Over the course of this year’s Friday night discussion at Phase II, students will be exploring the theme “Giving – Receiving” and how it pertains to music and social change. 

In October, we begin by reading Pablo Neruda’s short narrative, “The Lamb & the Pine Cone.” This story looks at what a giver and a receiver get out of a gift exchange and what role an anonymous gift can play. We ask, “Can music be a gift?”, “Do you give or receive it?”, and “Is performing the same as giving?”

In December we will examine Bertold Brecht’s poem, “A Bed for the Night.” Two alternate ideas about social change are presented here, and we’ll be exploring the idea of a “small act” of social change and what kind of a difference that can make. We’ll also place the poem alongside the story and photo of Vedran Smailovic, the cellist who played in the streets of Sarajevo during the war, in memory of those who had been killed in a bread line. We’ll talk about this act and the relationship between music and social change. 

These discussions lead us to the point in the year where students begin planning for the Youth Salon, a student-led performance night which raises awareness for a particular issue the students choose to bring to light. In January, students discuss what they hope to give and receive through leading the Youth Salon, and begin to generate possible theme options. 

February brings a vote on the theme and the beginning of work in action-oriented groups which focus on PR, music, issue awareness and design of the Youth Salon throughout March and April. 

In May, we’ll have a chance to reflect both on the Phase II year and on the Youth Salon. We’ll also take one of our last meetings to build on our public speaking skills through a series of exercises and games.

-Rachel Panitch, CMW staff

Today in a ceremony at the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama presented one of fifteen annual Coming Up Taller Awards to representatives from New Urban Arts, our Westminster Street neighbor and fellow member of the Providence Youth Arts Collaborative.

Photo borrowed from NUA's twitter feed from Washington…

Congratulations to everyone affiliated with NUA!

In Viola 101, parents of CMW students have been working hard on bow holds, keeping track of the names of the strings, and playing the D Major scale. Here they are with bow holds in tact! We'll be working towards a performance for the March Performance Party.

-Rachel Panitch, resident musician

CMW mourns the death of Ted Sizer, who, back in 1995, advised Sebastian (then a sophomore at Brown) that he should not be afraid to pursue such an outlandish idea as a neighborhood string quartet residency that combines music and music education with community building and social justice.

Dr. Sizer served as a member of CMW's advisory council, and was the featured speaker (along with Deborah Meier) at Education, Art, and Freedom: An Exploration of Philosophy and Pedagogy, the two-day symposium that CMW presented in May 2004.

"You need an adult community. You need friends, probably teachers who know the same kids, and you have to have a lot of time for “kid talk” because your impression through teaching the subject that you teach may be different than your colleague’s perception in the subject she teaches or the way the kid acts.

Good schools have multiple communities: there’s you, the teacher and your kids, and then there’s you, the teacher and the other teachers who teach the same class of kids. But there also has to be an adult culture. An adult culture should be full of critique. Not only of the adults’ work but also judgments about what’s going on with kids. Very few schools give time for that. That’s supposed to happen by osmosis. [laughter]"

Here is a link to a pdf containing his complete remarks from the 2004 symposium's Public Forum.

More about Ted Sizer's life and work here and here.

-Heath Marlow, CMW staff

The Fellows Quartet had their first performances of the season this past weekend. We played Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 18, No. 2 at St. Michael's Church in Bristol on Saturday night, and at Temple Beth-El in Providence on Sunday afternoon.

When I applied to CMW, one of the many things I was excited about was the quartet playing that I would be doing. When we started rehearsing, it was obvious that we were going to gel quite nicely as a group.  Our rehearsals are not only productive, but they are also full of laughter. I think that this is really important for many reasons, one being that an audience can tell when musicians are enjoying what they're doing, and I always try to show that when I play.

I'm glad we got two opportunities to play the Beethoven quartet; it's too beautiful of a piece to only play once! Both performances were a success in my mind: We really did come together as a team to make some great music come alive. A lot of audience members commented on how impressed they were that we sounded as cohesive as we did…they were surprised that we'd only been rehearsing for about a month!

Photo by Kirby

I left the stage with a bubbling excitement about what we had accomplished. This kind of excitement is a common occurrence in my life, but it all the better when I have awesome colleagues to share it with!

-Carole Bestvater (Fellow)

Aaron was kind enough to write up a transcript of the interviews with CMW students that Carole conducted on the bus ride back to Providence following the Boston Philharmonic concert trip. Here are a few excerpts (outtakes):

CB: What did you think of the concert?
S: It was good.
CB: Favorite part?
S: When the violinist did his extra thing. I thought it was interesting how he played and plucked at the same time. He must have some seriously strong fingers.
CB: Did you think it was cool how he was accompanying himself?
S: Yeah!
CB: Did it make you want to figure it out on the cello?
S: Yeah, I definitely want to see how strong my left hand is. It made me want to see what I can do.
CB: Does it apply to anything you're learning on the cello?
S: Yeah, definitely in fiddling. I want to try it and see what happens. I'm definitely going to go practice.
CB: Any other thoughts?
S: Yeah, I'm glad I came. I'm excited, and I really want to go play.

