RFK School

(Westboro, MA)

WESTBORO SECURE TREATMENT
WESTBORO, MA
Residency January 28- February 6, 2008

Dear Tim, Maggie, Nathan, and Kristen,

What a treat it was to have you visit Westboro Secure Treatment! I have never seen our residents so happily engaged as they were when you four were here. You brought such joy and peace to our program, and we are forever grateful to you for this experience. Thank you for not only sharing your own talents but for listening to the performances of our residents. It meant so much to us all that your group took the time to come here and inspire our young men through your music. We look forward to a return visit from you in the future.

Fondly,

Mary Cornell
Teacher Coordinator

Dear Sarasa,

My reflection of the Sarasa performance is that their really good band they played all different kind of music. When they played it made you think. It made you think of a time in your life. Some music made happy and some music made you upset. All the music that they played it mixed with your feelings. Their performance was really good they knew what they were doing and they knew what exactly songs to play for us. When they played the music they didn't tell us the title of the song we had to guess the title and we had to pay really close attention to know the title. Tim was really talented to play the cello he knew how to play really good on it. Maggie was really talented to play the piano she knew how to play all different songs. When Maggie heard a song she knew how to pick it right up really fast and that takes a lot of skills and that what she haves. Nathan and Kristin knew how to sing rely well they had really good voices. They knew how to clear their voices and sing really loud I felt I was in an opera house and they sang good songs and funny songs it made us feel happy. Before I really didn't pay attention to this kind of songs, but now for the Sarasa coming I think now I have in interest in those kind of songs it made me think I only liked rap, but those songs made me think about good times and it made me feel relaxed. Thank you for coming we learned a lot of things we learned how to clear are voices and sing we learned how to play the drums, and we learn all different kind of songs.

Sincerely, Flavio

Dear Sarasa,

I would like to thank you guys for coming to show us some different types of music, also for coming for free out of your own good will. The things that I really liked were the piano and the duets. It was real cool the way Maggie was playing the piano. I always wanted to learn how to play one. Hopefully one day I will. Also the duets that Nathan and Kristin sang. You guys have some really good singing voices. I see it takes a lot of courage to stand up and perform in front of everybody. Ever since I was little I always had a passion for music, mostly I only listen Rap. I'm starting to listen to r and b. When it was my turn to get up and perform for you I got a little nervous but soon as I got into it I wasn't nervous anymore. I look at music as a way to let your feelings out in a positive way. For me I could listen to music all day and not get bored. Thank you so much for coming.
---Victor

Dear Sarasa

I got a lot out of the different music you guys played. I got to hear opera and classical music. I liked the cello when Tim was playing it because I never got to hear or see a cello so I was surprised when I heard how good you played it. Maggie I liked how you played the piano because the different music you played on it. And the way you played the piano was cool. Nathan I liked how you sang the opera and how high and low you could go with your voice. I never heard opera before so I was kind of happy. Kristen I liked how you did the opera and how long you went it must have taken a while to learn. I just want to say thank you for coming and giving us your time to sing and play music for the unit. I just wanted to say I was happy when you guys came.
Thank you, Sarasa
Matt

Dear Sarasa,

What I thought about the performance was that it was the great to be able to listen to all the different kind of music that is out there that I did not know about. I think that I will listen to all the different kinds of music that is out there. I might find some more kinds of music that I like to listen to. I liked the instruments that MAGGIE was playing. I could not believe the high note that NATHAN hit and it tells me that if I keep trying I can get my voice that high when I sing songs when I am at home. Then at the end of the performance they tried to do something that one of the residents did, and even though they did not get it perfectly it was fun to watch them try it I won't forget you at all because they left a good impression on me when you were here. I also like to play the drums that they had with them. I also liked one of the songs that they did at the end of their time here. Also what means to me is that there is a lot of kinds of music that is out there for us that we can listen to when we are in a bad mood or just while we are out driving around with our friends or families. I wish that they could come back again so we can have some more fun. I also learned a lot about all the different kinds of instruments that are out there. I could not believe the high notes that Kristen was hitting. I also liked the instruments that Tim was playing, and the name of it is a cello.

Sincerely,

James

DEAR SARASA:

I want to tell you that I really had fun singing, dancing and seeing you perform. I think that your group has a lot of talent singing and are very creative. Also you guys as a group touched our lives in a positive way and made us feel happy and free for an hour. I felt really comfortable with myself singing and dancing in front of an audience. Tim, I think you are really good on the cello. That means to me that there are a lot of kinds of music that is out there for us to enjoy. We can listen to it when we are in a bad mood or just while we are out driving around with our friends or families. I wish that they could come back again so we can have some more fun. I also learned a lot about all the different kinds of instruments that are out there. I could not believe the high notes that Kristen was hitting. I also liked the instrument that Tim was playing, and the name of it is a cello. And you looked like a pretty cool guy. Maggie, you are a good playing piano and a smart woman. Nathan, for a man, you have a good voice and you look like a fun guy. Kristin, you have an amazing voice and a good future if you keep singing because you have a lot of talent. So I want to say thank you for everything and I wish you guys good luck.

