Matinée Enchantée: Magic and Music at the Mansion to Debut April 9th

March 16, 2011 - PRLog -- The Hatch Academy of Magic and Music presents "Matinée Enchantée", an enchanted afternoon of magic and music in the historic 1878 Thatcher-Young Mansion on April 9, 2011 at 2  p.m. Deceptionist Richard Hatch and violinist Rosemary Hatch, co-owners of the Hatch Academy, will be joined by their son, pianist Jonathan Hatch in a 75 minute program featuring the music of Béla Bartók, Camille Saint-Saëns, Johann Sebastian Bach and Fritz Kreisler and magic created by Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, Dai Vernon and Punx, among others. A unique feature of the program is the ensemble aspect with magic and music performed simultaneously. While the performance includes numerous magical and musical solos, it is the ensemble pieces, with the magic choreographed to the music, that give this program its special character.

"We first performed such a program at the Puppet House Theater in Stony Creek, Connecticut in 1983," recalls Hatch. "At that time we simply called it 'An Enchanted Evening' though we labelled subsequent performances 'Chamber Magic'." Under the latter title Richard and Rosemary have performed throughout the United States as well as in Germany and France and at the Utah Governor's Mansion in Salt Lake City. But recently a colleague trademarked the title "Chamber Magic" for his performances, forcing the couple to come up with a new title. "Our title for this new series, 'Matinées Enchantées', is a small homage to the great French magician, Robert-Houdin, widely regarded as the father of modern theatrical magic," says Richard Hatch. "He called his performances "Soirées Fantastiques" or "fantasistic evenings". Since we're giving afternoon performances, we thought "Matinée Enchantée" or "enchanted afternoon" would be more appropriate for this series. The matinées are currently scheduled for the 2nd Saturday of each month in the Thatcher-Young Theater downstairs in the Thatcher-Young Mansion, 35 West 100 South in Logan. Built by George Thatcher and his wife Luna Young Thatcher in 1878, the Mansion is now owned by the City of Logan and houses several music studios, an art gallery and a photography studio in addition to the Hatch Academy. For these performances, the downstairs gallery space will be magically transformed into the 56 seat "Thatcher-Young Theater". The intimate performing space recalls the artistic salons of nineteenth century Paris and Vienna where composers premiered their works for their patrons and skilled conjurers entertained the aristocracy.

Tickets are $10 for adults, just $7 for children under 12. As only 56 seats are available, advance purchase is strongly advised to avoid disappointment. Tickets may be purchased online at the Hatch Academy website www.HatchAcademy.com or by calling 435-932-0017.

Performers biographies:

Richard Hatch holds two graduate degrees in Physics from Yale University, but finds it easier apparently to violate the laws of nature than to discover them. A childhood interest in magic became a lifelong obsession after he met and was encouraged by the German magician Fredo Raxon in 1970. A full time professional “deceptionist” since 1983, Richard moved with his wife, violinist Rosemary Kimura, to Houston, Texas in 1985, shortly after winning first place in the annual New England Close Up Magic Competition in Worcester, Massachusetts. For several years he honed his craft entertaining the guests as one of the house magicians at Houston's Magic Island Nightclub before devoting himself exclusively to private and corporate work, traveling internationally on behalf of his clients. Richard is a member of the Academy of Magical Arts, the International Brotherhood of Magicians, and is a lifetime member of the Society of American Magicians.  Until recently he was also co-owner with Charlie Randall of H & R Magic Books in Houston, the world’s largest purveyors of magic books. Among magicians he is perhaps best known for his research on the identity of “S. W. Erdnase”, the mysterious author of the 1902 classic, Artifice, Ruse and Subterfuge at the Card Table, and as the translator from German into English of works about Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser (1806 – 1875), Paul Potassy, and the first four volumes of Roberto Giobbi’s acclaimed Card College course of card manipulation. A graduate of Logan Junior High and Logan High School, Richard and his wife Rosemary moved to Cache valley this Fall where they have opened the Hatch Academy of Magic and Music in the historic 1878 Thatcher-Young Mansion. In January Richard lectured docents at the Skirball Museum in Los Angeles on the topic of "Jewish Magicians of the Golden Age of Magic" to help prepare them for an exhibit on that topic which opens at the Skirball in late April. He is the founder of the Cache Valley Conjurers, a group of magicians who meet to improve their performing skills and knowledge of the craft of theatrical conjuring. Membership is open to anyone with a sincere desire to learn and a willingness to respect the traditions of conjuring and monthly meetings are currently held at the magic studio of the Hatch Academy.

Rosemary Kimura Hatch received her Masters degree from Yale School of Music and her Bachelors Degree with Performer’s Certificate from Eastman School of Music. She has studied Chamber Music with the Fine Arts, Tokyo and Cleveland Quartets and with Raphael Hillyer. She has performed with the New Haven, Hartford, San Antonio and Houston Symphonies and with the Houston Grand Opera. Her principle private instructors have been Sergiu Luca, Syoko Aki, Peter Salaff, Charles Castleman and Martha Katz. As a teacher herself she has been on the faculty of Music Schools in New Haven, Milwaukee and Houston. She currently teaches privately at the Hatch Academy of Magic and Music in Logan and at Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in Michigan. She and Richard Hatch were married in 1982 and have two children, Catherine and Jonathan.

Jonathan Hatch has studied piano with Paul Krystofiak at St. Thomas University in Houston, Texas and with Sophia Gilmson at the University of Texas in Austin. He is currently studying piano privately with Hilary Coombs while simultaneously pursuing studies to become a Veterinary Technician. In his spare time, he volunteers at the Cache Valley Humane Society.

About the Thatcher-Young Mansion:
The beautiful Thatcher-Young Mansion was built in 1878 by George W. Thatcher and his wife, Eunice Caroline (Luna) Young Thatcher, a daughter of Brigham Young. Purchased by the Cache Valley Center for the Arts (then known as the Capitol Arts Alliance) in 1989 and restored under the leadership of Newel Daines with the support of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the George and Dolores Eccles Foundation and the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation, the restored Mansion was presented to the City of Logan on July 24, 2001. The Mansion served as an art gallery and residence of the Alliance for the Varied Arts until June 25, 2010 when the AVA merged their programs with CVCA.

The Thatcher-Young Mansion is located at 35 West 100 South, just south of the Ellen Eccles Theatre.

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The Hatch Academy of Magic & Music is an educational institution housed in the historic 1878 Thatcher-Young Mansion in Logan, Utah offering private and group instruction in sleight-of-hand and violin performance.