community music

Announcing the 2012 WCMW Events!

Last year's Westminster Chamber Music Workshop was a great success and we are looking forward to sharing more wonderful music experiences with the community this year.  For our second season, the WCMW will present four exciting events - one on each of the Saturdays in May - May 5, May 12, May 19, May 26.  These special events are intended to be educational, entertaining, and fun, combining the performance of music with insight from our esteemed guest artists.  Best of all, in keeping with our mission to provide all people with exposure to excellent musical opportunities, all events are FREE of charge and OPEN to ALL!  If you are anywhere near central MA or the Boston area, please join us! Saturday May 5, 2012 – 7:00pm First Congregational Church of Westminster 138 Main Street, Westminster, MA 01473 THE SAMIRAH EVANS JAZZ TRIO Co-Presented by CenterStage at FSU

Saturday May 12, 2012 – 7:00pm First Congregational Church of Westminster 138 Main Street, Westminster, MA 01473 COMMUNITY SING Led by Dr. Susan Conkling

Saturday May 19, 2012 – 7:00pm First Congregational Church of Westminster 138 Main Street, Westminster, MA 01473 THE SAXOPHONE QUARTET Directed by Lynn Klock

Saturday May 26 – 7:00pm First Congregational Church of Westminster 138 Main Street, Westminster, MA 01473 THE COPERNICUS DUO Jamecyn Morey - violin, David Bebe - cello

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First Peek at the 2012 Westminster Chamber Music Workshop!

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As many of you know, last year my wife and I started the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop - a series of free community music events.  We just posted a sneak peek of the 2012 WCMW over at the WCMW blog here.  Be sure to hold the following dates - we have some free events you will NOT WANT TO MISS!

  • Saturday May 5, 2012 - 7:00pm
  • Saturday May 12, 2012 - 7:00pm
  • Saturday May 19, 2012 - 7:00pm
  • Saturday May 26, 2012 - 7:00pm

All events will be held at the First Congregational Church of Westminster, MA.  Save the dates, and join us for the 2012 WCMW! More details coming soon...

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WCMW 2012 - Details Coming Soon!

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Last summer, I co-founded the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop, a one-week summer series of free musical events for the community.  It featured top notch professional musicians from the local and regional area, presenting performances and lectures on a wide range of musical topics. This year, we have some exciting plans for the Workshop, and we are currently finalizing details for the events.  I can't say too much yet, other than to say stay tuned!  My hope is that we will be able to announce all the exciting details in the coming few weeks.

Why I Love Music (Part II)

In case you missed it, here is Part I of this series. Here is another reason why I love music: #2: Music Brings People Together

Of course, you say. Tell me something I don't already know.

We go to concerts where groups of people gather, we play in ensembles together, we sing together. Music brings people together. But actually, that's not really what I mean.

Granted it's great that people get together to experience music and perform, listen, embrace all genres in communities large and small. But what I really mean is that music brings all kinds of people together. People who otherwise may not have much in common can be united through music. Language, geography, race, age, creed - all these types of boundaries can be crossed by music, and not many other things have that power.

I recently performed a couple of soulful and jazzy songs with a wonderful older gentleman, which got me thinking about this topic. Although I'm sure he and I have a number of things in common, on the surface we seem quite different, influenced primarily by the large age gap that "separates" us.

But it was music that brought us together and allowed us to share something special together. And the music crossed all boundaries - we were just two people playing music together and loving it. Indeed, music unites us on many levels.

Here's a video that's pretty popular (you may have seen it), but one that I think illustrates this point really well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEs8yqhavtI