Orchestral music from the 19th century and photography from America’s Gilded Age will be presented at Rosecliff in March as The Preservation Society of Newport County continues its winter and spring series of educational programs.
• The Gilded Age Orchestra of Newport will take the Rosecliff ballroom stage on March 6 starting at 6 p.m. for a program featuring music of France’s “La Belle Époque” and Newport’s 19th-century resort era. Conductors Dr. Mark Stickney and Dr. Christopher Brellochs will discuss the historical background of the music, which includes pieces played at the 1857 Fête Champêtre at Chateau-sur-Mer, aboard the Fall River Line of steamships and in Newport’s historic parks.
The orchestra originated as an ensemble of musicians who performed in concert scenes during the first two seasons of Julian Fellowes’ historical drama series “The Gilded Age” on HBO. Several of the Newport Mansions appear in the series as the homes of various characters, including the upstart nouveau-riche George and Bertha Russell, portrayed by Morgan Spector and Carrie Coon. The orchestra is under the auspices of Historic Music of Newport, a nonprofit organization founded by Dr. Stickney.
• On Thursday, March 27, at 6 p.m., the Preservation Society’s Curator of Collections, Dr. Nicole Williams, will present “Newport through a New Lens: Treasures of Photography at the Preservation Society.” Dr. Williams will show rare photographs by Felice Beato, José María Mora, Matthew Brady, Marian Hooper Adams and others, including portraits, images of Newport landmarks and scenes from other countries. She will explore how these pioneers pushed the limits of the medium, often blurring the line between truth and artifice.
Dr. Williams earned her PhD from Yale University in the History of Art with a specialization in American art. Dr. Williams has taught American art history at Yale University and Washington University in St. Louis. Her work as a scholar and curator focuses on the global contexts for 19th-century American art, women’s histories, and practices and theories of craft in the age of industry.
• In addition, the Preservation Society is offering a series of programs called “Lifting the Curtain: Behind the Scenes of Museum Work,” where the society’s staff and research fellows discuss the work they do that is rarely seen by the public. Most of these smaller programs are sold out, but a few still have registration available.
For more information and to purchase tickets for these programs, go to www.newportmansions.org/events.
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