On April 3, Carole and Heath represented CMW in Washington, DC for Arts Advocacy Day. This is an annual event sponsored by Americans for the Arts where people from all over the nation join each other in DC to advocate for the importance of Arts and Culture and the need to develop strong public policies and appropriate public funding for the arts. 

Also on the team representing Rhode Island were friends from RI Citizens for the Arts, Alliance of Artists Communities, VSA Arts of RI, and the Providence Department of Arts, Culture + Tourism. We arrived on Monday in order to hear the Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy. The keynote speaker this year was Kevin Spacey, and he delivered a lively speech addressing the question, "Why Do the Arts Matter?"  Over and over again, he answered this question with quotes from important historical figures and personal anecdotes. He may have plugged a new documentary that he directed, but we won’t judge. He was a great speaker and delivered a well thought out and concise speech.

After the lecture, we were invited by Ken Cole, Associate Director of the National Guild for Community Arts Education, to attend a dinner party for arts educators and administrators. It was great to meet with so many passionate people! The night was filled with good conversations and equally as good food. 

The next day, we attended a press conference in the Hart Senate Building. Many, many people gave speeches about the importance of this event. Out of all the speeches, the one that stood out the most for me was delivered by Congressman John Lewis of Georgia. He spoke about how drama is a part of our every day lives, and how important it is to recognize how the arts affect all areas of learning and life. He delivered an amazing speech that was worthy of the standing ovation it received. 

After the press conference, the Rhode Island team assembled to review the strategy in order to efficiently lobby for the arts. We had meetings scheduled with both our Senators and our Congressmen. Most importantly, we wanted to say "Thank You!" Our Senators and Congressmen have always been very supportive of the arts. We also had chosen a few pertinent issues to discuss, mainly Arts Education funding and continued support for the National Endowment for the Arts. 

We participated in four meetings–with Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, and with staff members from the offices of Congressmen James Langevin and David Cicilline. All were very supportive and listened to what we had to say. We had prepared some concise information–true success stories from small businesses and nonprofits in Rhode Island about how arts-related business is growing and thriving in our state despite the economic difficulties. 

We left Washington feeling successful. Advocacy is becoming more and more important to the staff and students of CMW. Just this past October, as many may remember, we loaded up a bus of staff, students and friends and headed to DC to accept the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. On that trip, we were able to meet with Senator Reed. It is great to see CMW students learning how to advocate on a local and national level.

All in all, the trip was very informative. We arrived back in Providence on Tuesday evening after a very, very full two days. It was really great to be part of a mass of 500+ people, all who were there for the same reason: to stand up and speak out about the importance of arts funding. There are so many success stories, so many reasons why organizations like CMW should exist and thrive. It was a really great experience to be part of Arts Advocacy Day and to see people from all over the country fired up about the important issues effecting our field.

-Carole Bestvater, Fellow

During May and June this year, CMW will be presenting a series of concerts around the theme of Experimental and Contemporary Music.

In part, this mini-festival represents a continuation of a commitment to new music (think back to the Listen Local theme from a recent season, where we featured works by living local composers on each concert). But with this mini-festival, we’re also hoping to feature the idea that as a performing body, the CMW Players are exploring and defining a 21st century Providence style—commissioning and performing music that captures and contributes to the sound of Providence. What does it sound like when we create 21st century music as a group of professionals and students across this city? Listen and find out!

Look out for performances by the PSQ of Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind; another installment in Mark and Laura Cetilia’s successful Ctrl+Alt+Repeat series; an evening of solo music by contemporary composers including Forrest Larson; and an evening of experimental music curated by pianist Sakiko Mori that will include CMW students improvising.

Check our website calendar for details. We hope to see you!

-Sebastian Ruth, CMW staff

The Fellows Quartet of CMW had an exciting month of March. We (Aaron, Ariana, Carole and Robin) had prepared string quartet music by Brahms and Shostakovich, and were ready for the concerts planned through out the month.

