Happy Summer! Welcome to our August newsletter
One of Timothy Merton's honey bees on a borage flower. Putney, VT
Sarasa's 2019-20 Concert Season will arrive around the corner in just six weeks, with our opening concerts the weekend of September 20-22, 2019.
We hope all of our friends out there have been enjoying a sunny, peaceful and relaxing summer. We look forward to catching up with you, and welcoming you back to our Cambridge and Lexington venues. Three concerts this season will also take place in Brattleboro, VT, including our very first concert. See you soon!
Did you know?
Cellists Timothy Merton, Phoebe Carrai and Jennifer Morsches join forces for Sarasa's opening concert weekend of the 2019-20 Season!
Did you know, in addition to being cellists who perform on historical instruments, they all live on High Street in Cambridge where they share a musical household--- although they rarely all intersect at the same time.
Jennifer had lessons with Phoebe at the International Baroque Institute at Longy back in 1994 before she moved to the UK, Tim and Phoebe met working in Boston in 1997 after which she soon started living at the house on High Street. Jennifer met them again when she moved back to the States in 2015. What a small world!! Needless to say, no one person plays Bach the same way, and the fascination with the Suites for solo cello remains a life-long quest. Additionally, Tim, Jennifer and Phoebe will be presenting two trios for 3 cellos by the popular 18th-century cellist and successful London music entrepreneur, Giacobbe Cervetto. We hope to see you there!
Music for 3 Cellos ~ J.S. Bach and Cervetto
J.S. Bach Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008 for solo cello
Cervetto Trio II in B-flat major Allegro
J.S. Bach Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 for solo cello
Cervetto Trio IV in C major Vivace
J.S. Bach Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009 for solo cello
Cervetto Trio VI in C minor Adagio ~ Alla breve ~ Minuetto I & II
Friday, 20 September 7:30pm Brattleboro Music Center, Brattleboro VT (tickets: www.bmcvt.org)
Saturday, 21 September 8:00pm Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, Cambridge, MA
Sunday, 22 September 3:30pm First Parish in Lexington, MA
Tickets and information www.sarasamusic.org or 617 429 0332
Sarasa’s Summer Outreach Residencies
July and August are always big months for Sarasa's outreach residencies at teenage detention centers. It's a great outlet for the youth's self-expression through music we share with them, as well as the music which they bring to us through their rap creations. No one unit is alike, which means each residency is exciting and disarming as well. Recently, when Tim played The Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns, he asked one group of teenage girls if they could imagine dancing to this kind of music. After that, they wanted to dance whenever they heard the cello being played. Next week, we will visit two detention centers new to Sarasa at the Department of Youth Services Northeast Region. The Sarasa musicians include Kristen Watson, soprano, Krista River, mezzo soprano, Nathan Troup, baritone, Timothy Merton, cello and Daniel Padgett, keyboard. Sarasa has been asked to perform again this year at the Commissioner’s Award Ceremony in early October 2019. Even though we aren’t receiving an award this year, they thought last year’s performance added something special to the whole event.
Remembering Anner Bylsma
(17 February 1934 – 25 July 2019)
The music world lost a giant in the pantheon of cellists, a true pioneer of the historical performance movement. Many cellists across the world have especially been reeling from the enormous loss of this incredible artist, one whose playing was full of humour, discovery and was totally original. Most of us remember the moment we heard Bylsma’s ground-breaking 1979 recording of the Bach Suites, the very first entirely on gut strings. By chance, Sarasa’s opening concert explores the first three Cello Suites, performed by Timothy Merton, Phoebe Carrai and Jennifer Morsches. It is a wonderful opportunity in which to come together and pay homage to this great man and artist.
Anner Bylsma with his five-string piccolo cello.
“When you play Bach you shouldn’t speak about yourself too much — you should speak about us all. You speak about mankind and love and fate and God and death — all of these things. But you do not speak about your own headache.”
— Anner Bylsma
