Join us Sunday, March 24th at 1:00 pm to welcome the Steamboat Duo, two young musicians performing original compositions by Maine-based musician Ken Turley.

With Olive Fretts Howard on viola and Jack Ward on classical guitar, we are in for a lovely afternoon of chamber-style music. They will perform original compositions by Ken Turley, a Maine-based composer. The name “Steamboat Duo” evokes a unique time period in a charming and distinct way, much like what they strive to do as musicians.

Olive Fretts Howard is a violist, violinist, and music teacher based in Washington Heights, NYC. She earned a Bachelors of Music in Viola Performance from the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College in May 2023. In her time there, Olive studied under Shmuel Katz, Deborah Buck, and Cong Wu. Particularly passionate about chamber music, Olive’s quartet won first place in the 2022 and 2023 Molnar-Harris chamber music competitions at the Purchase Conservatory. She has a love for collaboration and improvisation and has made works with performance artist Emily Coates as well as electronic musicians and dancers. Olive has also worked as a session musician and arranger and will soon appear on “Songs about Buildings and Moods” on PBS. She is currently in her second year performing with the Symphony of Westchester.

Jack Ward is a classical guitarist based in New York. Jack learned guitar by playing blues, rock, and folk music before he began studying classical guitar with Oren Fader at SUNY Purchase. Jack has since fallen in love with classical chamber and solo guitar performance, as well as teaching private and group guitar lessons.

Ken Turley was raised in Bellevue, WA. He had a typical education that included playing violin, cello, and upright bass in school orchestra. In 1967 he left home to attend Central Washington State College where he discovered the guitar and Rock’n’Roll. For several years he taught guitar and bass, arranged music for and performed classical guitar and with a flautist. Later he played electric guitar in a jazz and rhythm and blues band around the Seattle area.

Turley went to Boston to study music and theology. In 1985 he was ordained and served the next thirty years as pastor in three different small-town churches ending up in Maine. It was during this time that he pursued songwriting and composition of all kinds. He received his Masters Degree in theology and musical theater. He has composed over 300 songs and a large number of classical chamber compositions for solos, duos, trios, and small orchestras. Find Ken’s growing number of videos featuring his compositions here. He has also co-produced several CDs of original songs with his wife Laurie. Many of his compositions can be accessed at Sheet Music Plus.

Doors at 12:00 pm

Show at 1:00 pm

“Pay What You Can” tickets benefit Bethel Area Arts & Music.