If you aren’t accustomed to visiting Howey-in-the-Hills for your cultural edification, you’ll likely want to make a visit to the picturesque Lake County town a habit following the upcoming installment of the Howey Music Series.
The historic (and glorious) Howey Mansion, built a century ago by citrus magnate William J. Howey, will once again play host to an evening of high-toned tunes, as performed by soprano Dr. Caitlin Mohr and pianist Kristine Griffin.
The motif of Savory Songs and Stories will be a salon-style world tour that will feature regional music from different eras and cultures, including French Impressionism, Italian Baroque, German Romanticism and Spanish along with folk, jazz and spirituals that originated in the United States.
Attendees will be invited to enjoy seven curated pairings of wine and cheese. “The idea is that people will feel immersed in the region as they experience it this way—by sound, smell and taste,” says Emily Heumann, executive and artistic director of the Howey Music Series.
Mohr and Griffin will also function as teachers, dispensing fun facts about the music as the night progresses. Both work at Rollins College: Mohr is a professor of voice (as well as president of the Central Florida Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing), while the Latvia-born Griffin is a collaborative pianist.
Heumann is herself a Rollins graduate, with one bachelor’s degree in music performance and pedagogy and another in public relations and communication studies. An opera singer, she also has a master’s degree in voice performance and pedagogy from the University of Houston.
The series presents several performance and educational sessions per year. About half of them are held in the mansion, which had been abandoned for years prior to being bought in 2017 and restored as a community venue by brothers Brad and Clay Cowherd, third-generation real estate investors from Orlando.
While some programs in the series have marked the debut of compositions by living composers, Savory Songs and Stories will concentrate mostly on works that are squarely in the pantheon regardless of the genre. Adds Heumann: “Our mission is to spread the love and interest in these art forms that are dying around the world, and to do it through education.”
The Howey Mansion is located at 1001 Citrus Avenue, Howey-In-The-Hills. For more information, call or visit the website. Dr. Phillips Center is located at 445 South Magnolia Avenue, Orlando. For more information, call or visit the website.
