other disabilities.
The church website has a link for contributions. More information about Gatheringplace can be found here.
Carroll’s evening of classical piano also will be simulcast on KPTZ-FM 91.9.
For this first public concert he’s given since moving to Port Ludlow two years ago, Carroll has chosen some of his favorite composers. He’s been a big fan of Bach since his days at Clarion State College in Pennsylvania, where he studied with Robert S. Van Meter.
The Bach piece he’ll play Thursday is spirited, he said, with a part in the middle that sounds much like an aria.
To cap the performance, Carroll will play three short sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, a contemporary of Bach’s.
Together with Mozart, Chopin and Ravel, the five composers on the program are like good friends, he said.
Such music, created in centuries past, still sings for him.
“I’m probably something of an old fogie,” Carroll quipped.
Carroll also teaches piano to students from across the region.
He’d like to do more of that, since he enjoys the dynamic between teacher and pupil.
Teaching, Carroll said, “is really a fine way of learning.”
________
Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
