Monday, December 7, 2009

Christmas Season

In a time of a down economy music lights up all of our lives and we are happy to be performing (Update since last writing for this particular blog!) once again on Friday, December 18th 2009 for the annual Holiday Festivities at the headquarters of American Express here in NY. Since 2004 we have provided either a trio or quartet of musicians for employees and families of American Express at #200 Vesey St in Manhattan. Our music begins at 7:45 AM as the employees and their families gather for the day's festivities which are produced by Johhny Jones of Peppermint Productions. He'll be there as always in his adorable santa hat and will be coordinating the story tellers, elves, beautiful Xmas tree and decorations, clowns, and much more!
This year we will provide an Ensemble of Violin, Harp and Cello.

Our early December included the very beautiful and spiritual (fully described in our last post) concerts held at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers. Thankfully the concerts were held as always and our String Quartet performed at the concerts for a lovely program of holiday and classical/seasonal music.

On December 12th our String Quartet performed at St. Joseph's Church Roman Catholic Church at 15 Cedar St. in Bronxville NY for the Nuptial Mass of Jaime Gizzo and Amy Adamo. It was a beautiful wedding, with a stunning bride and adorable groom and we were honored and very happy to be a part of their special day. Later that evening my husband (after having not one but rather 2 (!!!) flat tires reparied...we attended their fabulous and fun filled wedding reception as guests, held at the beautiful and newly rennovated Surf Club in New Rochelle. Jaime along with his brother Chris who is the General Manager, is a banquet manager at the Surf Club. His family owns and manages the Surf Club.

On Christmas Eve many of us will perform for a church service. I personally, along with my sister Amy (founding member of Capriccio) will perform at St. John's Episcopal Church on 100 Underhill Avenue, Tuckahoe, NY. The Service begins at 10:00 PM with Prelude Music. There will be a chamber choir and organist who is also the music director for the church, Ann Patton who shall perform and conduct the music at the service.

We wish you and yours a Happy & Joyous Kwanzaa, a Very Happy Hannukah, and a Very Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

CONCERTS, This Weekend!

12/5/09 at 7:30 PM and again on 12/6/09 at 3:00 PM our String Quartet performs at St. Joseph's Seminary: 201 Seminary Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10704.
The Concert is being held this year during Advent. The program consists of Christmas songs and seasonal music. There will also be a full performance of a Mass by Boccherini, featuring, Our String Quartet (!), Vocal Soloists, a Choir, Trumpets, Tympani, and Organ. The Concert is conducted by by Dr. Jennifer Pascual, Director of Music of the Cathedral of St. Patrick and produced by the NY Roman Catholic Archdiocese. The Seminary is a beautiful and spiritual place. The Pope almost always pays a visit to the St. Joseph's Seminary when he is in the US.

Please visit our website proper: http://www.capriccioensemble.com/showcases.html for information as to how to obtain tickets. Unfortunately at this time we have no more comp's available..they have all been previously requested by other brides, family and by my violin students!

Next Saturday, 12/12/09 Capriccio Ensemble's String Quartet will perform at the Wedding of Amy Adamo and Jaime Gizzo at St. Joseph's Church in Bronxville (lots of St. Joseph's in our agenda!).

My husband and I have been privileged to know the Gizzo family, of which Jaime is a member, for many years and it is an honor to be a part of Amy and Jaime's beautiful wedding day!
Amy has chosen these selections to be performed at her Nuptial Mass:

Prelude Music: Christmas music and Seasonal Classical Music will be performed by the String Quartet. As the guests enter St. Joseph's Church selections to include Largo from Winter of The Four Seasons, highlights from the "Christmas Concerto" by Arcangelo Corelli, "Angels we have heard on high", "selections from "the Messiah" by G.F. Handel and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" will be performed in the Choir Loft.

Seating of Family: "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" by JS Bach, String Quartet

Wedding Attendants Processional: "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel, String Quartet

The Bride/Amy's Entrance: "Trumpet Voluntary", by Clarke, JP Strybos, Organist at St. Joseph's Church

Responsorial Selections will mainly be sung and performed by JP Strybos, Vocalist and Organist at St. Joseph's Church.

Unity Candelighting by the Bride and Groom: "Silent Night, Holy Night". String Quartet

Offeratory/Presentation of the Gifts: "Ave Verum" by WA Mozart, String Quartet

The Sign of the Peace: "What Child is This"/"Greensleeves" traditional English Hymn, String Quartet

The Mass of Creation, sung and performed by JP Strybos with accompaniment by Natalie, Violinist.

