John Abbuhl knows his trees.
Walking through the forest near his Slingerlands home, he points them out one by one. An umbrella magnolia doesn’t escape his gaze, nor does a great fir reaching into the sky or small ferns lining the ground. He calls them out by common and scientific name.
Perhaps what’s more impressive than Abbuhl’s encyclopedic knowledge is that he’s responsible for much of the varied and beautiful landscape at his doorstep, having planted over 3,200 trees there over the decades. He also welcomes the public to enjoy the dozens of unique species from all over the world.
Abbuhl is the founder of the Pine Hollow Arboretum, 25 acres of ponds, nature trails and a remarkable bounty of flora. It’s a little-known treasure sitting off of Maple Avenue, not far from the bustling Price Chopper plaza, though it’s doubtful you’d know it sitting next to a serene, sun-splashed koi pond.
The Arboretum has been growing since Abbuhl bought his home in 1966 while he was working as a pediatrician. It grew and grew as a his hobby, and now it exists as a nonprofit entity. He’s hoping the community will avail itself of this resource.
“As a growing organization, we need to increase our membership, make ourselves more visible, to make the community understand whatever our worth is,” Abbuhl said.
The Arboretum is hosting a unique musical evening in hopes of doing just that. On Sunday, Sept. 25, it will host the Duo Marchand, playing Renaissance-period music with a natural theme.
The event had originally been planned as a fundraiser for the Arboretum’s operations, but after Tropical Storm Irene devastated parts of the Capital District, the decision was made to shift the focus and donate the proceeds to relief efforts.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Abbuhl. “We suffered very little ourselves here from this whole event, in contrast to what’s gone on around us.”
The Duo Marchand, consisting of Andrew Rutherford and Marcia Young, has performed in places like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Botanical Garden and the Yale Collections of Musical Instruments. Rutherford, a resident of West Sand Lake, plays the lute, and Young provides harp music and lends her voice to their repertoire of 17th-century music.
For the Arboretum’s event, the Duo Marchand will be playing a selection of nature-related songs in a program entitled “’Tis Nature’s Voice.” There’s quite a few such tunes from the Renaissance time period because it was quite common for love songs and poems to have a natural element, said Rutherford.
“We’ve been playing this sort of music from the 17th century and earlier since about 1995 or so,” he said.
The show is one of the few places you’ll be able to see a musician proficient on the lute, as well. The instrument went out of style in the mid-18th century. When Rutherford got interested in it, he ended up taking violin-making classes so he could construct his own because it’s difficult to find one.
“The chronology [for lute players] is you start out playing electric guitar, then you work your way backwards,” he quipped.
Now, Rutherford works part of the time as a luthier, making lutes and other instruments. Young is a music teacher in New York City.
In addition to the musical performance, the Arboretum will be hosting works of art this fall at its educational center at 16 Maple Avenue. The show will open on Saturday, Sept. 17, with an event from 2 to 5 p.m., and work from 25 local artists will be on display through October. Though the Arboretum is open to visitors free of charge during the daytime hours, the center is not always staffed.
“Our desire is to make that building be open as much as possible, but the limitation is the volunteers we have to keep that building manned,” Abbuhl said.
The Arboretum will be open for a tour from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, the day before the concert with Duo Marchand.
The concert will be held on Sunday, Sept. 25, at Slingerlands Methodist Church, 1499 New Scotland Road, from 4 to 5 p.m. A reception will follow from 5 to 6:30 p.m. A $20 donation is asked. To RSVP of for more details, call 439-6472.
For more information on the Pine Hollow Arboretum, including how to become a member, visit pinehollowarboretum.blogspot.com.
