Captivating Blue

The Blue that Captivated the World

Indigo is making a comeback on Edisto Island thanks to artisan and farmer Caroline Harper

By Pat Branning

Edisto Island is a flat sub-tropical barrier island just south of Charleston - a place of majestic live oaks, heavily laden with Spanish moss that form cathedral-like canopies over ever-winding sandy roads. Black gum trees, live oaks and scrub brush line the sides of Hwy. 174 as it winds its way toward the sea. Oysters crowd the creek banks and shrimp, blue crab, and mullet are there for the taking for anyone with a cast net. Most of the land is a jungle of tangled oaks, magnolia trees, palmettos, and yuccas standing high above a woodland floor.

Once this land was a refuge for escaped slaves who armed themselves, joined Confederate forces and clashed with Union soldiers during the Civil War. Union forces later positioned themselves on Edisto where they developed a staging area for future campaigns against Charleston, just twenty-five miles away. Eventually, the colony of African Americans grew and the Union Army protected thousands of freed slaves who had taken refuge on this barrier island.

This historic island deep in the heart of the Lowcountry of South Carolina is the location for the farm where Caroline (pronounced care-oh-lean) and her husband David Harper grow indigo. For 50 years, starting in the late 1740’s, indigo was a major South Carolina cash crop, second only to rice. At one time, the extracted pigment, dried and shaped into circular cakes, was so prized that it was sometimes called blue gold, and used as currency - even as barter for slaves. After the Revolutionary War, indigo processing fell into obscurity, relegated to the fringes of the agricultural conversation as a historical oddity.

Today’s farmers, textile dyers and fabric artists on John’s Island near Charleston and in the greater region, are championing indigo as a sustainable, regenerative alternative to modern-day, petroleum-based dyes. As more residents learn about indigo’s former prominence, they are beginning to cultivate the plant and experiment with its many uses. With the crop’s resurgence, the Lowcountry is in the midst of an unexpected indigo revival.

Caroline Harper

Caroline Harper will be hosted by The Social Betty, 204 Carteret Street on Saturday, November 26, from 1-4 pm. She will be speaking about the art of indigo and offering many of her products for sale. Drinks and light refreshments will be served throughout the afternoon.

A Gift to the Lowcountry

One of my most memorable birthday gifts was one of those that just keeps on giving, and has since the mid1980s. This was truly an experiential gift, as I grew up in a music-centric household. My dad played eight instruments, my mother crooned Frank Sinatra as she cleaned house, and classical music filled our home on numerous occasions. As I’ve mentioned previously, my earliest memory – while in my playpen – was listening to Mario Lanza singing The Student Prince.

So when a New York City boyfriend treated me to a Lincoln Center concert featuring brilliant cellist Yo-Yo Ma playing the music of Franz Joseph Haydn (whose birthday is the day after mine), I was enthralled for the entire performance and high on life when we left the hall. Recently, that happened again.

Music can be a wonderful “connector,” of audience members with musicians, of listeners with other listeners, and of individuals with their own hearts. Music lowers cortisol levels and increases dopamine, thus relieving stress and boosting the immune system. Calming music can help muscles relax and can even alleviate pain.

All that said, we in the Lowcountry have a gift just waiting to be experienced at the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) Center for the Arts – The USCB Chamber Music Series. Full disclosure here: chamber music was rarely part of my childhood experience. As a result, though I adored much classical repertoire, I thought of chamber music as “longhair” and “dull,” perhaps much like an extra-inning baseball game. Bless my heart!

That misconception lasted until I moved to Beaufort 15 years ago and met the remarkable Shirley Parsons, who immediately recruited me as an usher for the university’s performances, then called the USCB Festival Series. Just try saying no to one of Shirley’s requests!

