When
I first got to Apple Hill, I was nervous and scared. Most music camps are
usually really competitive and hard to be comfortable in. But when I got to
know all of the kids, I realized that everyone was a lot like me, there to play
music and have fun. There was no stress, it was fun, and the food was great. So
there’s nothing that you should be uncomfortable about.

-Jovanne Jean-Francois, Phase II

Laura Thomas-Merino, one of two new Fellows to start work for Community MusicWorks in September, emailed from the road that her moving company had been delayed ten days and so her cross country trip from Los Angeles to Providence is not going as smootly as planned. She’s been waiting out the delay in Virginia.

Turns out that Laura, using the acronym LRTM, is a part of the electronic music scene. Her LA-based group mem1 may have to come to Rhode Island one of these days for a performance at AS220.

PS-Laura, if you have successfully arrived today per your new timeline, welcome to Providence! CMW’s got recommendations for our favorite restaurants right here.

-Heath Marlow, CMW staff

Friday was Anne’s last day working for Community MusicWorks. Now she’s packing up her car and preparing to move to St. Louis for adventures unkown.

Anne was at the center of all CMW activity over the last three seasons, from keeping the office functional to creating the annual teaching schedule (more complicated than a Rubik’s Cube) to challenging CMW’s pedagogical philosophies during staff meetings, and everything in between.

At the Board retreat last week, Anne was toasted (engraved glass pitcher) and roasted (a short film entitled "Cash Flow" with fictional footage of Anne dipping into the CMW donation basket at a PSQ concert).

Goodbye Anne (middle row, in red) and thank you for everything!

-Heath Marlow, CMW staff

Coming soon to a theater near you. In fact, very near you if you live in the West End of Providence.

Geoff Hudson and Alisa Pearson have collaborated to create a new opera designed to appeal to the entire family. How could it not? All the characters are bugs. There is the mosquito that doesn’t want to drink blood, the caterpillar that doesn’t like change, the scat-singing dung beetle. They venture on a journey of self-discovery that "ultimately leads them back to themselves."

When I learned about this new (almost-completed) opera, created in partnership with the Indian Hill Music Center in Littleton, MA, I felt that we had to bring it to Providence to share with our students and families. With co-presenter Opera Providence, we will be able to do just that.

Mark your calendars for Friday, November 17 for The Bug Opera at the Columbus Theatre. Beginning September 1, tune in to www.BugOperaProv.com for information, tickets, other events, bug related  facts and anecdotes, and opportunities around the Ocean State to learn about bugs or experience the insect world.

-Heath Marlow, CMW staff