Fresno City College music instructor John Hord and three esteemed guests will perform an “Autumnal Cornucopia of Beautiful Sounds,” a free to attend community event in the Old Administration Building auditorium this Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The program is designed to help raise money to purchase a Steinway concert grand piano for OAB auditorium performances.
“Valley Music Center, the Fresno representative for Steinway pianos, has graciously agreed to bring over one of their concert grand pianos,” said pianist John Hord. “This is a 9-foot long piano, so they are very big with just incredibly beautiful sounds.”
Donations will be accepted during the reception. “That’s a very expensive instrument; but an instrument of very high quality,” said Hord. “It could easily last up to a hundred years if it’s well cared for.”
Pianist John Hord; flutist Pam Ellzey; soprano Terry Estabrook; and tenor Kirk Anderson will perform 11 various classical compositions from the likes of Debussy, Verdi and Gershwin.
“The idea of a cornucopia is that we now have a collection, an hour’s worth of short pieces,” said Hord. “I think that works best in a lot of musical settings.”
For 32 years Hord has dedicated time to conducting and performing for the Episcopal Church.
“When I’m not practicing or performing, the rest of my time is eaten up with teaching here at City College as well as in my private piano studio at home,” said Hord.
This February and March, Hord has the honor of judging piano performances at the state finals in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Renowned flutist Pam Ellzey will also perform Sunday. “She also plays for the Fresno Philharmonic wind quintet,” said Hord. “They perform a lot throughout the school system.”
Soprano Terry Estabrook is a professional vocal performer. “She sang for the Washington, D.C. opera and she sang for the Kansas City opera,” said Hord. “She has a big opera background as well as a background in singing art song.”
Kirk Anderson, the program’s tenor, is a soloist and a member of Fresno Choral Artists. He has also performed with the Good Company Players.
“We are all committed to the belief that it’s important to keep quality music in front of as many people as we can,” Hord said. “Recordings are good but they can only go so far. There is still something special about being in the hall when the actual vibrations from the performer are coming into you through the air.”
For more information, call the FCC box office at 559-442-8221.
