Europeans settled in Orange in 1746, around the time the lute was phasing out of the world’s musical landscape. But the plucked string instrument will make a comeback, however brief, at the end of this month.

Seth Warner, who teaches instrumental lessons at Bates College in Maine, is scheduled for an afternoon recital at the Community Church of North Orange & Tully on Sunday, April 30, at 3 p.m. It is a return for Warner, who performed a similar show in the same location about a year ago.

“It was great. It was a smaller crowd, since it was the first time we were doing it,” he said, “We’ll keep it under wraps, but it will be worth it.”

Warner, of Portland, Maine, said he also will play a Spanish vihuela, a related instrument, and that this year’s show will include a special guest appearance at the end. 

The Rev. Charlotte Weltzin, the church’s pastor, said Warner reached out to offer the free recital last year and he is being warmly welcomed back this month. She said last year’s show was sparsely attended but well-received.

“We didn’t have quite the attendance we would have liked — I think between COVID and no one knowing what a lute is,” she said with a laugh. “It’s just such a fantastic instrument, and he’s great.”

Warner explained the lute is derived from a Middle Eastern instrument called an oud.

“The lute was such a popular instrument in its day. It was essential to all music. It was involved in all sorts of music-making,” he said, comparing its use to that of the piano.

Warner, 50, discovered his love for the instrument in his college days. He got his musical start playing drums in high school and started learning guitar after graduation.

“I couldn’t figure out how to play ’80s hair metal, shred-style, but I could figure how to play James Taylor and fingerpicking,” he recalled, noting that he eventually found out there are many similarities between guitar-playing and lute-playing. He got his first lute around 1995.

“Acquiring a lute is an adventure in and of itself,” he commented. “I was just really drawn to it. It’s an impossibly light, guitar-like instrument. They weigh less than a pound or two.”

Ticketed admission to the April 30 performance is by donation and will benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Tickets are available online at bit.ly/3KX5KqT. Warner said the concert will last about 45 minutes with no intermission.

Warner and his musical trio also have a free show scheduled for Honest Weight Artisan Beer in the Orange Innovation Center on Saturday, April 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. 

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.

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