During the first weekend in March, there were two concerts planned. The first was a house concert in Amherst, MA, at the home of a former board member and long-time supporter CMW. After a hilarious carpool adventure full of wrong turns and twisting roads, we arrived in Amherst and were greeted by our friendly hosts. The first concert was a huge success–the audience was full and very receptive to us and to the music. Thanks again to Rick and Janet for hosting such a marvelous event!

The next day, we made our way to Cambridge, MA. Ariana is a past Fulbright Scholar, and she arranged for us to perform on the program of the yearly concert that is organized by the Fulbright Scholar Program. It was a great opportunity for the four of us to meet international musicians and have conversations about the work that CMW does. 

The next set of concerts was even more unique. We had concocted a special series of concerts in the city of Providence to take our music to unexpected locations around the city and share it with new audiences. We played Brahms in the Knight Memorial Library, where a lot of ears perked up at the surprising sounds of live music. We trekked out to T.F. Green airport and performed for the passengers of incoming flights.

We also brought snippets of a Haydn string quartet to The Carriage House’s weekly Friday Night Live event.  The students and families who were attending the stand up comedy show weren’t expecting a string quartet to come rushing in with stands, stools, and instruments at the end of the standard routine to play a tango and some Haydn. When we finished playing, the audience erupted into thunderous applause and exuberant cheering.

All of these short concerts happened right before another weekend of full length performances. On a sunny Saturday morning, Ariana and I joined other CMW staff and friends to run the St. Pat’s 5K, an annual event that CMW participates in to raise money for the CMW summer camp. When the race was finished, we rushed to transform from 5K Champions to Quartet Musicians for a house concert later in the afternoon. 

The house concert took place in the loft of a CMW board member, a beautiful space that is perfect for concerts. The audience was full of friends and new faces, and at the end of the day, we were happy with our great performance and with the great conversations we had been part of during the reception. Thanks, Ron and Heather, for making this possible! I hope that there will be many more memorable concerts that take place in your home!

More photos by Jori in CMW's Flickr account.

The last concert we had organized for the month of March took place at The Carriage House, also known as Everett Dance Theatre. We were delighted to see new faces in our audience–people we had met at the airport and at Friday Night Live a few days earlier had come to hear our full length concert!

These concerts around town were all strategically planned to spark an interest in people who you may not find at a Classical music concert. We wanted to bring the music we love in a way that is accessible to people everywhere, whether they were in an airport, a library, or a comedy show. We planned our repertoire carefully for each performance opportunity, mixing Brahms and Shostakovich with tango-inspired pieces. When we had the chance to introduce the music, Aaron wittily used food and cooking metaphors to relate the different courses of a fancy dinner to the different pieces in a concert. Audiences chuckled, and when the concerts were over, someone inevitably came up to us to compliment us on our creativity in presentation because the metaphor had actually helped them understand the concert structure and the music better. 

When the month of March came to a close, we were happy with the work we had accomplished. We had put together a great series of concerts and attracted audience new audience members. We had tackled difficult repertoire and successfully thought about different ways to think and talk about music. Next time we plan something like this, all we need is a CMW tour bus to take us around town!

Thanks to all who came out and supported us with cheering and smiles!

-Carole Bestvater, Fellow

I was really pleased with the outcome of our Phase II student-led Youth Salon this year. On the afternoon of March 26, students led interactive presentations and audience members rotated between presentations. This was followed by unique, creative, student performances that have formed the basis of our typical Youth Salon.

Here are some observations by Phase II students about what made this year different:

-It was run more by students this year. The presentations and MC-ing of the performances were all led by students this time.

-In past years, the Youth Salon was a performance, with a point; this year, it felt more like a point, with a performance.

-There was more involvement with the audience–discussions and real conversation with younger students and parents.

-Rachel Panitch, CMW staff

More photos by Jori in CMW's Flickr account.

