Last week, in recognition of her 10 years at CMW, the PSQ and Fred Jodry surprised Minna with a medley of five Suzuki favorites, skillfully arranged by Jeff Louie, with original lyrics contributed by members of the CMW family (past and present).

Here are two samples to enjoy in pdf format:

Twinkle (lyrics by Jessie and Minna's violin students)

Bouree (lyrics by Chloe and Liz)

-Heath Marlow, CMW staff

As graduates this month of CMW's Fellowship Program, Rachel and Arlyn were asked to provide several memorable
moments or anecdotes that would shed light on their favorite experiences over
the past two years spent at Community MusicWorks. Their responses are
posted as a series on this blog throughout the month of June.

—-

Teaching my students at CMW for the past two years has given me so much joy! I can recall lugging my first few loads of violins to the West End Community Center with Minna, ready to distribute instruments for my students’ very first lessons two years ago. They have all come such a long way since that day, when I showed them how to take their instruments out of their cases, stand in rest position, and form “cupcake fingers.”

Earlier this year, I reflected on my teaching priorities, and what I want to leave with my students as I depart CMW.

10 goals for my violin and viola students as they move forward next year:

1. Love to play
2. Love to learn
3. Healthy and efficient playing mechanics
4. Be an intonation detective!
5. Always searching for a “yummy” sound
6. Reading D and A string notes, with rhythms up to 16th notes
7. Comfortable with improvisation
8. Working together, leading together, playing together
9. Know that it’s OK to make mistakes
10. Unfettered and unafraid to be musical/expressive

With these goals in mind, I arranged the beautiful tune, Over The Rainbow, for the final Performance Party to give my students a chance to enjoy their yummy sound and express themselves musically through improvised solos. I’m so proud of every one of them!

Audio: Over the Rainbow (14 MB)

-Arlyn Valencia, Fellow (07-09)

As graduates this month of CMW's Fellowship Program, Rachel and Arlyn were asked to provide several memorable
moments or anecdotes that would shed light on their favorite experiences over
the past two years spent at Community MusicWorks. Their responses are
posted as a series on this blog throughout the month of June.

—-

"Seminar" refers to the three hours each month when the entire CMW staff, along with board members, and community members gather together to discuss a topic of interest to the field of the arts and social change. It’s three hours more than most organizations take to reflect on why we do what we do and how we can make it even better.

I’ve valued this time even more after speaking with artists at other similarly-minded organizations and realizing how incredibly rare it is for the whole staff to gather together to talk about Excellence in our Students’ Work or about what it means to align values with collaborators in the community. These are topics that are so central to our work that it now seems unthinkable not to talk about them. I hope to bring this mindset into the future; continuing to take the time to reflect on and renew my understanding of my work on a regular basis.

-Rachel Panitch, Fellow (07-09)

Photos by Jori available in CMW's Flickr account.

As graduates this month of CMW's Fellowship Program, Rachel and Arlyn were asked to provide several memorable
moments or anecdotes that would shed light on their favorite experiences over
the past two years spent at Community MusicWorks. Their responses are
posted as a series on this blog throughout the month of June.

—-

I never expected to see two worlds collide in such a surprisingly easy way as when The Bourbon Boys, my bluegrass band, led a Musical Workshop at Community MusicWorks. It was a huge benefit for me to be able to really know the students we were interacting with: not only their names, but their teachers, their experience on an instrument, the range of their repertoire…it was something most workshop presenters don’t have. And we also had the power of hats: eighty cowboy hats that the students, the teachers, and even the parents didn’t want to take off all night.

True to the mission of CMW, The Bourbon Boys, as musicians, were transformed as well. While at first more nervous to play for kids than adults, they were so pleased to have been embraced by teenagers and seven-year-olds alike!

-Rachel Panitch, Fellow (07-09)

As graduates this month of CMW's Fellowship Program, Rachel and Arlyn were asked to provide several memorable moments or anecdotes that would shed light on their favorite experiences over the past two years spent at Community MusicWorks. Their responses are posted as a series on this blog throughout the month of June.

—-

Last May, I had a vision of our younger Phase I students engaging in an early orchestra experience that would give them a chance to socialize with one another and participate in their very own chamber music experience. With the help of all of my colleagues at CMW and a combined team-teaching effort with fellow Fellow Adrienne, we transformed this vision—now known as Phase I Orchestra—into a reality.

