Written by Longtime Finger Lakes Camerata director passes the baton
The longtime director of the Finger Lakes Camerata will conduct one last time.
Dennis Maxfield, who has led the Finger Lakes Camerata for over 15 years, is retiring after two upcoming performances, scheduled for Friday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Geneva Public Library, 244 Main St., Geneva, and Sunday, May 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, 58 N. Main St., Canandaigua.
Maxfield will stay with the group as a singer and will continue to direct the Finger Lakes Chorale.
Longtime Camerata accompanist Anthony D’Agostino will take over as director. He currently serves as the junior high choir director for the Victor Central School District.
Maxfield received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and performance certificates in voice and opera from the Eastman School of Music. He joined the Finger Lakes Chorale and Camerata – formerly called the Lincoln Hill Singers – in the late 1990s, shortly after relocating to Canandaigua. The two groups’ longtime director, Dr. A. John Walker, often gave solo pieces to Maxfield.
Following Walker’s retirement in 2002, the Lincoln Hill Singers transitioned to the Camerata and Maxfield took the helm.
“If it wasn’t for Dennis, Lincoln Hill singers was going to fade away and there would not be a Finger Lakes Camerata,” said Alan Braun, one of the group’s longtime singers.
Braun said Maxfield has earned the respect of his singers for his style of compassionate leadership. “He teaches as he goes along, but in a way that makes it very enjoyable,” he added. “The people who sing for him would follow him to the ends of the Earth.”
Maxfield saw the singers’ support leading up to and following his diagnosis in 2014 with Parkinson’s disease. He continued to direct, pausing only to undergo brain simulation surgery, which helped temper the tremors that threatened his ability to conduct.
He said his partial retirement is “bittersweet,” though he looks forward to the extra time with family, including wife, Jennifer, grown children Justin and Kristen and three grandkids.
The May 17 and 19 performances will offer an “all-American” lineup, said Maxfield. Selections include the 1814 version of the “Star Spangled Banner,” Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer,” “Vacant Chair” by George F. Root, “Don’t Stay Away” by Abby Hutchinson, and the “1890s Medley,” arranged by Maxfield, among other works.
“And, if there’s a thunderous applause, we’ll finish it out with my arrangement of ‘This Land is Your Land,’” said Maxfield.
Entry is free; donations are accepted for FLCC music and music recording student scholarships. For more information, contact Maxfield at (585) 396-0027.