Music was always a part of the history and traditions of the James and Katharine Boyd family at Weymouth. Subsequently music has been central to programs since the organization of the Friends of Weymouth at Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities in 1979.

The gracious setting of the Great Room in Weymouth House, designed by Aymar Embury in the early 1920s, has become a hallmark for performing for many state, regional, and international musicians because of the superb acoustical properties, beautiful surroundings, gardens and warm, appreciative audiences.

Seating approximately 90-100 persons, the intimate setting encourages musical communication between artist and audience not always accessible in larger venues.

Benjamin Swalin, musical director and conductor of the North Carolina Symphony from 1939 to 1972, and his wife Maxine, who continues to reside in Chapel Hill, were guests of the Boyds many times in the early days during the formation of the state symphony.

That legacy lives on in the founding of the Chamber Music Concerts in 1980 by Lena Stewart Brillhart and others on the music committee.

Six concerts are presented annually by professional musicians from the North Carolina School of the Arts, UNC at Greensboro, UNC at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, Duke University, in addition to North Carolina-connected musicians throughout the United States and Europe.

The 2006-07 Weymouth Chamber Music Concerts will open the season on Sunday, Oct. 7, with Teresa Radomski, soprano, and Thomas Turnball, pianist, in a program titled "Bel Canto."

Radomski is professor of voice at Wake Forest University where she has taught since 1977. A versatile performer, her repertoire extends from renaissance and baroque music to contemporary works, many of which have been written specifically for her.

Radomski made her New York debut in 1987 at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She has since received critical acclaim for her performances throughout the United States and abroad. A native of New Jersey, she began her musical training as a pianist and began her musical training at Eastman School of Music where she studied both piano and voice. She completed graduate work at the University of Colorado. She and her brother, James Radomski, are editors of "L'isola disabitata," a salon opera by Manuel Garcia 1832. Recordings by Teresa Radomski include Dan Locklair's "In the Evening (Opus One label), Songs from the Early 20th Century," with Louis Goldstein.

Pianist Thomas Turnball has been on the accompanying staff in the music department at WFU since 1994. A native of Pennsylvania, he studied clarinet and piano at the Eastman School of Music, and plays a variety of woodwind and keyboard instruments. A recorder player, he performs with the Wake Forest Consort renaissance ensemble and teaches recorder at WFU. Turnball is a popular pianist with theater organizations in Winston-Salem and regional productions.

Selections are representative of the style of singing that is generally known as Bel Canto. The term is especially applicable to Italian vocal music of the 17th and 18th centuries, a style that includes a beautiful tone, seamless legato line, and florid technique. Selections by Pier Francesco (1602-1676), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Giovanni Paisietto (1741-1816) and Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) will be performed.

The Chamber Music Concerts are supported by the Lena Stewart Brillhart Endowment for Music and the John Stewart Endowment for the Arts.

All concerts are in the Great Room at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities. Admission is by membership or $15 at the door.

A post-reception concert allowing attendees to meet the visiting artists will be hosted by the Women of Weymouth.

For further information, call 692-6261.