AUGUST 27, 2009 ISSUE
Composer Marvin Hamlisch Benefit Concert for Temple A Success
After the sell-out concert on August 22, The Sixth Floor Trio—which is comprised of Teddy Abrams, Harrison Hollingsworth and Johnny Teyssier—Marvin Hamlisch, Ford Lallerstedt and Brenda Bozer posed together for a photo. The concert raised funds for the building of the Temple of the High Country. Photo by Corinne Saunders
Renowned composer Marvin Hamlisch, along with world-famous tenor J. Mark McVey, gave a concert on Saturday, August 22, at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk to raise funds for the building of the Temple of the High Country.
For the past 20 years, the Boone Jewish Community has held Friday night services at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Boone and observed High Holy Day services at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church in Boone. Land on West King Street has already been purchased for the future temple, and construction will begin as soon as funds allow.
Hamlisch has won virtually every major award that exists for composers, including three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globe awards. His groundbreaking show, A Chorus Line, received the Pulitzer Prize.
McVey performed the role of Jean Valjean for Les Miserables on Broadway for a number of years.
“We’ve been working on this [benefit] for months,” said Stan Etkin, a planning committee member. “It turned out to be everything we’d hoped for and more. We knew Hamlisch would have to leave early to go back to Charlotte, but he was very generous with his time.”
Hamlisch stayed for a while after the concert to attend a champagne reception, where he greeted reception guests, posed for pictures and gave out numerous signatures.
The benefit “was a huge success on many levels,” said Jamie Schaefer, co-owner of Westglow Resort and Spa.
As of press time, the official total of proceeds generated from the concert has not been tallied, but a significant individual donation was promised after the performance ended.
“At the end of the evening, we were approached by Sandi and Leonard Solomon, who made a $250,000 commitment,” Schaefer said.
“I guess they were so inspired by the evening [and] moved by Mr. Hamlisch’s appeal. He said that it’s important for everyone to have a home base,” she said.
The Sixth Floor Trio—comprised of Teddy Abrams, Harrison Hollingsworth and Johnny Teyssier—opened for Hamlisch.
Abrams played piano and clarinet, Hollingsworth played violin and bassoon and Teyssier played clarinet. The trio came back out and performed the final song, “The Entertainer,” with Hamlisch on the keys.
Brenda Boozer, a former opera singer with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, was instrumental in arranging for Hamlisch to come to Banner Elk. Her father, Dr. Jack Boozer, was a professor of religion at Emory University and worked on a benefit with Hamlisch and Robert Klein to raise money to create a chair for a Jewish studies program.
Boozer’s husband, Ford Lallerstedt, taught all the members of the Trio for four years during their time at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Four other people are actually in their group, he said. All six lived on the sixth floor in an apartment building during their time at Curtis—hence the group’s name, he added.
“All six were participants in my seminar. Most of my students play at least two instruments, maybe more,” Lallerstedt said, adding that his seminar students are highly motivated and start off with very open minds and open attitudes.
Lallerstedt is an organist and conductor who also plays the bassoon. He is the former director of musical studies at Curtis and current head of the fellowship program for conductors, composers and other advanced instrumentalists, he said.
He began teaching at Curtis 37 years ago, at age 23. Curtis is a selective school to begin with, and Lallerstedt’s program is selective beyond that—the best of the best, he said.
Lallerstedt exuded pride as he talked about his former students’ current endeavors. “Teddy is [currently] the assistant conductor for the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Fla. [and] Harrison went right from school to be the principal bassoonist in the New York City Ballet Orchestra after his first audition,” Lallerstedt said. “Johnny is doing graduate work at the Colburn School of Music in L.A. [and is] out doing concerts. He’s a young rising solo clarinetist.
“It’s odd to see classical musicians break the barriers, but I think it works with the audience,” he said. “They’re good at pop music, folk and classical music.”
The Trio performed musical genres to open for Hamlisch, including classical and bluegrass music, as well as Romanian folk songs.
Even before the performance, the group was recruited to play at several local venues. They arrived in Banner Elk about a week early and asked if there was anything they could do to help, Ektin said.
“We had them perform at three events even before [tonight],” he said. “Ford says they are prodigies, and they are.”
The venues included a Torah consecration and the chancellor’s reception at Westglow Resort and Spa that was attended by about 100 people, he added.
“ASU usually hosts a celebration for those who donate to the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Peace Studies,” said Ruth Etkin, Stan Etkin’s wife. “Budget cuts wouldn’t allow it this year because it’s not considered academic [so] Westglow took it on.”
The Trio played Klezmer, traditional Eastern European Jewish wedding and celebration music, at these events.
They took the music, played a little and were ready to perform, Stan Ektin added. “They played up a storm.”
Those who wish to support the temple fundraising can send donations to the synagogue to P.O. Box 2895, Boone, N.C. 28607.
For more information about the temple, call 828-264-8364 or click to www.boonejewishcommunity.com.
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