Pianist Schwab in concert Sept. 28

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Pianist Jacqueline Schwab will perform her solo program “Making Magic with Ken Burns” at the Central-Hall Commons on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m., presented by the Maine Highlands Council for the Arts. Schwab has been heard for many years on Ken Burns’ “Civil War” and numerous other of his documentaries. She will feature pieces from her Burns soundtrack performances and will also share some of her own work celebrating cultural diversity, inspired by her work with Burns.

You will hear Jacqueline’s interpretation of Jay Ungar’s well-loved “Ashokan Farewell”, along with well-known vintage American standards, such as “Be Thou My Vision”, “Tenting on the Old Campground”, “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, as well as traditional Celtic, French Canadian, and vintage Latin tunes. Schwab will speak about the tunes and Burns’ unusual way of working with music — how he inspires emotive performances and uses music to amplify his messages and shed historical light on today’s world. This will be Schwab’s first Dover-Foxcroft appearance.

Schwab spins musical stories out of the many strands in the American quilt, with community music-making at their heart. Her signature playing features in over a dozen of Burns’ documentaries, including his Grammy-winning “Civil War”, “Baseball”, “Lewis and Clark”, “Mark Twain”, “The War”, and his recently-released “Benjamin Franklin” as well as in other PBS documentaries, such as “The Irish in America — The Long Journey Home”. She has performed at the White House, and (twice) on national PBS with the American Pops Orchestra, and she has accompanied Scottish singer Jean Redpath on public radio’s “A Prairie Home Companion” and on CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman”. She is well-known to the traditional dance world for her groundbreaking playing with the Bare Necessities ensemble. Her recently-released solo album “I Lift My Lamp — Illuminations from Immigrant America” celebrates vintage music from American immigrants. 

Admission is $10. Tickets may be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/Jacqueline-Schwab.

For more information contact arts@centralhallcommons.org or 207-598-6398 or gohttps://207tix.com/events/making-music-with-ken-burns-jacqueline-schwab-9-28-2024.