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"Hot Fiddle" duo of pianist Daniel Strange and violinist Ashley Liberty open the CAP Summer Concert Series on Thursday, June 12.

Marvin Glassman, Arts Writer

For its 40th season, the Community Arts Program (CAP) celebrates classical and jazz music with six concerts beginning June 12 through Aug. 21 every other Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m.at the Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ in Coral Gables..

“The quality that I look for in all the artists that are selected for the CAP concerts is the ability to have a rapport with the audience in going beyond what they rehearse and engage spontaneously,” said Mark Hart, Executive Director of CAP since 2003.

The artists performing in the CAP summer concert series are piano/violin duo “Hot Fiddle” on June 12, harpist Bridget Kibbey on June 25, trumpeter Anthony Hervey on July 10, cellist Leland Ko on July 24, clarinetist Ken Poplowski on Aug. 7 and jazz singer Tyreek McDole on Aug. 21.

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Harpist Bridget Kibbey performs in the second CAP Summer Concert Series on Thursday, June 26. (Photo by Abigail Kralik)

A selection of artists in the CAP summer concert series give a free workshop and jam session on Friday morning at Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ.

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Trumpeter Anthony Hervey performs in the third CAP Summer Concert Series on Thursday, July 10. No photo credit.

“I am thankful that each of the artists want to give back to music students and musicians who live in South Florida so that each of the students who attend the workshops can excel in music,” said Hart.

Opening the CAP series will be the duo of pianist Daniel Strange and violinist Ashley Liberty team as “Hot Fiddle” on June 12. “Hot Fiddle” will perform unique piano/violin arrangements in concert..

“We are instrumentalists, and especially with David’s ability to make the piano sound like a harpsichord, an organ or other instruments and my playing violin either as a fiddle or as classical music violinist, we engage our audiences to love the different arrangements in sounding something other than what was expected of a piano/violin duet,” said Liberty.

“Ashley and I always face each other when we perform, so the audience can see us interact musically and feel the same emotions that we feel when we are performing,” said Strange.

“Hot Fiddle” will perform approximately 15 to18 songs in the 90 minute concert, including “Csardas”, a Hungarian dance composed for the piano and violin by Vittorio Monti, “Eye of the Tiger” (the score used in the 1976 film “Rocky”), “Miami Hoedown”“ written by Strange, “Prelude/Angry Young Man”, a popular hit song by Billy Joel, “Orange Blossom Special Surprise” with Liberty playing the violin as a fiddle, “Shamrock”, written by Strange as an Irish ballad and the classic music composition “Summer” from “The Four Seasons” by Antonio Vivaldi.

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Cellist Leland Ko performs in the fourth CAP Summer Concert Series on Thursday, July 24. (Photo by Tam Photography)

Also performing with Liberty and Strange on some of the songs will be their children, 12-year-old son Harrison and Summer, their 8-year-old daughter, who both play the violin.

“They just love playing the violin since they took lessons years ago and we thought our concert will be a good opportunity for them to shine,” said Liberty.

Liberty and Strange met while both were studying music while growing up in Maine. They married in 2007 and decided to call the duo “Hot Fiddle”.

“The title showcases Ashley’s talent on the violin to be used for many musical genres and using ‘Hot Fiddle’ identified the love of music we both have when performing,” said Strange.

Liberty and Strange found their professional success performing in Miami where they reside. Liberty plays violin in the orchestra with the Florida Grand Opera and Miami City Ballet at their shows at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Miami and teaches violin at her private studio in Miami.

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Clarinetist Ken Poplowski performs in the fifth CAP Summer Concert Series on Thursday, Aug. 7.

Strange is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Miami Frost School of Music and is also Director of the Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ CAP All-Star Jazz Ensemble.

Both Liberty and Strange have excelled in concert venues around the world when performing separately or as “Hot Fiddle.” Liberty has performed in 13 countries and has accompanied on the violin many popular singers such as Andrea Bocelli, Gloria Estefan, Michael Feinstein and Bernadette Peters in concert.

Strange has performed on piano with singers Ann Hampton Calloway, Michael Feinstein, Janis Siegal, among others and for national Broadway tours of “A Chorus Line,” “Jersey Boys,” “Pippin” and “West Side Story,” among other musicals.

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