Letter from Jessie M.

Dear CMW friends and family,

I am VERY excited to come back home in a couple weeks and check in with all of your smiling faces!! I have been living vicariously through the CMW blog and regular updates from Sara and Kirby, which will have to do for now, I suppose.

Life here in NY has been everything one would expect: a lot of personal creative work, loud, annoying neighbors (I am referring to the people who have moved in within the past five years), and a bohemian-ish lifestyle (read that however you want). I’m busy with my studies in writing for movies and learning about jazz vocabulary and arranging. I have also started work with a string quartet comprised of other colleagues I know from college who are beginning their musical careers here in the City. Our group will be dedicated to performing new works by living New York composers and perform at bars and galleries in town.

So, about our Workshop! When I arrive on March 26th, we’ll be focusing on putting together my arrangement of the CMW Round, with original lyrics by the astoundingly clever Chloe Kline. The piece is a Theme and Variations of sorts, which allows each of the programs within CMW–Phase I, II and III, and Fiddle Lab–to shine with their very own, custom-made variation. This piece was a real joy for me to work on because it allowed me to reflect on the work we had done together and, in a way, to compile my findings in one complete musical work.

I am hoping this will be a fun way for us all to reconnect and make some music that’s fun and filled with the CMW spirit—complete with a traditional CMW “free jam” at the end for everyone, including friends and parents to let their voices be heard! Be sure to keep looking over your parts if you need to. We will only have two rehearsals to put it together, so the more prepared we are, the better! I’m so excited to see you all again!

Tons of respect and appreciation,

Jessie