Sincerely,
Carlos L.

Yesterday I enjoyed listening to sarasa. I liked their songs and their music. They are very talented. I liked the women on the piano because she can play and song with any beat. Tim that played the cello plays it well and can play it fast or slow. Nathan sings opera; he has an ok voice but plays ok. Plus Kristen plays show tunes very well at it a she could act pretty well. Sincerely,
Herve

Dear Sarasa,
I want to thank you guys for coming to share the music that you like with us. You guys have opened my eyes to music that I thought I would never listen to. When I first found out that you guys were coming to play classical music and share your talents with us I thought that it was going to be boring. But instead it was fun and a great experience for me. I thought that only the music that I listen to was good but after listening to the music you guys showed us it showed me that there are different types of music that are good besides the music I listen to. I just want to thank you guys for coming and opening my eyes to a new kind of music.

Sincerely,
Jesse

Stephan Bodden          2/7/2008

What is Music to you?

To me music is a way of expressing my feelings. Whether it is what I been through or what I am going through. Music is lifeexperiences. I use music to my advantage to describe my struggle and how hard everything is and was for me and how pain will never stop. My favorite type of music is rap and R & B. I like this mostly because I feel now and day the rap groups that are out the songs that they write are basically telling people what they've been through before they made it big and how a lot of things have changed. The only difference is now they are older, but the similarities are that I am now their age and I'm going through the struggle they've been through so I find it interesting to find out how they made it and what's working for them and maybe can it work me. That's my definition of music.

Sincerely,

Stephan

ear Sarasa,

I want to start off by saying thanks for coming to see us and play music for us. I believe you guys have made me a lot more open-minded to different types of music. I really enjoyed playing the drums this helped me see that beats do not only have to come from computerized things. The music that you guys sang for us and played for us made me feel really relaxed. I really appreciate you guys being open-minded and listening to our music. Once again thanks for everything.
Haile K.

Dear Sarasa,

I appreciate that you guys came up here and showed us all sorts of music. I liked how we got to play on the hand drums and how you taught us all of the different beats to make on them and how you guys also made different sounds on the keyboard that went with the poems that we sang. I especially like the different kinds of languages that you sang to us because it is always nice to learn new languages. So thank you for all that you have taught me.

Jared M.

Dear Sarasa,

I thank you for what you did for us. You gave us a lot of days of entertainment and a lot of days of learning about music. When we were singing with your group I felt relief. I identified that singing is like a coping skill for me because it makes me feel real good. It is like expressing feelings. I noticed that music has a lot of meaning to it. I never thought that the type of music your group performed for us existed. That's why I thank you for showing me something new in this world. Your group was awesome. I really mean that. I couldn't get enough of your music. The piano, drums, cello and especially your singing. It was fantastic. It was beautiful music. It really was. I just want to say good luck. We hope that your group keeps inspiring people. And we hope you guys liked our performance.

Sincerely,
Nate P.

Dear Sarasa,          2/7/2008

Hello Sarasa, I wanted to let you guys know that we all truly really appreciated what you came and did for us. I personally learned a lot of information about music that I never would have even got to learn if it wasn't for you guys. What I really liked was when we got to sing about the songs you guys performed and stuff. It was also very cool how we got to play on the little hand-drum things, and make beats. I remember seeing you guys at another program, Somerville Transition Shelter, and you guys only played some music for us over there. We didn't really get involved like we did here at Westboro Secure, which made it more fun for us and more interesting. I really would enjoy if you guys got to come back here from time to time to stop in and show us some new stuff and play music. It was also pretty cool because most of us kids aren't really familiar with the sort of classical music, and opera and the cool instruments you guys used so it was really cool for a change to see something new other than rap. Thank you guys again for everything you guys do and we know it was volunteering too so which makes it even better. Thank you guys hope to see you again. Bye.
Sincerely,
Mike

Dear Sarasa,          2/7/2008

It's your friend Joseph. The first thing I want to say is thank you for expanding my horizons with music. You also taught me things about singing that I've never knew like when you told us about the different pitches and how to hold notes. I definitely want to say I never knew that the keyboard could switch that many times to make other kinds of sounds. Also that you can make new instruments sound so old. Thank you for teaching me about the cello. But tell both Nate and Kristen for bringing so much extra voices for us. But this last week you all opened my eyes. So thank you and come back soon we'll be waiting…

Sincerely,

Joseph Rodriguez

Jeremy King

Dear Sarasa,
One of main things I thought was very interesting was that we had to give our thoughts on now the music was and what we thought was the best meaning that we could put together and the biggest thing that I thought is that we got to learn some new cool things about singing and about the history of certain instrument that we handed down and also what I really enjoyed and like was when we got to stand up and drum and learn new songs and even just the fact that we were able to pay back with our singing and I really thought that was a great experience for me I think this helped me a lot!

Thank you so much.
Bye!

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