Concert flier donated by Ealain McMullin

This spring, three all-Schubert concerts performed by Jesse, Heath, and pianist Jeff Louie collectively raised more than $3,500 to help CMW students attend summer music camps. Thank you to all who attended and donated!

Dear Barrington Patch Editor,

Thank you for putting an article about my March 13, 2011 Community MusicWorks Benefit Concert in the [Barrington] paper. It was a great way for me to advertise my concert, and more than 100 people attended the concert. I want to also say thank you to all that attended and made a donation. With your help, I raised over $1,300 and with this money, [Community MusicWorks] kids will be able to take private lessons, and attend music workshops and performance parties(a recital where the whole community gets together for a potluck dinner). It was something I really wanted to do, and with your help I succeeded.

-Dustine Reich, 13-year-old violinist

Editor: Read the article about Dustine's Bat-Mitzvah benefit concert in Barrington here. Thanks so much Dustine!

What will make the wheels on the CMW music camp bus go 'round and 'round this summer?

You guessed it, the 240 milk chocolate bars sold and purchased by parents and other supporters in February and March. It was the first fundraiser initiated, managed and successfully completed by CMW families. Go parents!

We raised $342.00, thanks to the following salespeople extraordinaire: Candelaria Danicher, Alejandro Flores, Ari Packard, and Rob Rude. Thanks are also due to Phase II students Liam Hopkins and August Packard, who sold candy at Providence College during a CMW Players concert. Go violists!

Parent Bill Hopkins took top honors for selling his weight in chocolate to Providence Journal coworkers. Thanks Sports Department–we knew we could count on your sugar habit.

Thanks also to CMW friend and supporter Jonne Gomes, fiber artist, freelance musician and conductor at large who sold many candy bars at his Warwick shop, Manmade By Jonne, and at a Providence Adult String Ensemble rehearsal.

Finally, a shout-out to parents Jean Descollines and Carol Sullivan, who first suggested that parents conduct a fundraiser.

-Linda Daniels, CMW parent

On March 28 we talked about media literacy. We started out discussing what we mean when we say media, and from there we picked several categories of media we engage with regularly (YouTube, text messages, etc) and designated M&M colors for each category. Then we sorted M&Ms based on how many times we engaged with those different forms of media over the past weekend to get an idea of how much and how often we are exposed to (and influenced by) media in our lives. The results made everyone think.

We moved on to talking about literacy, and why literacy is important. We took a media literacy quiz quiz together, and talked about the various ways you can create (and recognize) persuasive or subjective media.

We ended class by watching and discussing Outfoxed, a documentary on Fox News… while we ate the M&Ms.

During this urgent time for artists and arts organizations across the country, we are asking you to join us in supporting our local advocacy group, RI Citizens for the Arts.

Formalized in 1999, RI Citizens for the Arts serves as "the voice for the diverse statewide arts community in order to further raise awareness and support for the arts in the public and private sector, for the benefit of all Rhode Islanders."

We learned recently that RI CFA is in very real danger of shutting down at the end of this month. While their attention has been focused on making sure that government funding for the arts is protected and preserved, their fundraising  has not been as successful as they've needed it to be over the past year.

The bottom line is that they need to raise approximately $10,000 by March 31. This may sound like a lot, but they really just need 200 new members at an average of $50 each. We know that there are many more people than that in Rhode Island who feel strongly about protecting public funding for the arts.
 
It would be a devastating blow to Rhode Island to lose RI Citizens for the Arts.

As a fellow believer in the importance of the arts, we hope you will consider becoming a member today. Their entry level membership is $25 for one year. Donations of any size are also welcomed. You can do all of this online. (Note that as RI CFA is a 501c4 organization. Therefore, your membership or donation is not tax-deductible, but it goes towards very important work.)

To become a member of RI Citizens for the Arts by March 31, click here.

Thanks for considering this important request on behalf of RI CFA.

-Heath Marlow, CMW staff