Voice Of Freedom At St. James: A Community Celebration For All

There will be two performances to kickoff the 250th anniversary this Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27, at 7 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively.

The readers, singers and instrumentalists hail from all over and especially from our own Fayette County.

Some off the instrumentalists are repeat performers –– not new to St. James or its concert goers. Mary Ann Hatfield, for example. Mary Ann headlined the St. James Steinway Concert a few years back when the church acquired its grand piano. And Isabelle Jamois, the accomplished flutist who wowed the concert goers at the chamber music concert at the church last month. And Luke Huser on the cello, St. James’s resident string accompanist. One new addition to the instrumentalists is Matt Kirby, composer and trumpet player and performer in various groups in Pensacola, Florida. He is the son of Mary and Don Kirby, St. James’s music directors. I look forward to his horn contribution.

The instrumental ensemble is an interesting combination of piano, cello, flute, violin, piccolo, and trumpet. Their treatment of the featured 18th-century songs just may evoke the fife and drum ambience of the time. Yet the contemporary instruments are quite an evolution from that time. Isabelle’s flute, for example: The flute of 1776 was a completely different beast from what we hear today. Back then, it was a simple wooden tube with just six finger holes and a single metal key. Because of that design, playing certain notes required some serious finger gymnastics, and the sound was soft, warm, and intimate—perfect for small rooms, but easily drowned out in a big hall. Everything changed in the mid-1800s, when German inventor Theobald Boehm rebuilt the instrument from scratch. He swapped the wood for metal to boost volume, repositioned the holes for better tuning, and invented the clever system of padded keys we use today. His design gave us the modern flute: bright, incredibly agile, and powerful enough to cut through an entire orchestra.

One might say Isabelle’s flute is a tad different from the wooden fife of 1776. Her flute is a work of art; it is a 14k Haynes white gold flute with a 14k rose gold head joint, custom made for her. She is a young artist for Haynes flutes, which is the oldest flute manufacturer in the U.S. The local concert fans will recognize many of the singers. They are from the churches and community groups that bless our Fayette County neighborhood. The readers –– delivering quotes from our forefathers and others –– represent various sectors of the community. But the star of the show is the nascent America. How the Jeffersons and Washingtons and Reveres of our history struggled and compromised in order to conceive of a new concept of a nation, one free of tyranny and oppression. One in which the people held sway rather than a king or despot.

This should be a fitting and informative kickoff to our celebration week of the 250th anniversary of our nation.

Join us. Where: St. James Church, across from H-EB. When: Friday, June 26, 7 p.m., and Saturday, June 27, 3 p.m. Admission: Free (donations appreciated.) www. stjameslagrange.org. Call (979) 968-3910.