A few photos from Friday’s free dinner and Providence String Quartet concert at the John Hope Settlement House on Westminster Street.

1. Spaghetti dinner
2. Arlyn, 1st year Fellow and event coordinator extraordinaire
3. Mayor Cicilline announcing renewed City of Providence funding for CMW
4. The PSQ performing H.T. Burleigh songs with Frank Ward
5. Wards (Joy, Frank, Hope)

   
   

Photos, courtesy of Richard Boober, from the March 2 CMW Players concert at Providence’s First Unitarian Church.

1. Sara warming up for the Ravel duo
2. Jesse doing the same
3. Britten Phantasy with Amy Mendillo, oboe

Melody [Ward, the facilitator] framed the discussion by asking students what they would like their parents to do to support them. Many wonderful suggestions and ideas were presented, but the most frequently recurring wish was for parents to pay attention (listen, provide encouragement, keep track of lessons and progress). Can this be? Adolescents explicitly asking their parents to notice them, to sit with them and express pride in their accomplishment! What an opportunity to open communication and build a relationship.

The following is an excerpted list of ideas and comments generated by students and parents.

What parents can do:
1. Show genuine interest in your child’s work; ask questions (what part is difficult? what did you like best about your lesson?)
2. Listen when they practice (provide companionship and interest, not criticism)
3. Attend a lesson whenever you can
4. Notice progress–and let them know; show your pride in your child’s accomplishment
5. Give encouragement (even a "push") to get through inevitable rough spots
6. Be honest–give constructive, not "fake" comments
7. Tolerate experimentation and free play
8. Provide a quiet space for practice (turn off TV, etc.)
9. Help with scheduling a suitable time for practice, and respect it
10. Provide rewards for regular practice (stickers, money, appreciation)
11. Make sure student has the right equipment–it’s available on loan from CMW
12. Model the behavior you expect from your student–play an instrument!
13. Ask teacher for suggestions about how/what student should practice
14. Play music at home
15. Attend concerts

-Jacque Russom, CMW board, parents committee

Thanks to CMW friend Justin Baker, here are links to clips of the Providence String Quartet performing excerpts from their "Dvorak in America" program (with bass-baritone Frank Ward) at Tufts University on February 2:

1. Antonin Dvorak: "American" Quartet, 1st movement
2. Antonin Dvorak:"American Quartet, 4th movement
3. Jessie Montgomery: Strum
4. H. T. Burleigh: You ask me if I love you? *
5. H. T. Burleigh: Elysium *
6. H. T. Burleigh: Deep River *
7. H. T. Burleigh: Wade in de Water *
8. H. T. Burleigh: Goin’ Home *

Go here for a copy of Jesse Holstein’s accompanying essay, featuring H. T. Burleigh, Mrs. Jeanette Thurber, New York City’s National Conservatory, and The Courting of Dvorak, or "Show me the money!".

*Arranged for quartet by another CMW friend, the incomparable Jeff Louie.

Juliana, the newest member of the CMW family, asked me to share two things that make her feel happy and content:

1. J. S. Bach’s Chaconne for solo violin, as performed by Gilles Apap
2. The CMW birthday calendar (available for purchase with or without her birth date)

-Heath Marlow, Dad & CMW staff

On February 9th, 35 of us from Community MusicWorks went by bus to New Bedford. There we saw the Symphony Orchestra. They played Post Cards of the Americas. A female narrator, dressed in purple, spoke for the art. The largest instruments were the beautiful wooden bass guitars. I was most impressed by the elegant harp and its graceful sound.

Jesse Holstein played fantastic! When he got on stage everyone clapped. I was very excited to see him. I realized that he had a bigger part in the performance than I had thought. I believe that he was the best violin player. I look forward to seeing him play again. The music made me feel grateful to be there. Thank you.

-Ruby Espinosa, cello (3rd grade)

The Chiaras recently played in New Britain, CT, and stopped by Community MusicWorks to visit with our friends in the Providence Quartet, and also to see what Community MusicWorks is all about, as we had not yet seen it in action.

We participated in what they call a "Performance Party" [Editor’s note: see February 16 entry] which was basically a concert for all of the student participants in Community MusicWorks, but with a safe environment in which to play. The concert began with us performing the first movement of Beethoven’s Op. 59 No. 3 followed by a cover we do of Prince’s "Let’s Go Crazy," and then the students performed.

I have never seen a concert quite like this one, students performed their basic beginner works interspersed with "public service announcements" – fake commercials for things like practice consultants and sightreading practice books – and there were brilliant uses of comedy to combine performances of students at vastly different levels. For instance, in "Break Allegro" (pronounced by the narrator as "break a leg-ro"), based on Suzuki book 1’s Allegro, at the fermata near the end, beginner students suddenly jumped out and began tremoloing like crazy until Jesse Holstein, who was leading the performance, cut them off.

In the end, it was the safest environment for performing mixed with fun I’ve seen.  It’s also a tradition for them to bring in high-level professional ensembles and individual performers to expose the kids to the highest possible level as often as possible, something I never had in my early musical training outside of recordings and the occasional stuffy concert.

-Greg Beaver, Chiara String Quartet

At the beginning of the day on our annual all-student retreat, some staff wrote down what we hoped to get out of the day: smiles, new friendships, a stronger sense of community among students, fun. After organizing at the CMW office, we boarded two buses and took off for Canonicus Camp and Conference Center, where we were greeted with a hearty breakfast snack, followed by a day of facilitated games, lunch, hiking, more snacks, and a closing ritual. Name games, acting games, group problem solving, and more. The pictures tell the story best.

On the bus home, two students told me that before the day they didn’t know each other and that now they were good friends. Duets to come?

-Sebastian Ruth, Providence String Quartet

It’s the season for Fellowship Program applications at CMW. With so many wonderful applicants to the program, how do we decide? Obviously, by calling in the experts.

The Providence Quartet (with Minna but minus Frank) will present their "Dvorak in America" program once more later this month, this time as a free community concert sponsored by Connecticut College. Here is an image of the flyer: