Valentines Day: Love Songs Live
This Valentine's Day, singer, Catherine Hancock, and singer-guitarist, Doug Schmolze come together to offer an intimate evening of love songs from the Great American Songbook at the Stagecoach Tavern. This treasured repertoire features favorites like Gershwin's "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Embracable You", Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek", as well as lesser known gems from the period, including works by Kurt Weil, Michel Legrand, Hoagy Carmichael, and more. Enjoy a delicious meal with someone you love while being serenaded by this local and versatile duo. Click to book an overnight package.
$55 Tasting menu includes a glass of blanc-de-blanc sparkling wine
optional wine pairing
Amuse
roasted duck, black mission fig & butternut squash
1st Course
herb goat cheese ravioli, peanut, pesto, béchamel
or
acorn squash risotto, sage, black truffell & parmesian
2nd Course
beef tenderloin, fondant potato, balsamico & brocolini
or
crispy skin brook trout, vegetable hash, shaved brussels sprouts
Dessert
warm flourless chocolate cake, crème anglaise
British-American Soprano Catherine Hancock has established herself as a versatile artist, equally comfortable in multiple genres and styles ranging from Renaissance music to opera, jazz and performance art. She recently gained attention for her debut with Toledo Opera as Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), where the Toledo Blade described her as “The highlight of the evening" and "simply exquisite.” Catherine performs regularly throughout New York and New England, where is sought after for her interpretations of early and contemporary repertoire. Recent career highlights include performances at BAM, MoMA, Alice Tully Hall, and with The Mark Morris Dance Group, Sandcastle New Music Collective presented by Metropolis Ensemble, New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), The Glimmerglass Festival, and the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. She made her European debut under the baton of Richard Egarr singing Valletto (L’inoronazione di Poppea) at the Snape Malting Proms as a Britten-Pears young artist. Catherine currently splits her time between New York City and Great Barrington, Massachusetts where she acts as the Advancement Coordinator at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Locally, she performs regularly with the Crescendo Ensemble and Christine Gevert, Larry Wallach, the Arcadia Viols, and lutenist Hideki Yamaya. Catherine holds both a Bachelor and Master of Music from The Juilliard School.
Doug Schmolze, tenor and guitarist, studied guitar and composition at the Berklee School of Music, classical guitar with Alexander Bellow and voice with Virginia Berry, Judy Grey, Michael Diesen-Barrow, Diane Ingraham Barnes, Vikki True and Frank Kelley. He has sung with the Pro Art Choral, the Lorien Ensemble, the Berkshire Bach Singers, Berkshire Choral Festival, Berkshire Opera, and the Cantilena Chamber Choir. He was the tenor section leader at the First Congregational Church, Stockbridge Ma. for many years and currently with the Crescendo Chorus of Lime Rock, CT. He sings regularly in churches as a choir member and as a soloist. His repertoire includes art songs as diverse as those from the Brazilian Portuguese to German Lieder. Those of Franz Schubert are among his classical favorites. He performs programs of vintage American songs from the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s. Doug is also a Certified Music Practitioner, trained in the Music for Healing and Transition Program. MHTP provides live music at the bedside for patients in hospital and Hospice. His repertoire of music for elders includes guitar music from Spain and Latin America as well as classics from the American Songbook: Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Rogers and Hammerstein, etc. Doug lives in Great Barrington, Ma. with his wife, the Rev. Janet McKinstry. He has three adult children, a formidable motorcycle, and enough kitchen skills to bake an apple pie from scratch.
Race Brook Lodge is a hidden gem in The Berkshires, at the foot of Mt. Race and a short hike from the Appalachian trail. The yoga & event barn at Race Brook is simultaneously rustic and sublime, steeped in hundreds of years of New England history. The Stagecoach Tavern is unpretentious fine dining, exquisite farm-to-table cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere. Much of the food is sourced from Race Farm, right on the property!
