The Garfield Center for the Arts is excited and pleased to have the incredible talent of pianist Michael Casey as the accompanist to Matt Wood, Amanda Rose and Daniel Quadrino at our Gala Fundraiser, Broadway by the River: From the Bay to Broadway. The Gala is next Saturday, March 11, 2023.
A native of Rockville, MD, Michael Casey began taking piano lessons with Doris Mattingly in 2006. Starting in 2011, he began playing in competitions and judged recitals. In the spring of 2012, his rendition of works by Bach and Mozart won the Luciana Montenari-Mendola award from the Italian Cultural Society of Washington DC. That summer, he went to Interlochen arts camp in Michigan, a trip he repeated the following summer. In the summer of 2014, he participated in the Curtis School of Music’s Summerfest, playing both solo and chamber works. He continued expanding his experience with chamber music in 2015, spending two weeks at Chamberfest at the Idyllwild Center for the Arts.
He graduated high school in 2016, arriving at St. Mary’s College that fall and began lessons with the artist in residence Brian Ganz. It was at St. Mary’s that he expanded his horizons to vocal music, joining the chamber choir and PING, as well as receiving training in music history, music theory, and ear-training. He accompanied PING to the music festival in Alba, Italy in the summer of 2018. In addition to playing piano and singing, both as a soloist and as part of an ensemble, he hosted a radio show, The Classical Hour, on Friday evenings on the college’s radio station, until the disruption of in-person activities accompanying the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Continuing to expand his repertoire and work with other artists when safety permitted, Michael graduated in May 2021 with his BA in music. He has since settled in Rock Hall, Maryland, where he runs his piano studio and continues to perform, often bringing music to Kent County’s inns and to small churches on Sunday mornings. In particular, he plays regularly at Chestertown’s Brampton Inn and the Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River, and makes frequent appearances at the Mainstay in Rock Hall and the American Legion Hall in Betterton.
With Broadway-credited performers and an award winning accompanist, the Garfield Center’s Gala next Saturday, March 11, is shaping up to be the event of the season. The doors open for VIP entrance at 6:30 PM. VIP ticket buyers will be treated to hors d’oeuvres from Happy Chicken, sweets from Bespoke Chocolates, an open bar and House floor seating. The doors open for show-only ticket buyers at 7:30 PM. Show-only patrons will enjoy the show from the Garfield’s balcony. Cocktail attire is encouraged.
Some tickets are still available for the event. Tickets may be purchased at our website at garfieldcenter.org, or call our Box Office at 410-810-2060. The Box Office is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 AM to 3 PM.
Don’t miss this wonderfully grand and glitzy event and buy your tickets now!