This was the first time in my seven years of teaching violin that I had such an involved role in designing a multi-instrument class from scratch. Seizing this opportunity, Adrienne and I explored the following with our students in the pilot year of Phase I Orchestra:

1. Playing together, moving together, making eye contact and listening carefully
2. Reading notes
3. Improvising with body percussion and our instruments
4. Conducting and following a conductor
5. Dynamics, counting rhythms, and new articulations with the bow

Even more important than the rudimentary musical goals of this class, we placed an emphasis on building confidence, having fun together and working as a team. Adrienne and I constantly asked the Phase I Orchestra to recognize that “mistakes are your friends,” to “enjoy our yummy sound,” and to look to your stand partner or listen to your section when you need help or get lost in the music. Knowing and applying these principles brought extra energy and love to our first performances of an arrangement of Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Adrienne’s own composition, Pizzicato Pizza.

I learned so much from my students and working with Adrienne. I will look back on this experience as one of the most memorable, enjoyable, and fulfilling memories from my time at Community MusicWorks.

-Arlyn Valencia, Fellow (07-09)

Available online on June 17. View trailer here.

As graduates this month of CMW's Fellowship Program, Rachel and Arlyn were asked to provide several memorable
moments or anecdotes that would shed light on their favorite experiences over
the past two years spent at Community MusicWorks. Their responses are
posted as a series on this blog throughout the month of June.

—-

Walking into the CMW office on a weekday between 3 and 4 pm, the first impression can be one of utter chaos. The front door opens and shuts constantly for last minute coffee runs and the gathering of extra strings, while a new arrangement for the theme from Star Wars is being edited at a table in the back. The copy machine is running nonstop, audio recorder batteries are being tested, and armloads upon armloads of instruments and music books are being loaded into cars heading to the Met School, Lima Elementary, or the West End Community Center down the street.

It can be a frantic time, but a time which I value immensely. It reminds me that we all care about these details because we’re that invested in the students we’re teaching. No matter how many challenges a student faces, there is never a question of whether or not learning the cello as a part of this community is a worthwhile, positive force in that student’s life. The answer is always "Yes."

Pre-teaching time in the CMW office reminds me that even as we go off to teach in separate rooms and buildings, in some sense, we are all teaching together.

-Rachel Panitch, Fellow (07-09)

Back in the fall, CMW board member extraordinaire Jacque Russom proposed the idea of bringing a group of students to a Metropolitan Opera simulcast at the Swansea Cinema. We looked over the schedule and found a perfect fit with Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella) on May 9th. We figured Richard Strauss’ Salome and the beheading of John the Baptist could wait a few years. 

We had the idea that since the opera broadcasts begin right after lunchtime, why not tailgate in the parking lot before the show with a barbecue? I picked up the goods at the grocery store the night before and Liz lent me her grill. Things were looking pretty tasty for the trip! 

When I woke up on the morning of the 9th, I looked outside and saw heavy rain coming down trying to alter our plans. NOOOOO!! Well, this was not going to stop the grilling. I called out faithful bus driver Steve and asked if he might be able to bend the “No Food On The Bus!” rule. When food is involved, Steve is amenable to thinking outside the box, and he adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as a solution.

Firing up the grill

Everyone arrived on time and we loaded onto to bus with the food and the trusty Weber grill. When the bus arrived in the parking lot, miraculously, the sun slowly poked through the cloud cover and the rain began to ebb. I fired up the grill and within twenty minutes we were munching on burgers and dogs with S'mores for dessert. With the sun eventually bursting through the clouds in a blaze of glory, we didn’t even have to eat on Steve’s bus.

S'mores! 

After lunch, we filed into the movie theater for the opera. It was amazing! Not only was the performance terrific, the cameras put you right up on stage with the singers, in the pit with the orchestra, and backstage with the crew. Plus you get to munch on popcorn and skittles while watching the opera.

The opera crew with Steve, our fearless bus driver

Aside from the Bug Opera, this was the first time seeing an opera for all of our students. The seed has been planted for the next generation of opera buffs. Everyone had a great time and wants to come back next year for another opera! Special thanks to Jacque and all those who helped subsidize the trip. It was an awesome day. 

-Jesse Holstein, Providence String Quartet

Overcome with emotion after the opera, Christian processes the aesthetic experience by blowing away some space monsters.