Communion Hymn: "O Holy Night" sung by JP Strybos with the accompaniment of our String Quartet and the Organ

Presentation of Flowers to the Blessed Mother: "Ave Maria", Schubert, sung by JP Strybos with the accompaniment of the Organ and our String Quartet

Wedding Recessional Music: "Hornpipe" from the Watermusic Suite by G. F. Handel

Wedding Postlude and Exit Music: "Joy to the World" and "Alleluia" from the Messiah. by G.F. Handel, performed by the String Quartet

Upon the conclusion of the Mass, my husband and I will attend the reception for Amy and Jaime which will be held at the beautiful Surf Club of New Rochelle!

Sometime either the week after the wedding of Amy and Jaime I will be playing music with my dear friend Luellen who is a "Diva of the Subway" and I will be joining her one day to play Christmas and other seasonal music at Vanderbilt Markety located in Grand Central Station..TBA!

The next booked performance I have scheduled is for Christmas Eve however as of this posting I am not sure at which church I shall perform as I have been invited to perform at 2 and both services are at the same time..decisions decisions!

This year has been a very full one for me and for all of us. Our summer and fall consisted of many wonderful performances and opportunites. Highlights of our year include:
1. the Concerts at "Epiphany" held last January at St. Joseph's Seminary
2. a Concert at Temple Beth Torah performed by a Trio of Violin, (myself), Flute (Amy, my sister) and a Pianist, Kathy
3. Many memorable wedding and private event performances which occured in (to name a few beautifully done events and great locations!), Croton Point Park, The Carltun of Eisenhower Park, The Surf Club of New Rochelle, The Glen Island Harbour Club, New Rochelle, Vineyard Estate Caterers, Aquebogue, Lyndhurst Castle, Tarrytown, the Old Field Club, the Palace of Somerset Park, Westbury Manor, The Fox Hollow, The Woodbury Country Club, the Cresthollow Country Club, The Country Club of Darien, and of course all of the wonderful, sweet churches where we performed this year from Forest Hills, Manhattan, Harrison, to Centerport.

With my husband being ill...and now all better!..it's time for a short vacay! Destination TBD, however someplace warm and by the beach is being discussed.

Wishing everyone who has read this the happiest of holidays and a Great New year!...see you here in 2010 :)

Saturday, November 14, 2009

As the season of many wedding performances (there were 20 performances for our ensemble as well as for me as a solo violinist) in the month of October alone) dwindles the ensemble plans ahead!

1. We shall be recording 2 serious/"authentic" classical selections this week one of which is a Mozart "Fugue". The recording is a tribute to a colleague who is a great musician as well as musical arranger.
2. We will be creating our own videotape via live performance as we read great music by Mozart and Verdi, this week.
3. Work in Progress! Arrangements of many Italian songs will be written soon.
The intention of all of the creation of arrangements of these songs for string quartet is to then record a CD for sale which may be titled "Italy meeets Rat Pack" (lol we are sure they had in the 40's, 50's and 60's when some of these songs were originally written and recorded by Sinatra, Dean Martin and others)! or "Capriccio Ensemble performs Italian songs and rat pack faves". Which title do you prefer? Please be sure to let us know!
The CD will include Italian songs and selections which either I or friends of mine have arranged for us of Sinatra songs by Porter, Gershwin, Jones, Hupfeld, Warren and more.
Live Performances in November included:
1. the Bridal Expo held at the Surf Club of New Rochelle by "Everything Bridal Shows" on
11/4/09 where our String Trio and String Duo performed classical, soft romantic and also contemporary songs.
2. Our String Quartet at the Greek Cathedral in Manhattan at 319 E. 74th St. on 11/7/09.
3. Solo Violinist Natalie Kriegler (me) at the Westbury Manor on 11/14/09 for an Italian themed cocktail hour. I learned several all new Italian songs such as "Mala Femmina", "Anema e Core", Oh Marie", "Arrivederci Roma", "Maria Elena" and I included favorites I already knew such as "O Sole Mio", "Santa Lucia", "Torna Sorrento", "Volare", "Al di La". Sinatra songs and other popular "rat pack" songs were also played for the 300 guests who were situated in 3 different and adjoining rooms.
4. Rehearsal on 11/18/09 Violinist (me) and Pianist for special concert..details soon! Selections shall include soft virtuoso violin showstoppers auch as "Intermezzo" and as well as Broadway showtunes.
5. String Quartet reading and taping as well as videotaping, on 11/19/09.
6. The performances for 11/21/09 are tbd and if not confirmed soon, a mini vacation is planned for me and my husband!
7. Thanksgiving week will have many of our members substituting at Broadway shows (when I was a substitute on Broadway and also at the Radio City Music Hall Thanksgiving eve, day and weekend were always days that I could hands down count on to perform in place of the regular violinsts who had me "on call"!) as well as enjoying a great dinner on T-Day with family.
8. 11/28/09 Solo Violinist, Natalie Kriegler (me) performs at st. Francis Church, Hoboken along with organist Bob Myers and a solo singer for the Nuptial Mass of Victoria BonFrisco.

