Brown Bag highlights Abreu and friends

Sharon Abreu, Michael Hurwicz and Marianne Lewis will be performing at the Emmanuel Church Brown Bag Concert on Aug. 27 at noon. Sharon’s popular concerts always feature a wide range of offerings, from folk to classical, including the original “Economology” by Michael Hurwicz, and Sharon’s own “The Left Hand of God,” vocals and guitar accompaniment by Sharon and Michael, with Sharon also on violin.

Sharon will sing the classical part of the concert, accompanied by Marianne Lewis on the piano, including selections from Schumann, Puccini and Gershwin.

Sharon and Michael have appeared in concerts with legendary folksinger Pete Seeger, and at venues as diverse as the Northwest Folk Life Festival in Seattle, the Network of Spiritual Progressives Conference in Washington D.C., and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa.

In 2007 their “Penguins on Thin Ice” climate change musical revue was performed at the United Nations for the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development.

In addition to playing the piano, Marianne is a harpsichordist and organist, and has performed extensively in the Northwest, both as a soloist and accompanist. She was co-founder of the Waverly Baroque Ensemble, accompanist for the Oregon Repertory Singers and Portland Symphonic Choir. She has performed with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Portland Symphonic Girlchoir, Symphonie Concertante and Bravo Vancouver. She is organist and choir director at Emmanuel, and recently played an organ concert for the Brown Bag concerts.

This concert will be the last of the 2008 Brown Bag season at Emmanuel. Donations from these concerts are used to send young Orcas music students to music camp in the summer, and the Emmanuel Music Committee thanks all the performers who generously donated their talents this season, and community members for their support of this program.

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