This evening I am witnessing another example of how rich in the arts the Adirondack North Country really is.

I am at The Wadhams Free Library in the town of Westport where a little more than twenty people have gathered together to hear pianist Rose Chancler play and speak.

Rose Chancler has performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, making appearances as soloist, collaborative artist, and teacher. Lucky for us, Rose is now focused on performing chamber music and presenting concerts in the Adirondack State Park as the Artistic Director and founding member of the acclaimed music series Piano by Nature which holds performances in the historic Hand House in Elizabethtown, NY.

Rose has held teaching positions at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, the Baylor University School of Music, and the University of Iowa School of Music. She has been a faculty accompanist and coach at the Meadowmount School of Music in Lewis, NY, and at the Chautauqua Institution Music Schools in western NY. She is a faculty member of Plattsburgh State University of NY, and also runs Hamilton Hall Studio in Westport. And, she proudly states, that she is a citizen of Wadhams.

Tonight Rose is going to teach us about the sonata while focusing on Beethoven and his "Moonlight Sonata."

Rose begins by apologizing for the electric piano she is using. She admits she'd rather have us all at her studio down the road to hear her play on a "real"piano. But alas, this is a library program and she acknowledges, as such, it should take place in the library.

Rose asks a lot of questions and in so doing she has the audience engaged and busy forming our own questions. She wonders how to get people to come and listen to the declining art of classical music. "What do we/you need to know? What do musicians need to know? How does the music connect to us? Is it relevant now?"

After the barrage of questions Rose takes us on an historical journey to Wadhams at the time Beethoven was composing. She makes comparisons between what was happening in the Adirondacks and what was going on in Europe at the same time. And there are more questions: "were there pianos in Wadhams or, indeed, in the Adirondacks in the early 1800s?"

She then moves on to play the first movement of "Moonlight Sonata" to set the stage. We are transfixed by her playing and the master's composition. And then, you guessed it, more questions, this time not rhetorical and more personal: "What were your thoughts on hearing that piece? Did you enjoy it?" And some of the answers: "It made me think of how I was forced to play it as a kid." "Depressing." Other adjectives that float out: "contemplative, consistent, yearning, repetitive." Rose then answers, "You're all right."

Rose lets us in on something Beethoven himself said about the piece, "Surely I've written better things." The evening is full of interesting facts about the composer himself and other classical composers.

During the course of the evening we learn a little about Bach, C.P.E. Bach in particular. Rose treats us to a piece by Dominico Scarlatti, followed by more questions and more audience comments on how the sonata has taken on new meaning as we have learned more about the form of the piece, the composer, some of his contemporaries, and the time in which they lived.

It is an evening of musical magic and enlightenment.

This little library has a regular schedule of magical evenings in store. For more information on upcoming events click through to the Wadhams Free Library web site.

Kathleen Recchia has been enjoying the arts in the Adirondacks for about 20 years—both as observer and participant (acting, directing, and producing). She also enjoys cross-country skiing, swimming, juggling, and hosting visitors to the area at her bed & breakfast in Jay.