Passing the tradition from older to younger to younger yet, tonight’s concert started with the visiting Orion String Quartet playing solo, then moved into a highly unusual pairing—2 members from Providence String Quartet and 2 from Orion playing half of the Mendelssohn Op. 13 quartet, followed by the other set from each quartet playing the concluding two movements. Finally the Phase III students joined the Providence for a performance of the octet we recently commissioned from composer Daniel Bernard Roumain, The Kompa Variations.

At center court of our beloved West End Recreation Center gym, with an audience that ranged from CMW families to die hard chamber music fans to neighbors and politicians, it was an evening that represented CMW’s mission in a fantastically visible way: the community coming together around incredible food and music in a setting known for community gathering but not necessarily music (that is, until now!).  And three generations of musicians—the torch being passed from one group to the next.  What a highlight night for us in our 11+ year history!

-Sebastian Ruth, PSQ

More photos by Jori at CMW's Flickr account.

"Amazing!" can't even begin to express how the DBR concert was. Eight different people came together to create such beautiful music. No where else could I have experienced such creative work. While I was sitting up there with my friends and teachers, I felt so proud. Here we were, breathing together, counting together, and believing together. Even while I played a solo with Daniel, it felt unbelievable because I was surrounded with such great people that it didn't even matter what I played. All that mattered was that here I was, at 16 years old finally playing with the people who inspired me each and every single day!

-Kirby Vasquez, Phase III

Last week I went to Portugal to perform the Saint-Saens cello concerto with Orquestra do Norte, where I held the position of assistant principal cellist in 2007 and 2008. Although I left Orquestra do Norte at the end of the summer to join Community Musicworks, I was invited to return this fall as a soloist with the orchestra.

On Saturday night I had the opportunity to play the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto for a full auditorium in the beautiful, ocean-side town of Vila do Conde. The Saint-Saens is one of my favorite concertos to play, and I was thrilled to have the chance to return to Portugal to perform it with my friends and colleagues from the orchestra. The audience was appreciative, and my heart was completely won over by the group of little Portuguese girls that came up to me after the concert asking me to autograph their programs!

-Adrienne Taylor, Fellow

CMW first-year Fellow Jason Amos is currently on a seven-state tour with the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra. While we wait on Jason's update from the road, you can check out the the Sphinx tour website as well as their tour blog.

Jesse, Luis, Jessie, Sydney, Josh, Sebastian, Kirby, Sara

(click on photo to enlarge)

Video of DBR's workshop by Sandor Bodo for the Providence Journal here.

The PSQ and Phase III are busily preparing for tomorrow evening's premiere of The Kompa Variations, a new work by Daniel Bernard Roumain commissioned by Community MusicWorks expressly for the Providence String Quartet and a quartet of their students. Here's a link to the preview in the Providence Journal.

Thanks to Rachel's efforts, Linda Kane, Johnson and Wales community chef education director cooked us an extraordinary dinner for Phase II on Friday.

There are many methods used to break down barriers between cultures, age groups, races, and social classes, and still, the search continues for new ones. But, on one rainy Friday night just a couple of weeks ago, I found myself submerged in two of the most basic, enjoyable, and unquestionably, oldest methods on earth–FOOD and MUSIC!

I am a chef at Johnson & Wales University, and was asked to prepare and deliver a meal for the students and teachers at Community MusicWorks MusicWorks. The challenge was to create a nutritious and tasty meal that would satisfy some finicky teen-aged taste buds. I decided on Tex-Mex–salad with mango lime dressing, veggie chili topped with cheddar cheese, grilled burritos stuffed with chicken, spinach, and brown rice, multigrain chips with fresh tomato salsa, and dessert–of course–chewy cherry chocolate chip cookies. Afterward, I asked the students what their favorite and least favorite part of the meal was, and also managed to slip in some nutrition info.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the experience, although I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, the students or me! After a gloomy gray Friday followed by an extremely wet delivery (it had rained ALL day), it was a pleasure to spend time in such a positive environment, filled first with music, and then with laughter, conversation, and of course food, as teachers and students sat down together to break bread–and barriers!

-Linda Kane, chef

Fans of CMW may be interested in listening to this recent Fresh Air interview with Geoffrey Canada, the founder of the Harlem Children's Zone, an interlocking web of education and social services serving 8,000 kids in a 97-block neighborhood of Harlem.

Last January, the Providence String Quartet spent an evening experimenting with improvised music and spoken word with teens from the Harlem Children's Zone TRUCE program. [see January 2008 posting here.]

Listen to the interview with Geoffrey Canada here.

And here is a link to a piece about Geoffrey Canada on This American Life (9/26/08 episode).

-Heath Marlow, CMW staff

Violist Jason Amos joins the CMW staff as a first year Fellow. We're thrilled to have him on the team!

Jason began his viola studies at age eleven in the public school system of his hometown of Southfield, Michigan. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan and is currently pursuing a Graduate Diploma at the New England Conservatory of Music.

He has received honors in several competitions, including 4th place in the 2007 Sphinx Competition and 1st place in the 2006 Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Bradlin Scholarship Concerto Competition. In addition, Jason appeared as soloist with the Ann Arbor Symphony, played in the Flint Symphony, and performed as Principal Viola for many other orchestras throughout Michigan.

Jason enjoys participating in the Sphinx Organization’s musical outreach programs—all programs aimed toward increasing the presence of minorities in classical music. Jason’s teachers include Martha Katz, Yizhak Schotten, Caroline Coade, and Catherine Carroll. He plays on a 1967 Celeste Farotto viola generously loaned through Shar Music.