Jesse gets a little fruit shopping in on the way to the PSQ photo shoot.

Sebastian, our fearless leader.

New official PSQ photos by Sandor Bodo coming soon…

Here are some photos of Community MusicWorks staff and students looking smart at last spring's Imagining Art + Social Change conference. You can visit the conference documentation page on our website, where you'll be treated to many more excellent images from the conference donated by our photographer friends Mary Beth Meehan, Jori Ketten, Owen Muir, and Sandor Bodo.

Wednesday, September 17 at 12:00 pm
Fiddle tunes from around the world in beautiful Burnside Park
Violins, mandolin, guitar, possible percussion cameo by Liz Cox?

Cellist Adrienne Taylor joins CMW this week.

From Adrienne's bio:

Adrienne received a Bachelor of Music Degree and Performer Diploma from Indiana University and completed her Master of Music degree at Northwestern University. Her teachers include David Szepessy, Hans Jørgen Jensen, and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.

Adrienne has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe and Japan. As a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra from 2005-2007, Adrienne participated in the orchestra’s Musicorps program which presents educational concerts to schools and colleges throughout the city. Adrienne enjoyed various performance opportunities during her time in Chicago, including performances with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble during their visit to the city in 2006. 

In 2007, Adrienne accepted a position as assistant principal cellist of Orchestra do Norte in Portugal, where she had the opportunity to perform throughout the country. We're thrilled that she has returned to the U.S. to participate in CMW's Fellowship Program beginning in September 2008.

Many thanks to Mary Beth Alger and her family for hosting the PSQ (and their family) last week. Mary Beth is the director of the Chappaquiddick Summer Music Festival. What a way to begin rehearsing for the fall concerts! 

Photos by Sebastian.

CMW staff will begin the coming season using Google's free calendar software, definitely a technological upgrade over the Word document that we used to have to email around or download from our website. Now each staff member can easily access the CMW staff calendar anytime they are online.

Maybe this innovation will revolutionize our student scheduling in future seasons? In the meantime, send positive vibes to Minna and Liz as they prepare to puzzle over the annual giant jigsaw that is student lesson scheduling over the next several weeks!

-Heath Marlow, CMW staff

Welcome back! It's that time of year again, poised for the start of the school year. At CMW, the Providence Quartet and Fellows who scattered for the summer to music festivals from Maine to Utah will soon be back in town for planning meetings, students are sharing summer highlights, and the Board (including eight new members) has held a productive day-long retreat to outline its priorities for the year and brainstorm strategies for meeting the goals of our 12th season.

                    Liz Hollander

The Board of Directors has a policy that after a member has served for three consecutive two-year terms s/he must retire from the Board for at least one year. So I retired in June after my six years, and am delighted that Elizabeth Hollander is succeeding me as President. Liz has invaluable experience – most recently for the past twenty years as Executive Director of Campus Compact, a national organization that promotes public service in colleges. Since retiring from that position she has become a Senior Fellow at the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. She will be supported by a strong executive committee of other officers and members at large.

Liz has been a passionate and articulate supporter of CMW since she joined the Board in 2005 and attended her first Performance Party, where, as she likes to say, she really "got it." (There is nothing like a Performance Party to give rich insight into the many dimensions of CMW – Community, Music, and the working relations of students and staff, along with memorable moments of pride and joy, and the delights of a shared potluck culmination! If you haven't yet made it to a Performance Party, or a Musical Workshop, do plan to make it a priority to come and bring a friend or two with you.)

It is exciting to see such a mutually strong match between CMW and Liz Hollander and the Board. Fasten your seat belts as we prepare to witness the continued growth of this transformational and innovative organization that so enriches our Providence greater community and is now inspiring people in other places (e.g. New Haven and Cincinnati) to spread its rewards by adapting it to other cities in this country.

-Karen Romer, CMW Honorary Board

Anticipating the start of CMW's 12th season, so many special events to be excited about! How about just a few teasers from the fall semester?

October 2 & 3:

October 15 & 16:

October 30:

November 23:

For footage of CMW Fellow Rachel Panitch performing "Gretel Dreaming" with the Providence Mandolin Orchestra on tour this summer in The Netherlands, click here.