So for the first wintertime concert, I donned black, welcomed attendees, collected tickets, and found a seat in the auditorium, considering a nap if things got boring. While waiting for the musicians to commence, I perused the program. When I began reading their creds, I was dumbfounded . . . these were internationally-recognized performers. Big time. We’re talking talent known and honored throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Though I wanted to keep reading, the theater lights went down, and the legendary Charles Wadsworth took the stage, entering with wild applause.

Charles Wadsworth? I thought. The Charles Wadsworth, founding Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the chamber concert series at Spoleto USA in Charleston? In Beaufort? Remarkably, I’d heard of him.

If by chance you haven’t, just Google the Noonan, Georgia, native and prepare to be awestruck. How’d a musician of his stature end up in Beaufort? The story’s a good one.

Founded in 1979 by USCB Art History professor Mary Whisonant, USCB Chamber Music has presented stellar, internationallyrecognized artists, the likes of pianist Jean Yves Thibaudet, violinists Joshua Bell and Robert McDuffie, flutist Paula Robison, cellist Carter Bray, and the Brooklyn Rider, Emerson, Tokyo, and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Area banks and churches and the MCAS theater hosted early performances. At that time, Professor Whisonant’s hats included those of artistic director, ticket seller, airport taxi driver, caterer, and funding seeker. In 1983, once the USCB Center for the Arts (CFA) had opened, the series found a permanent home and the good professor retired.

Beaufort County’s 16-year Representative in the South Carolina House, Harriet Keyserling, then prevailed upon Wadsworth to bring chamber music to Beaufort. In addition, over a twenty-year period, the talented pianist, harpsichordist, and music promoter delivered lively and informative introductions of featured artists and compositions, inventive programming, the best young musicians in the world, and his own brilliant, unique style at the keyboard. (At my initial exposure, I was hooked before the actual performance started!)

During those two decades, the illustrious raconteur transformed many area residents and visitors into fans of chamber music, present company included. As his own eightieth decade approached, Wadsworth retired, turning over the reins to cellist Edward Arron, his assistant for the previous two years and 10-year Artistic Director for the Metropolitan Museum’s Artists in Concert Series. For 12 years, Arron brought to his role warm, thoughtful commentary, his artistry on the cello, and the most significant young artists playing and composing chamber music.

At the series’s 40th birthday, Arron passed the baton along to the marvelously talented, delightfully engaging pianist, Andrew Armstrong. Amazingly, Arron and Armstrong didn’t miss a beat through the pandemic, keeping concerts rolling for musicians and audiences with limited-live and virtual performances, thanks to the financial stability provided by the establishment of the Chamber Music Endowment. As long as funding allows, a virtual live-streaming option will continue to be available to folks who can’t attend in person plus the option of three-week access to the recorded concert at your leisure.

Last year, in the series’s 43rd season and Armstrong’s first at the helm, audiences reveled in a recital by Gramophone’s Artist of the Year, violinist James Ehnes in 2021’s first offering, and closed the five-series season with an original composition by noted American composer, conductor and multiinstrumentalist Jeremy Turner (another Google opportunity).

As for the USCB Chamber Music Series being a gift to those of us who live near South Carolina’s ocean, I’ve digressed a wee bit. However, last Sunday’s concert was in my opinion, the best I’ve attended. Period. Right up there with Bruce Springsteen. Really.

The event began with the introduction of a brand new Steinway grand piano named Miss Flora. Andy Armstrong presented the new lady in his life with humor, respect and a marvelous performance of Julia Perry’s Prelude for Piano. Oh my! If you’d been there, you’d no doubt agree. A Covid-related cancellation by a scheduled musician caused the artistic director to make last-minute program changes, and the show went on.

Did it ever! On clarinet, violin, viola, and the illustrious Miss Flora. From the minute the music began, the audience was completely captivated. I looked around and saw that on every face nearby. Any remnants of a too-busy weekend melted away with those expertly-played notes, the facial cues between the musicians, and the pure joy with which each played. Not a whit of longhair or dull here. Apparently, these serious, world class performers were having a ball, often smiling at one another and grooving on whatever piece they were playing.

