The Lois Vaughan Trio, featuring Pianist Lois Vaughan, Art Manchester on sax and flute, and Donnie Aikins on string bass, will perform at St. Columba’s Chapel in Middletown on Sunday, March 10. The concert will be the fourth in the St. Columba’s Concert Series.
The trio has been performing professionally for many years. Vaughan has degrees from Cornell University and the Community College of Rhode Island and has taught at a number of churches. She currently teaches at St. George’s School in Middletown.
The other two musicians are well-known Rhode Island musicians. Donnie Aikins is an upright bassist from London, UK, who graduated from Salve Regina University with a major in math and music. He hopes to contribute to the globalization of jazz. Art Manchester is a versatile woodwind player who was the music director at St. Michael’s Country Day School in Newport, RI for many years. He has two recordings of original compositions available: “Little Lights” and “Blue Vacation”.
This concert will be held in the Chapel’s Parish Hall on Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 3:00pm and will be followed by a reception, giving guests an opportunity to meet the performers. Admission for the concert will be $20.00 ($10.00 for students and children), payable (by cash, check or credit card) at the door. No reservations are required. In case of a severe weather event, the concert will be rescheduled.
Full Announcement
ST. COLUMBA’S CHAPEL CONCERT SERIES
(February 6, 2024) St. Columba’s Chapel in Middletown, Rhode Island is pleased to announce the next concert in The St. Columba’s Concert Series, featuring the Lois Vaughan Trio, on Sunday, March 10, 2024. Appearing with Lois will be Art Manchesteron sax and flute, and Donnie Aikins on string bass. The trio will perform a selection of jazz, Latin and blues from the 1920’s to the present.
Pianist Lois Vaughan has been performing professionally for many years, both as a soloist andwith ensembles from duos to a full jazz orchestra, at restaurants and event venues. She has an undergraduate degree in biology from Cornell University, a fine arts degree in jazz studies from Community College of Rhode Island, and studiedprivately with Harvey Diamond in Boston for many years. She has been the music director at severalchurches, currently teaches jazz piano at St. George’s School in Middletown, and has released a recording of original piano music entitled ‘Piano Improvisations’.
Both Art Manchester and Donnie Aikins are well-known Rhode Island musicians. Donnie is an Upright Bassist hailing from London, UK, and a Salve Regina University graduate majoring in math and music. He hopes to contribute to the globalization of Jazz. Art is a versatile woodwind player who was the music director at St. Michael’s Country Day School in Newport, RI for many years. He has two recordings of original compositions available: “Little Lights” and “Blue Vacation”.
This concert will be held in the Chapel’s Parish Hall at 3:00pm and will be followed by a reception, giving guests an opportunity to meet the performers. Admission for the concert will be $20.00 ($10.00 for students and children), payable (by cash, check or credit card) at the door. No reservations are required.In case of a severe weather event, the concert will be rescheduled.
The St. Columba’s Concert Series, of 4 concerts per year, features performers from a broad range of musical genres, from instrumental to choral, from barbershop to jazz, some local and some from farther afield, and are held either in the beautiful, historicchapel or the window-lined and airy parish hall, depending on the requirements of the performer(s). Information will be available on the church’s website (www.stcolumbaschapel.org).
St. Columba’s Chapel is a church of the Episcopal diocese of Rhode Island and is named for St. Columba who, in AD563, founded a monastery on the tiny island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland. The chapel is dedicated in honor of the great Anglo-Irish philosopher, Dean George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne (Ireland), who lived at nearby Whitehall Farm in Middletown from 1728 to 1732. Built between 1882 and 1886, St. Columba’s began as a summer chapel for the residents of the Indian Avenue area and remains a vibrant spiritual presence there to this day. In 2022, the chapel was added to the National Register of Historic Places and, also in 2022, received an award from Preserve Rhode Island for its stewardship of the building and grounds. St. Columba’s Chapel welcomes people of all faiths to its doors and the chapel will be open on concert day for those who wish to visit.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
