December Lee-Fendall House Museum and Gardens

Last year, the manager of the Lee-Fendall House Museum in Alexandria contacted our president, Michelle Powell, to request Christmas music throughout the day for their special program called “A Victorian Christmas.” They wanted groups of musicians to play holiday music for 20 minutes every hour from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as people strolled through the museum. Based on our performance last year, the groups were invited back and performed there again on Saturday, December 13th. There were two groups of AMSF musicians. A brass ensemble played in the morning, and a string quartet played in the afternoon. 

The members of the brass ensemble were Louis Reichwein – saxophone, Florian Wegelein – baritone, Joelle Harris – trumpet, and Carol Henry – vocals. The members of the string quartet were Don Foy – 1st violin, Laura Garawski – 2nd violin, Marion Spahn viola, and Carol Pew – cello. 

The museum is a house built in 1785 by Phillip R. Fendall, a local businessman and member of both the Lee family of Virginia and the Fendall family of Maryland. During the American Civil war, the Union army turned the property into a hospital for wounded soldiers. This historic house is well preserved, and we had the privilege of playing in the front salon which had period furniture, rugs, and curtains. To the delight of the museum manager, Jenny Waters, two of our members, Louis Reichwein and Carol Henry, even dressed in period costumes. It was an enchanting and enjoyable experience for all eight members and we could tell that the changing audiences enjoyed our music as they sang familiar Christmas Carols with the brass ensemble led by Carol Henry, or listened intently to the beautiful sound of the string quartet led by Carol Pew.

Program