December schedule and details of our events coming soon!
Thanks for reading our latest news :)
Natalie,
Artistic Director of
The Capriccio Ensemble by Scarlett Music Inc.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

We performed on the Radio Show of Dr. Jennifer Pascual on Monday!

We performed "Gigue" by Pachelbel, "Allegro con brio", the first movement of String Quartet in G Major, Opus 54 No. 1 by Haydn, "Romanze" from Trio Opus 10 by Dohnanyi, a brand new piece of music written by Mike Lee for his sister Genevieve's wedding Processional music (wedding ceremony on 10/11/09) titled "I Want to Marry You" and we also performed a sampling of our contemporary songs which included "Groovy Kind of Love", "Never Tear Us Apart" by the INXS, and "Bittersweet Symphony" by the Verve/Rolling Stones.

We were all interviewed by Dr. Jennifer Pascual.
The show airs on 10/26/09 at 1:00 PM on the Sirius Sattelite Radio Network Chatholic Channel 159/Sirius XM 117.

This weekend we are at the beautiful Boathouse of Central Park for a ceremony to be performed by a Duet of Harp and Violin.

Next Wednesday, October 21st we are performing also as a Duet of Harp and Violin for the Autumn Bridal Show to be held at the Pelham Split Rock Golf Club on Shore Road, Bronx, NY from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM in the "Rotunda'.

The following weekend is one of our busiest performance weekends to date with weddings and private events all weekend. We shall perform each wedding with the exception of one as a full string quartet.
The weddings/private events take place at:
The North Ritz Club, Syosset NY (Friday evening)
The Crabtree Kittle House, Chappaqua, NY
The North Ritz Club, Syosset, NY (Saturday evening)
The Atlantica of Westhampton Beach
Vetro by Russo's on the Bay which is the newer and smaller more intimate venue just down the street from Russo's on the Bay on Cross Bay Blvd.

The weekend completes with our String Quartet ON THE AIR! On Monday October 26th
at 1:00 PM until 2:00 PM, again on the Sirius Sattelite Network Catholic Channel 159/Sirius XM 117 hotessed by Dr. Jennifer Pascual, Director of Music of the Cathedral of St. Patric, NY NY!

Thank you for reading our latest news. ..will be back soon with last of the month events and new events coming up soon, in November!

Natalie Kriegler,
Artistic Director

Friday, September 11, 2009

Hi from Capriccio Ensemble.

Our latest news!
Our String Quartet will be featured on the Catholic Channel 159 on the Sirius Sattelite Network.
The Radio show is hosted by Dr. Jennifer Pascual, the Director of Music for the Cathedral of St. Patrick NYC.
Date: October 12th 2009
Time: 1:00 PM
Tune in at that time to check us out LIVE!

Our schedule this year in September and October includes wonderful events at which we are participating.
Locations where we shall perform include:

Our Lady of Magnificat Church, Ocean Beach/Fire Island NY
The Tides Estate, North Haledon, NJ
The Old Field Club, Setauket, NY
Seventh Day Adventist Church, Wayne, NJ
The Royalton of Roslyn, NY
The Davenport Club, New Rochelle
The Pelham Split Rock Golf Club
The Glen Island Harbour Club, New Rochelle, NY
Mandarin Oriental, Manhattan
Union Theological Seminary, Manhattan
The Central Park Boathouse, Manhattan
The North Ritz Club, Syosset, NY
The Vineyard Estate Caterers, Aquebogue, NY
The Woodbury Country Club, Woodbury, NY

We shall learn a few new songs for our brides this fall such as these beautiful ballads/songs:
I Dont Want to Miss a Thing, Aerosmith
I'll Be by Ed McBain
I've Just Seen a Face by the Beatles

My personal itenerary as the Arstistic Director also includes a few "outside" endeavors such as:
Rehearsing with our all New String Trio for Concerts
Rehearsing with our cellist Robert towards a performance with orchestra
for the Beethoven Triple Concerto: Violin, Cello and Piano
Practicing in all my free time for my Christmas recording (shall send as a gift to everyone I know) of "Caprice 24" by Paganini

That's it for now..

Thanks for reading!
Natalie
The Inn at New Hyde Park

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Capriccio Ensemble Happy Spring!

Hi

We are new here and just started to BLOG!

We've had a busy spring and are looking forward to the great live events we have on our schedule at the end of May and to all of the beautiful weddings we are to perform at in
June.

Of note:
Rachel's wedding on June 6th at The Foundry of LIC where we shall perform "Never Tear us Apart" for her entrance. It's a cool song we're learning by the INXS. It does have a great sound as a violin solo and there will be the accompaniment of 3 other strings as in a full string quartet. ..looking forward to this one! The Recessional music will be "You Shook Me" by AC/DC. :)

Lucy's wedding on June 27th at Harvest on Hudson. Our String Trio will add a bit of theater and "sweetening" to "I've Got You Babe" her first dance song!

More to come.....
Natalie