The mood at intermission seemed especially jovial among patrons and continued through the rest of the program, during which the musicians simply cranked up the ante with breathtaking enthusiasm and expertise in each piece. A standing ovation followed, as did many a vocal “Wow!” as people filed out.

That concert did my soul good.

Though I’m a music appreciator and not a musician, take it from me that even if you think you don’t like chamber music, the USCB series might well change your mind. Give it a try. Between Armstrong’s chatty, educational intro of the featured program, fascinating observation of the musicians, relaxing atmosphere, and passion-filled music, you might just find a new way to spend a few late Sunday afternoons.

After all, says integrative medicine practitioner Teresa Hubkova, “Love for music is something we all share, no matter where we are from or our political background.”

Maybe it’s time to ignore the news and connect through music.

For concert and ticketing info, go to uscbchambermusic.com or call (843) 208 – 8246.

WHOLLY HOLISTICS

by Katherine Tandy Brown

Mature Mastery & Teenage Potential

By Michael Johns

On December 11, 5:00pm USCB Chamber Music ushers in the holiday season with a concert featuring four engaging and emotional works. Three composers are represented with masterful summations from lifetimes of creation; the fourth composer was a youth trying to find his own unique voice. Artistic Director and pianist Andrew Armstrong, flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, and cellist Edward Arron will bring the compositions to life through a blend of technical mastery, evocative colors, insightful interpretations, and high-spirited energy. Their joyful merging of these elements will create a memorable experience that exceeds the sum of its parts. The concert will be book-ended with trios by Louise Farrenc (Trio in E minor, Op. 45) and Claude Debussy (Trio in G Major, L.5). Prokofiev's Cello Sonata, Op 119 and Arron Copland's Duo for Flute and Piano will be heard before and after intermission.

Louise Farrenc was a formidable nineteenth-century piano prodigy and composer. For thirty years she served as Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire, the only woman to continuously hold such a prestigious European position during the entire century. Her composing career began with piano miniatures and progressively expanded to include chamber ensembles and larger pieces for orchestra. Chamber music is generally considered her finest genre and the last of these, Trio in E minor, is a skillfully crafted, accessible, and selfpossessed work with considerable appeal.

In 1936, expat Sergei Prokofiev returned to Russia to claim a position as one of Russia's great composers. His timing could not have been worse. Prokofiev's passport was revoked, he never again traveled outside the country, much of his music was banned, and he was required to compose reams of Soviet-realist claptrap. In 1950, Cello Sonata, Op 119 miraculously slid past the censors and its earthy, rich, direct, and remarkable expression was brought into the sunlight.

Aaron Copland set out to create a new “American” sound by incorporating folk music and wide-open-spaces into an approachable musical language. Copland described his 1971 Duo for Flute and Piano as lyrical and in a pastoral style: ". . . a work of comparatively simple harmonic and melodic outline, direct in expression.” As if to preface these qualities he titled its three movements Flowing, Poetic, and Lively.

Claude Debussy desired to create a French musical style rivaling German traditions. To this task he applied new formal, harmonic, and tone-color approaches that revolutionized western music. Before this could be accomplished, however, he needed to learn the craft of putting tones together. Trio in G Major, L.5, composed at age 18, was part of this process. In the style of light and pleasing French salon music, the trio's four movements leisurely unfold with lyricism, clarity, and charm. It points in the direction of the mature Debussy's 1904 statement that “The primary aim of French music is to give pleasure.”