CB: What did you think?
S: I thought the concert was great. It was kind of sad not hearing the first movement–you know, it might have changed the feeling of the piece. I really enjoyed the soloist and his creativity and ability to memorize all of those pieces. I really liked the cooperation all of the musicians of the orchestra. I liked how much they sounded like one group, one voice. That was really cool.
CB: Will you go home and look up the first movement of the Brahms?
S: I might if I could figure out the information. I'm really interested now that I've heard the other movements.
CB: What did you think of the Dvorak symphony?
S: It was something else. Of course it was different than the Brahms, but it really had a story behind it, and I really felt it. I really liked the sound of the wind section–I felt like they had more of a part in the Dvorak, and it was really cool to hear the bassoon–you don't normally hear it, but in the Dvorak I was paying attention to each part. There were all these exciting parts in the Dvorak that made me want to tap my foot.
CB: Did it inspire you to think about how to do some of that stuff on your instrument?
S: Oh yeah, definitely. There were some cool techniques… I noticed the violinists were using even when they were playing soft.

CB: What was your favorite part?
S: I liked it when the violinist came out and did his own thing.
CB: Did you like the first one [encore] or the second one better?
S: The first one.
CB: Did you know that was God Save the Queen?
S: No.
CB: We sing that in Canada.

CB: What did you think of the concert?
S: It was good, but I didn't hear much of the second half because I was sleepy.

On Sunday, October 11, Community MusicWorks families boarded a bus and headed up to Boston's beautiful Sanders Theatre to see a performance of the Boston Philharmonic featuring violinist Feng Ning.

Jesse's pre-concert talk on board the bus

A busy street festival slowed our travel to Boston and we thought we were going to miss the first half of the concert, but the ushers graciously let us enter quietly in between movements. We arrived to hear Feng Ning play the Brahms Violin Concerto.

The audience clapped enthusiastically and he played two encores for us. For most students, this was the highlight of the concert:

"I liked the short songs after the concerto because they were funny!"

"It was interesting how he played and plucked at the same time. He must have some seriously strong fingers."

After intermission, we returned to see the orchestra play Antonin Dvorak's Symphony No. 7. The piece was truly exciting:

"I liked the loud parts!"

"It felt like it really had a story behind it. I really liked the sound of the wind section—it was really cool to hear the bassoon!"

After the concert, we had a chance to catch glimpses of both Feng Ning and Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic. We also got a chance to talk about the music:

"It made me want to see what I can do with my instrument. I want to try some of the things that the violinist was doing"

"I'm excited! I really want to go play!"

It was a great start to a season of exciting concert trips. Looking forward to seeing you on the next one!

-Aaron McFarlane, Fellow

Getting cleaned up for the new season, with thanks to Ernie who we
met while he was on a job for our neighbors across the street at Healing Paws. If you
need your windows done, give him a call!

A special invitation to PSQ and CMW fans from Christina at The Providence Athenaeum:

Friday 10/16, 5-7 pm

Salon Series: So, What’s the Story? Part Three: Bass-Baritone Frank Ward on researching and singing the African-American songbook and other works along life’s way. In addition to the standard classical and operatic repertoire, Ward has sung the works of African-American composers of art songs and spirituals, and researched and brought to life vaudeville, minstrel, and musical theater songs, circa 1900. Songs define their times and pass on stories from one era and one culture to another, letting us travel through time and space. Join us for a conversation about Ward’s musical itineraries. For Athenaeum members and their guests. For more info: call Christina at 421-6970 or visit providenceathenaeum.org.

Free to guests of CMW. No need to sign in or make a reservation. Just come and enjoy the evening and (we hope) participate in the conversation.

I first heard Frank sing at the PSQ house concert at Phoebe and Peter's loft two or so years ago, and thought some of your fans might be his as well. Please join us!

-Christina Bevilacqua

Join us for Fiddle & Dance Project's first community dance: Sunday, November 8th, from 3-5 pm at the Carriage House, 7 Duncan Avenue in Providence. Free!

Never tried contra dancing before? Perfect! Andy Davis, our caller hailing from Vermont, will talk you through each step. Music by Rachel Panitch, Michelle Kaminsky, Sakiko Mori, and more…

Fiddle & Dance Project is a new initiative based in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Pawtucket, offering free fiddle lessons and dance events to families. The project is being incubated by Community MusicWorks and is run by Rachel Panitch, CMW Fellow '07-'09.