Photo of Louis and Josh by Sebastian.
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Spontaneous jam at the MetCMW wins Jabez Gorham awardCommunity MusicWorks has been selected as the 2009 recipient of the Jabez Gorham Award. This award, administered by the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island, recognizes "outstanding arts/cultural organizations in Rhode Island for The Jabez Gorham Award will be presented* on Thursday, May 14. Tickets to the Encore Awards are available here. *The Encore Awards have been postponed until February 2010. Phase II retreat
Phase II retreated to Jamestown for the day today, for rehearsals, Youth -Sebastian Ruth, PSQ Sidewalk photoAfter Phase III quartet rehearsal let out on a beautiful Thursday afternoon, Louis Ortiz posed in front of the CMW storefront rehearsal studio.
KIDS COUNT breakfastEarly (WAY too early) Monday morning, the Phase III student quartet met at the CMW office to head over to Warwick’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, where the quartet had been invited to play for the RI Kids Count breakfast. The breakfast was to celebrate the release of the 2009 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook, which reports on 63 indicators of child well-being across five subjects: Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education. The breakfast was held in the Grand Ballroom at the hotel, where more than 300 supporters of Kids Count gathered to enjoy French toast and fresh fruit. The quartet was seated onstage at the front of the room, near the podium where Kids Count Executive Director Elizabeth Burke Bryant greeted guests. Also featured on the program were Senator Jack Reed, Harriet Meyer, President of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, who gave a great keynote address, and Amber Johnson, winner of the RI Poetry Out Loud Competition. The quartet played Lift Every Voice, We Shall Overcome, and the first movement of the Mozart Quartet in G Major, K. 156. The audience was very appreciative, and the quartet later showed up on Channel 10’s coverage of the event! The quartet was able to grab a quick breakfast after their performance, and enjoyed chatting with Tom Brady (that’s the Superintendent of the Providence Public Schools Tom Brady, not the Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady). Then it was back to school, after a great performance, and a great start to the week. -Phase III (Luis, Kirby, Sydney) My cat turned into Iggy Pop!Well, you probably had to be at Jeff Louie's songwriting Musical Workshop on Friday for that to make sense… Photos by Jori. More at CMW's Flickr account.
Concert trip commentaryOn Sunday, Rachel and Arlyn chaperoned a bus filled with CMW families to hear the PSQ members perform as guest soloists with the RI Philharmonic Community Orchestra. Rachel solicited some feedback on the way back to the CMW office after the concert. Students
I think it was awesome that the Providence String Quartet got to play with an orchestra. -Ruby
I thought Jessie's dress was nice, it was cute. When Jessie and
Sebastian and when Sara and Jesse played the endings of the pieces, the endings sounded almost similar. -Angie The end was nice! -Amy
I really liked the Mozart piece. It touched my heart. It was the third time I heard it, but I like it more every time. -Sidney
I was impressed at how our teachers played. I liked the
Mozart–the Allegro part–it was a happy piece. I was imagining spring, flowers blooming. -Heather He inspired me. -Christian
Jessie's playing was amazing–all of them were. She was strong about it–really into it. -Paola
The first time I heard Jessie and Sebastian's piece was with
piano. It was great to hear it with all the strings. I like the brass pieces, too. -Luis I think more people should come to concerts like that cause they would really like it. -Marays
Parents
Awesome! It was moving. -Carol
Excellent! -Mayra
Wonderful. I loved it–they did an excellent job. -Lourdes
Coming soon: Settlement House “mini-tour”Through a grant from the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund, Community MusicWorks commissioned two new works for the Providence String Quartet to perform during the 08-09 season.
One piece, The Kompa Variations by Daniel Bernard Roumain, received it premiere at Providence's RISD Auditorium in October. The second piece, Earned by Anthony Green, will be performed for the first time at Providence's John Hope Settlement House on Friday evening, May 15. The performance will be repeated the following afternoon (May 16) at the United South End Settlements in Boston, MA. Historically, settlement houses have fulfilled a dual role, providing Anthony was recently in Rochester, NY for the performance of another work, 3 Groups. Read about it here. More information about the "mini-tour" will be shared next month… -Heath Marlow, CMW staff Listen Local composers forum pics
Phase III at the Music Mansion |