To play this attractive, passionate, pastoral, and expressive music are three superbly qualified artists who are in the chamber music vanguard. Flutist Tara Helen O'Connor was a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, is a two-time Grammy nominee, and continues as a multiyear Season Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Ms. O'Connor is a sought-after chamber music colleague who regularly participates in festivals such as the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Music@ Menlo, Spoleto USA, Chamber Music Northwest, Mainly Mozart Festival, the Banff Centre, Chesapeake Music Festival and Bravo! Vail. Former USCB Chamber Music Artistic Director and current University of Massachusetts Amherst Associate Professor, cellist Edward Arron makes a welcome return with his warm humanity, insightful musicianship, and impeccable technique. Ed's appreciation for the communicative power of chamber music has been at the center of his distinguished career, leading to performances throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Festival appearances have included Ravinia, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, Bravo! Vail, Tanglewood, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Seattle Chamber Music, Bowdoin, Telluride Musicfest, La Jolla Summerfest, and Bard Music Festival.

It is an axiom of the human condition that over time 'familiar' may settle into 'comfortablyrespected.' This expression does not do justice to pianist and host Andrew Armstrong, now in his third season as USCB Chamber Music Artistic Director, who is the epitome of a unique and electrifying individual. His witty, self-effacing remarks, hyperkinetic personality, and seemingly effortless pianism have regularly delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States as a recitalist and concertosoloist, in chamber music concerts with the Elias, Alexander, American, and Manhattan String Quartets, and as a member of the Caramoor Virtuosi, Boston Chamber Music Society, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players.

Support the Arts! Come and listen to these remarkable artists perform intriguing and gratifying music. There are multiple ways to enjoy the concerts—In Person, Live-Stream and On-Demand. All virtual concerts are professionally produced, creating great viewing opportunities. On-Demand is accessible four days after the concert and available to view at your leisure for three weeks. For concert/ticket information, go to www.uscbchambermusic.com or call 843-208-8246, Monday through Friday. The concert is Sunday, December 11, 5:00pm at the USCB Center for the Arts, 801 Carteret St., Beaufort.

Katherine Tandy Brown has traveled the world as a freelance writer for 25 years. She teaches memoir, travel writing and writing practice in USCB’s OLLI Continuing Ed program and in her downtown cottage. A certified writing coach, she is penning her first novel, One to Go: An Equine or (859) 312-6706 Flutist Tara Helen O'Connor Pianist and Artistic Director Andrew Armstrong

Freedman Arts District Launches Website

The Freedman Arts District markets and promotes, arts, artists, venues, and arts education within the Arts District and nearby areas. The goal is for artists to be successful, and for students, residents, and visitors to be engaged in a vibrant, arts-infused experience. Increasing enrollment and expanded arts education programming at USCB in the District is an important measurement of the Districts’ success. The Freedman Arts District actively supports heirs and families retaining property ownership, by working with property owners within the District to restore and renovate buildings while contributing to neighborhood prosperity and vitality.

Calling All Artists and Art Lovers: Live, create, and market art in the District. The Freedman Arts District is ready to assist in finding a place, securing permits, signage, marketing and more. Artists are encouraged to submit their information online at FreedmanArtsDistrict.org for promotion.

Arts Venues and Events: Event organizers within the District can send their published Facebook Event URL to stacy@freedmanarts district.org for review to be added to the Districts’ events calendar. An arts calendar for events happening in and around the District can be viewed at FreedmanArtsDistrict.org/calendar

For Heirs and Property Owners: Those owning property in the District and that would like assistance with heirs’ property issues, with renovation and restoration, or simply to discuss how the property might be used to benefit the owner and their family, the Freedman Arts District is interested in learning more.

The District and Office: The map can be found at freedmanartsdistrict.org. The Freedman Arts District office will be located at 1401 Duke Street in the Arts District. Watch for renovations to begin in January.

Executive Director, Stacy Applegate

lives in the Freedman Arts District where she renovated and restored her home. Stacy comments, “I am excited to be involved in an effort that will enhance the community and the city and enable families to maintain ownership of their property. Assisting in creating family wealth and supporting an artistically rich environment has been a goal of mine for years.”

The Freedman Arts District is pleased to have the support of many organizations and partners. All are invited to visit the website, use the events calendar, and sign up for the newsletter.