Lewes Chamber Players concert features guest sitarist April 29

A Philadelphia musician and composer will join the Lewes Chamber Players final concert this season at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Second and Market streets Lewes, Sunday, April 29, at 2 p.m.

Playing his traditional Indian sitar, Richard Belcastro will join organist/harpsichordist T.J. Thomas, cellist Ovidiu Marinescu and violinist Sylvia Ahramjian for a program titled "Old World/Fresh Sounds." The program will include Belcastro's "Vicious Smiles Still Beguile," a piece commissioned by the Lewes Chamber Players for this concert, as well as works by Haydn (Piano Trio No. 39, "Gypsy Trio") and Piazzolla ("La Muerte Del Angel").

Belcastro pursues an unorthodox means of using the sitar in a variety of musical contexts for which it is not typically considered to be suited. The composer is currently working on a textbook about the sitar for composers and performers, which will include a collection of solo works for the sitar entitled "Tattered Ragas." He has also composed works pairing the sitar with chamber ensembles.

In addition to his work as a composer, Belcastro is also artistic director of the Delaware County Community College Performing Arts Concert Series in Media, Pa., where he is focused on bringing talented and entertaining performers from around the world to the Philadelphia area.

The concert, one of a series organized by the St. Cecilia Guild, offers high quality music events to residents of eastern Sussex County free of charge. A freewill offering is welcomed.