{"id":4673,"date":"2026-07-20T10:24:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T15:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenaweevoice.com\/?p=4673"},"modified":"2026-07-20T10:24:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T15:24:04","slug":"angelus-duo-to-perform-as-part-of-asos-summer-chamber-music-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenaweevoice.com\/staging\/7542\/2026\/07\/20\/angelus-duo-to-perform-as-part-of-asos-summer-chamber-music-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Angelus Duo to perform as part of ASO’s Summer Chamber Music Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Melissa
Melissa and Melanie Mashner, who perform as Angelus Duo, will be featured in the ASO’s Summer Chamber Music Series on July 22.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ADRIAN \u2014 Growing up in Rochester, New York, with a father who was a professional musician and music teacher, it was pretty natural that sisters Melissa and Melanie Mashner would follow suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Melissa teaches flute at Adrian College and is the principal flutist for the Lexington Bach Festival and past president of the Southeastern Michigan Flute Association, while Melanie is the principal harpist for the Carmel and Terre Haute, Indiana, symphonies. Both women also teach privately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sisters perform together as the Angelus Duo<\/a>, which comes to Adrian later this month for the second concert in the Adrian Symphony Orchestra<\/a>\u2019s Summer Chamber Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22 at Holy Rosary Chapel at the Adrian Dominican Sisters\u2019 Motherhouse, 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive, Adrian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets are $27 and can be ordered online at www.adriansymphony.org<\/a> or by calling 517-264-3121. Student tickets are free at the box office only with a valid student ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evening\u2019s program, which the duo calls \u201cDances from Many Lands,\u201d showcases music from several countries and different eras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so excited to be bringing this concert to Adrian. We picked some of our favorite flute and harp music for this program,\u201d Melissa said of the concert, which she and her sister describe as \u201ca vibrant musical journey across cultures and continents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audience members will hear some very familiar works, such as the Minuet and the Dance of the Blessed Spirits from \u201cOrpheus\u201d by Gluck, Delibes\u2019 \u201cValse Lente,\u201d and some selections from Blzet\u2019s opera \u201cCarmen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there are also a number of pieces that will likely be brand-new to listeners, such as Persichetti\u2019s Serenade No. 10 for flute and harp, Piazzolla\u2019s \u201cHistorie du Tango,\u201d Taki\u2019s \u201cThree Japanese Melodies,\u201d and the Rumba and Tango from Salzedo\u2019s \u201cSuite of Eight Dances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Persichetti work \u201cis a really terrific piece,\u201d Melissa said. Its eight movements are \u201cdifferent dances through time, from prehistoric times to (evoking) the traffic from New York to Philly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A completely different dance rhythm comes with Taki\u2019s music, which \u201cis reflective and meaningful,\u201d she said. Then with the very next piece on the program, the Salzedo dances, \u201cwe spice it up with a tango and rumba.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if there are any fans of Indian films in the concert audience, they might recognize the program\u2019s penultimate work, A.R. Rahman\u2019s \u201cJashn-E-Bahaaraa\u201d from the 2008 movie \u201cJodhaa Akbar,\u201d in an arrangement created by the Angelus Duo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really wanted to present a program for this evening that people could relate to,\u201d Melissa said. \u201cIt\u2019s rhythms that will make you smile. \u2026 We really love to bring this music to people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sisters\u2019 passion for music was fostered from a very early age by their dad, Milt, who was a jazz musician, and their mom, Monica. Milt, in fact, used to accompany his daughters on piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Angelus Duo was originally a trio, until Dad retired,\u201d Melissa said, laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa and Melanie\u2019s collaboration actually began long before the Angelus Duo was born. The pair played together well before the sisters pursued their professional music careers, and were in the same youth orchestra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For quite some time, Melissa recalled, Melanie, who\u2019s three years younger, was too small to haul her harp around, and so Melissa did the task for her. Then one day, she realized that Melanie had gotten as tall as she was \u2014 so she resigned from harp-moving duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it was time for undergraduate school, both young women attended the prestigious Indiana University School of Music. They even roomed together once Melanie joined her older sister there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa went on to earn a Master of Music in Flute Performance at the University of Michigan, while Melanie remained at IU for her master\u2019s degree and performance certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the sisters\u2019 very busy separate professional careers, the Angelus Duo itself books five or six major commitments a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melissa said that being siblings brings a special kind of connection to the Angelus Duo\u2019s music-making. \u201cThe two of us have a deep understanding of each other,\u201d she said. \u201cIn music, you have to adjust to each other and listen, and we share so much of our life and experience together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a glance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n