Sarasa Ensemble Outreach Concerts & Residencies

Dedicated to making music accessible to wider audiences

Many teenagers, in trouble with the law, have never been exposed to anything but a popular culture that is sending very toxic messages to our youth. They deserve better.

Sarasa's unique outreach to incarcerated youth through our performances and residencies work to bring another view of the world to these teens. We help them see that there is more to life than they have been shown and far more beauty.

Life with genuine art can be both uplifting and enriching. We see time and again that these children are attuned to appreciating fine culture, and in many cases are starved for it without realizing the fact.

Girls singing with the Sarasa Ensemble at an outreach residency at the Pelletier Center in February 2011.

The Redline Brass Quintet performing as part of the Sarasa outreach concert for the Elliott Boys in February 2011.

Many of these teenagers are hearing classical music for the first time; some are enraptured by it. And for some it is a step toward understanding that there is a better way to live, and that they might change their lives.

With your assistance, we try to help them with that first step. So, happily, our outreach program with juvenile offenders continues to blossom.

Sarasa was founded with the specific purpose of playing classical music for people who ordinarily do not have the opportunity to hear live performances, and make the music of composers like Bach, Haydn or Schubert speak to audiences for who are unfamiliar with it. List of outreach concerts performed.

Sarasa is a collection of forty musicians who form ensembles to play in venues as diverse as:

Hospitals
Inner city schools
Homeless shelters
Elderly peoples' homes
Correctional facilities for adults and youths
Mental health institutions

The Outreach Concert Experience

In many contexts, Sarasa encourages interaction with the audience, communicating about the instruments and the music. Often in a program, the audience reciprocates with a performance of their own.

The effect of these concerts is not just one way. Sarasa musicians derive much inspiration and pleasure from their interaction with people whose lives can be enriched by the music.

Please help Sarasa continue these outreach concerts!

Outreach Concerts & Residencies

(last updated October 2, 2012)

2012

RFK South Hadley Girls Program (lock up facility for girls) South Hadley, MA (August) with "Girls on the Rise" teen drumming and singing group
Elliot Boys Detention (lock up facility for teenage boys) Dorchester MA (August) with "El Fuego" early music ensemble
Metro Revocation, (lock up facility for teenage boys) Dorchester MA (August) with "El Fuego" early music ensemble
Pelletier Center (lock up facility for teenage girls), Westboro, MA (3-visit residency in June)
Spectrum Girls Program (lock up facility for teenage girls) Dorchester MA (May) with Sarasa
Worcester Secure, (lock up facility for teenage boys) Westboro, MA (3-visit residency in January)

2011

Robert Kennedy School, (lock up facility for teenage boys) Westboro, MA (3-visit residency in December)
Listen to performances by residents
Elliot Boys Assessment (lock up facility for teenage boys) Dorchester MA (3-visit residency in November)
Casa Isla Assessment (lock up facility for teenage boys), Quincy, MA (November) with Sarasa
Spectrum Girls Program (lock up facility for teenage girls) Dorchester MA (September) with Sarasa
Elliot Boys Assessment & Metro Revocation (lock up facilities for teenage boys) Dorchester MA (September) with Sarasa
Westboro Secure Treatment, (lock up facility for teenage boys) Westboro, MA (3-visit residency in August)
Listen to performances by residents
Rotenberg School, (lock-up facility for girls) Westboro, MA (June) with Tim Merton, cello and Maggie Cole, piano
Westboro Secure Treatment, (lock up facility for teenage boys) Westboro, MA (June) with Tim Merton, cello and Maggie Cole, piano
Casa Isla Assessment (lock up facility for teenage boys), Quincy, MA (June) with Tim Merton, cello and Maggie Cole, piano
Metro Pretrial Detention (lock up facility for teenage boys) Dorchester. MA (May) with Red Line Brass Quintet
Spectrum Girls Program (lock up facility for teenage girls) Dorchester. MA (May) with Red Line Brass Quintet
Butler Center (lock up facility for teenage boys) Westboro, MA (3 visit residency in May)
Listen to performances by residents
Pelletier Center (lock up facility for teenage girls), Westboro, MA (3-week residency in February)
Listen to performances by residents
Elliot Boys Detention (lock up facility for teenage boys) Dorchester, MA (February) with Red Line Brass Quintet
Elliot Boys Assessment (lock up facility for teenage boys) Dorchester, MA (February) with Red Line Brass Quintet

[See the full list of outreach concerts (since 1998)]

Outreach Concert Audience Comments

Read what audience members at Sarasa's outreach concerts have to say...

Genesis of an Idea

The idea of doing outreach concerts was conceived by Director Timothy Merton in 1996 after he performed at a Sing Sing Correctional Facility with pianist Marcia Eckert.

Timothy explains, "It was an amazing experience for us both, not only because the inmates were extremely grateful that we made the effort to come and play for them, but that the classical music we played spoke to them in a way I never thought possible.

For many of the inmates, it was the first time that they had heard this kind of music. Some of their comments were "it takes you inside", "it reminds me of being in the country", and "it's like meditating". We found the music had a very positive, inspiring and calming effect on the inmates."

Sarasa musicians finishing up a residency at Westboro Secure Treament (Westboro, MA) in May 2010. (left to right) Kristen Watson, soprano; Timothy Merton, cello; Nathan Troup, baritone; and David Richardson, piano.