A Musical Sandwich

Grab a slice of Haydn next week with your packets of roast beef, ham and swiss. Don’t see the connective tissue there? Well, that’s because one never really knows what will be uncovered when pulling back the curtain on our neighbors’ lives.

On Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. Stewart Schuele, head of the deli department at the Vineyard Haven Stop and Shop, will trade in his meat slicer for the French horn for a concert at the Grace Episcopal Church on Woodlawn avenue and William street in Vineyard Haven. This isn’t some one gig lark, though. The man can play.

Mr. Schuele is a member of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. He also plays frequently with the Greenwich (Connecticut) Symphony Orchestra, the Albany Symphony and with the Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera.

If this juxtaposition of horn playing and meat mongering seems an odd sandwich, consider Austrian horn virtuoso, Joseph Ignaz Leutgeb (1732-1811). He ran a cheese shop in Vienna and Mr. Schuele cites him as a trailblazer in the form.

Mr. Schuele will be joined by visiting English musician Peter Lea-Cox, a renowned organist who has given recitals in St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, as well as Washington’s National Cathedral. For 16 years he served as Cantor (director of music) at the Lutheran Church of St. Anne and St. Agnes in London. He also goes by the name of Pietro Lecosaldi when composing in Baroque style. You should too.

The program will include works by Haydn, Vivaldi and Bach to name a few of the pieces. A second performance will be held on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church at 485 Brick Kiln Road in Falmouth.

There is no set admission charge, but an offering will be received. A reception will follow the performance.