California Guitar Trio

Friday, March 6, 8:00pm

The Colonial Showroom ~ 95 Main St, Keene NH

Collaboration with The Colonial Theatre

Since 1991, the California Guitar Trio has redefined the boundaries of guitar music. Blending rock, jazz, classical, world music—and even surf and spaghetti Westerns—CGT’s genre-bending sound is matched by their captivating live shows, full of dazzling musicianship, storytelling, and humor.

With over 115 million streams and 21 albums, the trio’s unique chemistry connects deeply with audiences. Their latest releases include Live in Scottsdale (recorded on tour with King Crimson) and Elegy, featuring lush originals and bold reimaginings of Radiohead and the Beatles.

CGT’s music has reached listeners around the globe—from the Olympics and major networks to NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavor. Current members Paul Richards, Bert Lams, and Tom Griesgraber continue to push artistic boundaries, including collaborations with Montreal Guitar Trio in a powerful six-guitar ensemble.

31 years. 2,000+ shows. Infinite musical possibilities.

Romance & Spring

Thursday, April 9, 6:30pm
(doors 6pm)

Spring Hill Studio ~ 358 Spring Hill Road, Sharon, NH

Elisabeth Small, violin
Mary Towse-Beck, piano

Acclaimed violinist Elisabeth Small joins pianist Mary Towse-Beck for an evening of Spring and Romance. Celebrating the season of renewal, the program features Beethoven’s beloved Spring Sonata, along with lyrical romances by Clara Schumann and New Hampshire composer Amy Beach. The concert takes place at Spring Hill Studio in Sharon NH—an intimate and beautiful setting, perfectly suited for an inspiring and uplifting evening of hopeful music

The works of local artist, Jessie Pollock, will be on display.

Doors open at 6pm; concert begins at 6:30pm. The program length will be an hour with no intermission. Reception to follow with Prosecco and Cupcakes.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven - Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Op. 24 ("Spring Sonata")
    Allegro
    Adagio molto espressivo
    Scherzo: Allegro molto
    Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo

Clara Schumann - Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22                
    Andante molto
    Allegretto
    Leidenschaftlich schnell

Amy Beach - Romance for Violin and Piano, Op. 23
    Chanson de la Naissance
    Astor Piazzolla

60 minutes total running time with music and audience interaction

Tickets include complimentary Prosecco and Cupcakes

Elisabeth Small, violin

Elisabeth Small's multi-faceted career has touched upon a wide realm of possibilities for a violinist: university professor, symphonic player, soloist, chamber musician, studio musician, clinician, presenter and adjudicator. She continues to enjoy performing, leading masterclasses and teaching. Now, Belmont University School of Music Professor Emerita, Small’s former students grace concert halls the world over, and their recordings have achieved both Grammies and CMA Musician of the Year awards. Small received her Bachelor and Master degrees from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Dorothy DeLay. www.elisabethsmall.com

Mary Towse-Beck, piano

Pianist Mary Towse-Beck is equally at home as both soloist and collaborative artist. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Australia, appearing at illustrious venues such as the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Barbican in London. She has been a featured artist on public radio in the United States, Canada and on Australian National Radio. Mary received her Bachelor and Master of Music from Indiana University and has also studied at Eastman School of Music. She studied and received coaching from many renowned teachers including Jerome Rose, James Tocco, Edward Auer, Rebecca Penneys, Josef Gingold and Janos Starker.

Jesse Pollock, fine artist

Enjoy the work of Jessie Pollock on display at Spring Hill Studio

“Jessie Pollock’s richly textured landscape paintings and luminous photo-based images are romantic, sensuous, and evocative. They suggest the passage of time and evoke nostalgia for times past. Intensely appealing for their tactile surfaces and radiant light, Pollock’s paintings transcend the reality of a specific time or place. Though modern in their materials and sensibility, these works send us back to a way of life now vanishing.”

-Susan Strickler, Director, Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH

The Thing in the Spring
The Music of Katie Semro

Saturday, May 16, 1:00pm
(doors 12:00pm)

Nova Arts ~ 48 Emerald St, Keene NH

Monadnock Music is once again collaborating with Nova Arts for their annual music festival The Thing in the Spring (now in its 18th year). We believe this partnership highlights a beautiful synergy between our organizations' missions to bring high calibre music to rural areas. Both organizations promote deep listening and music appreciation. This special collaboration brings classical music to the eclectic line-up The Thing in the Spring always delivers.

Please come and enjoy not only Saturday's offerings, but the whole weekend's events. 

Monadnock Music performs at 1:00pm, but stay for the afternoon and evening of music!

Katie Semro, composer

Katie Semro is a composer whose music rides a beautiful line between modern and romantic aesthetics. It is intelligent without being obscure, clear without being simplistic, and cohesive without being predictable. Listening to her music is like taking a walk in a fresh landscape, you haven’t been there before, but you never feel lost.

Semro’s music has been performed throughout North America. She was a Gabriela Ortiz Composing Fellow at the OAcademy Music Conservatory and received an Artist Diploma in 2025. She also studied privately with composer Elena Ruehr. Currently, she is working on several chamber ensemble commissions and one for wind ensemble for the University of Toronto. Her piece Fallout for solo violin, was released in September 2025 and is available wherever you listen. Her works are emotional journeys that grapple with the joys and struggles of transformation, the anguish of lost dreams, and the light and the dark that we all carry with us.

Semro found her way to composing through spoken word audio and electronic music. In 2023 she released an EP of electronic music, Gone, based on the emotional effects of our intangible losses. She has also collaborated with several visual artists, creating music and audio to accompany their works. Her audio art has been exhibited at Sound Scene Fest at the Hirshhorn Smithsonian Museum, and she won third prize in the 60 Sec Radio Competition in 2023. She is also a composer mentor for Music-COMP.

She lives in a cozy house along the Gridley River in Sharon, NH with her husband and two children.