If I am beginning to sound a bit like a broken record, I apologize, but here goes: I am often amazed at the number of talented people I am lucky enough to cross paths with in this line of work.
Almost every day, I meet someone new having a wonderful story to tell, or a talent to share with our readers. And it's this variety of people I meet that makes this job so enjoyable.
In May 2006, I wrote a feature story on one of these amazing talents in our readership area, Beverly Ramstrom-Manning, a fiddler and string instructor from Sandown, with a long list of performance credits as a local music educator, director and musician.
I was able to meet Ramstrom-Manning as she was leading the Greater Derry Sunday Symphony and also the Derry-based Third Sunday Fiddlers. Then I found out she conducted the string ensemble at Pinkerton Academy, taught before-school string programs at St. Thomas Aquinas, and also performed with Fiddlers Loft and other area musical organizations.
And even though music has been a part of her life since the early age of 4 sitting at a piano and then taking up the violin, she said it's never too late to learn music, or any other talent, if you put your mind to it.
On May 18, Ramstrom-Manning will present "The Music of Aoife Galbally," a story of an immigrant girl's life in New England. The performance takes place at 2 p.m. in the vestry of the Chester Congregational Baptist Church.
The event features fiddle music composed and performed by Ramstrom-Manning, with accompanying music provided by MaryAnn Schroeder on second fiddle, Carly Rockenhauser on viola, and Ramstrom-Manning's husband, Rick Manning, on piano. Her daughter, Lara Skinner, offers a narrative.
"A writer tells a story with words, a screenwriter with film," Ramstrom-Manning said. "I've used 32-measure fiddle tunes to tell the story of Aoife Galbally."
She added the music and interspersed narrative portrays the life of the fictional Irish immigrant growing up in New England in the late 19th century.
The songs in the show include "Grandpa's Jig" and "Mill River Flood," and Ramstrom-Manning said she wanted to perform at the historic 276-year-old Chester church for a reason.
"Chester is an amazing town," she said. "Agriculture dominates the landscape, the town center is the intersection of two state highways, and it is not much different from the world of Aoife Galbally."
The performance is free to the public.
Julie Huss is a staff writer for the Derry News. Her column focusing on the local arts scene appears every Wednesday. To contact her, call 421-3847 or send an e-mail to jhuss@derrynews.com.
