The first meeting of the Foothills Music Club for the 2010-11 season was held on the afternoon of October 14 at the home of Joseph and Kathleen Erwin. Following a brief business meeting, a musical program, titled Opus Optional, was presented by six club members and guest musicians.

Several items of interest were announced. First, Elaine Jenkins, chair of the scholarships committee, said that she will be working with other club members during the next few months to organize the auditions for high school students for FMC Scholarships. The date of auditions and instructions for applicants will be announced later.

Fran Creasy, FMC president, reported that there are a few openings for new active members of the club. All members are serious musicians who want the challenge of performing and who will work to raise funds for scholarships for deserving young musicians in our community. Anyone interested in becoming a member of the club should contact Fran at 828-859-0208.

Krysti Hamlin then opened the musical presentations with a performance of Edvard Griegs Notturno, opus 54, no. 4.

The host, Joseph Erwin, then played three piano pieces. Before his performance he reminisced that after three years of post-graduate work at the Julliard School, the school got sick of his being a student, so they put him on the faculty. He pointed out that there are many ways to listen to music and gave a few examples of how composers evoke different emotions and feelings.

Erwin then played two Intermezzi by Johannes Brahms, followed by Claude Debussys La Cathedrale Rngloutie, a musical evocation of a cathedral that had been struck by an earthquake. At points in his performance, Erwin interjected comments on what was happening in the musicnot everyone who plays the piano can talk and play at the same time.

Two guest musicians, Inez Redman, violin, and Donna Robertson, piano, then joined FMC member Kathleen Foster, cello, in a performance of the Sonata in B minor by the early 18th-century composer Jean-Baptiste Loeillet de Gant.

When asked how the ensemble got its name, the Andoin Trio, Inez explained that they took two letters from the first name of each of the three members. Foster is not a regular member of the trio, but has been substituting in several recent performances.

Beth Child, piano, closed the program with Frederic Chopins Barcarole in F#, opus 60. Child will be playing this piece in a concert at the Twichell Auditorium at Converse College in Spartanburg on Thursday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m. The concert is part of the centennial celebration of Converses Petrie School of Music.

Child noted that she had been allotted a maximum of eight minutes to play, and that this Barcarole is one of her favorite pieces because it runs the whole emotional gamut in less than this amount of time, which is rare.

The next meeting of the Foothills Music Club will include a public concert, which will be part of the clubs celebration of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Town of Tryon. The concert will take place at Isothermal Community College in Columbus on November 11 at 3 p.m.