With live concerts shuttered for this fall, Merrimack’s Director of Campus Music, Dr. Hugh Hinton, continues to commemorate musical milestones. Dr. Hinton serves as the director of music activities and leads the liturgical music ensembles on campus—Schola and Concert Choir.
This month he will begin the process of recording Beethoven’s Sonatas at the Methuen Music Hall. The Methuen Music Hall was originally built to house the nationally known “Great Organ,” which was the first concert organ in the United States. This historic hall is on the National Register of Historic places and is a center for classical music in the Merrimack Valley.
Dr. Hinton will play and record two separate all-Beethoven concerts to honor the 250th anniversary of the famous composer’s birth. The first program of violin sonatas, Dr. Hinton will play alongside the Boston Symphony Orchestra Violist, Catherine French. The second program of solo piano sonatas will be played by Dr. Hinton and is set to be recorded in November.
In May of 2019, Dr. Hinton was invited by the Methuen Music Hall to play the inaugural concert on the then newly acquired Steinway Concert Grand Piano. He performed a concert of Haydn, Schoenburg, and Debussy. Dr. Hinton’s latest Beethoven recordings will be the first videos featuring the Steinway piano, which can be found on the Hall’s Youtube Channel for viewing. However, you will have to wait to watch them until they are released on December 16th, Beethoven’s birthday.
