Program for Friday, March 5, 2021
The Seattle Recorder Society
Last updated on: February 22, 2021
Greetings everyone!
In preparation for the ARS Play the Recorder Month piece on March 20, I will be leading a “woodshedding” (practice) session on March 6 at 1:00 pm PST (read more about that further below), and the San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS) and Amherst continue to add weekend classes to their virtual calendar. Additionally, the ARS is offering a series of free (!) beginning recorder classes to non-members, so if you know someone who wants to take the plunge, please point them in that direction.
From the Music Director - Vicki Boeckman:
Membership Information:
Meeting Dates
click date for info...
Group Playing
Program:
Well, you guessed it, since everything else in our new normal is going virtual, this year’s Play the Recorder Month will be no different. On Play the Recorder Day, March 20, the ARS will host a pre-recorded Zoom event which will include a performance of “Transparent Letters Across the Sky” with four players on the screen with composer Melika Fitzhugh conducting. Afterward there will be Q&A with Melika that ARS president David Podeski will moderate, and the event will conclude with a great big play-along of the piece, using play-along tracks. For practice purposes, Emily O’Brien will be making play-along tracks for each part in a couple of different tempi, Melika will make a director’s video, and Emily will also record videos to match Melika’s direction. The practice tracks will be audio (not video) and straight forward, i.e., no rubato or dynamics involved, so everyone can get the notes un-der their fingers. They hope to have the practice tracks posted on the ARS website the first part of February. When the play-along tracks are posted there will be a notice, and the ARS will send a message to the Chapter Representatives around the country. (Our ARS rep is Laura Townsend Faber). SRS Members should have already received the sheet music for “Transparent Letters Across the Sky.” It will also be attachment in the same email that contained the February newsletter.
Large Group Session:
Miyo Aoki, conducting
Masques Required: Adson, Brade, Casulana, Ruffo
SATB Gb, Cb recorders
Breakout Room Gang:
Vicki Boeckmani, leading
Canons and imitations across the nations: Machaut, Dufay, Anonymous, Purcell
The Seattle Recorder Society will meet via ZOOM at 7:00 p.m.
Please contact srs1membership@gmail.com for informatin about how to connect to the ZOOM meeting.
This website carries information about forthcoming meetings including the opening program and the music for the playing session.
There are no special musical requirements for joining the SRS. The level of skill necessary to play the music varies from meeting to meeting, and participants are free to play as much or as little as they care to.
Membership Dues are $40 for the year (September through August). We keep our dues low to be as inclusive as possible. Dues revenue only pays for half of our operating expenses. The membership form includes an opportunity for you to assist us as we provide a multifaceted program each year. SRS members have a history of generosity, and we appreciate your additional donations!
You may either complete and submit the Membership form and dues payment online, or download the form and mail it along with a check. Click on the link below for more information.
If this is your first time participating in a virtual playing session, I would highly recommend taking the time to read this article: https://americanrecorder.org/docs/ARS_Guidelines_for_Zoom_Participation.pdf and to browse some of the helpful tutorials about Zoom in general that are on line. You do not need to have the Zoom app in order to participate, but the faster your internet speed, the more pleasurable your experience will be. Dial-up does not prove to be very successful as far as I have heard.
Two to three days before the meeting members receive an email with a link to join the Zoom invitation along with pdfs and or other materials to print out for the playing session. It will be the same link each month. To protect everyone’s privacy we will not post this link publicly on our website, and we ask that you please not share it or forward it on to anyone unless previously OKed by a board member. During the session conductors will be sharing the materials on screen for you to follow along, so you don’t have to print out, but that is up to you. There will also be explicit instructions reminding you how to sign in.
Before the meeting you’ll want to make sure that you can sit in a way that you can comfortably see your computer screen or tablet and play your recorder at the same time! For best results, your device should be as close to your router as possible.
What you need to know about participation in our Zoom meetings:
March 20 is Play the Recorder Day!
March 6th - Free Zoom rehearsal for Play the Recorder Day! featured piece “Transparent Letters Across the Sky”
Join Seattle Recorder Society’s Music Director Vicki Boeckman on March 6, 2021 at 1:00pm PST for woodshedding “Transparent Letters Across the Sky.” This 4-part recorder composition was commissioned by the American Recorder Society for the annual “Play the Recorder Month" (PtRM) in March. During the online practice session, Vicki will provide guidance on the structure of the piece and techniques to help you prepare for ARS’s "Play-the-Recorder Day" event on March 20, 2021 – an online, en masse orchestra "performance” directed by Melika and her ensemble. Click here to download or view PDF for more details and ZOOM link. This is a FREE session!
For our March 5 playing session, Miyo will be leading the large group and Vicki will be leading the Breakout room Gang with “Canons and imitations across the nations”, including works by Machaut, Dufay, Purcell, and the famous Anonymous.
Miyo will warm us up all together with a simple dance by Valentin Haussmann, and then those wishing to attend the slower-paced Breakout Room with Vicki will split off. In the main room, Miyo will lead the group on a journey through several geographical regions, beginning in England with a masquing ayre by John Adson and then following English composer William Brade to Germany, where he spent a large part of his career. From there, we will head south to Italy where we will enjoy a madrigal by Maddalena Casulana, the first woman to have her compositions printed, and an instrumental piece by Vincenzo Ruffo. Look for an email with the subject LINK to SRS MBRS March meeting on Monday March 1. PDFs of the music will be attached for the large group and the Breakout Room Gang, and as always, please do not hesitate to contact either Miyo
Remember to checkout the Newletter for more information.
Members' Night on May 7
It is not too early to start thinking about what you would like to contribute to this year’s Members’ Night, and… Yup, you guessed it... it will be VIRTUAL! Now that many of you have already done it once it won’t be nearly as scary. We will ask you to submit a short video of up to 5 minutes (we will provide help and instructions for doing so by a certain deadline in April TBA). The videos will be posted on our private YouTube channel for viewing on the evening of May 7. Anything goes! More on this will be forthcoming, but there is no time like the present to get cracking!
