Dynamic duo opens concert season

The El Dorado County Community Concert Association will kick off its 63rd season with Tingstad and Rumbel, an oboe and guitar duo, on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Grammy Award-winners Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel have performed, recorded and toured together for more than 24 years with 19 albums to their credit.

Traveling to as many as 50 concert venues a year, they are friends who enjoy each other’s company and truly love making music.

The El Dorado County Community Concert Association – the oldest cultural organization in El Dorado County – has been bringing world class entertainment to the greater Placerville area for over sixty years and this season is no exception.

The second concert of the season, on Wednesday, Nov. 14,  will bring James D’León.

D’León is known as a rare and completely versatile pianist who is just as comfortable performing a concerto as he would be playing a full solo recital or collaborating with a world-class chamber group.

He continues to dazzle audiences and keep them on the edge of their seats with his commanding technique, expressive body movement and searching interpretations.

The third concert of the season, on Tuesday, Jan. 22 will bring the Sonic Escape.

“A force of epic proportion,” Sonic Escape, formerly Silver Roots, is a flute, violin and cello trio of Julliard graduates that perform ground-breaking original works, arrangements and improvisations crafted from the world’s songs and stories.

Humor and candid conversation draw audiences in, while backgrounds in acting, singing and dancing turn concerts into unforgettable, theatrical events.

The fourth concert of the season, on Tuesday, February, 19,  will bring Gabriel Silva and Sue Ann Pinner to El Dorado County.

Acclaimed American tenor Gabriel Silva and international recording star, composer and Emmy Award-winner Sue Ann Pinner unite their sensational voices in an uplifting and inspirational concert of popular and classical music.

The fifth concert of the season, on Wednesday, March 20, will bring Presidio Brass.

Since forming in 2006, the San Diego ensemble has rocketed to success as the face of a bold new generation in brass entertainment. By combining a brass quintet, piano and percussion instruments with fresh, original arrangements, their unique sound has become a trademark for the group, captivating audiences everywhere.

The sixth, and last concert of the season, on Thursday, April 18, will bring William Florian.

This is an upbeat, energetic, musical journey of America’s greatest songs of the ’60s, including songs he performed as lead singer of the famous New Christy Minstrels, and the music of Peter Paul and Mary, John Denver, Pete Seeger, The Mamas and The Papas, and uplifting originals presented with amusing stories.

All El Dorado Community Concerts begin at 7 p.m. and are performed at Union Mine High School, Theater at the Mine, 6530 Koki Lane in El Dorado. Some concerts will be available to area students at no cost to the schools.

The 2012-13 Community Concert membership card includes six outstanding performances for $60. Student memberships are $20. A limited number of memberships are still available and should be purchased for the start of the 2012-13 season on Oct. 23 with Tingstad and Rumbel.

For  information on the availability of new memberships, or to obtain tickets for a single concert at $25 each, call Normadene Carpenter at 530-622-4218.