Welcome to our March Newsletter, March Madness!
Before…
After???
Dear Friends of Sarasa,
During these strange and precarious times, we hope you are all staying safe, healthy, and in good spirits. We are waiting to learn what the Massachusetts government policy will be in early May as to whether our final concert-set of the season (Pastoral Scenes on 16th & 17th May) can take place, but for the moment nothing is cancelled yet! We would like to remain as hopeful as possible, but it may be inevitable that things will not be back to “normal” by then. We are all adjusting to this slower tempo of life, the major disruptions it is causing, and especially the difficulties of not seeing our friends and loved ones on a regular basis, so please stay in touch with us!
We hope to see you in person soon, but in the meantime we are sending many good wishes and positive thoughts to each and every one of you!
From all of us at Sarasa
Thanks for coming to Die schöne Müllerin!
We were very lucky to have our March concert go ahead without any hitches, and many of you braved the warnings of Covid-19 to come hear a wonderful adaptation by Jeff Louie of Franz Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin for tenor and string quartet. Frank Kelley led us with great character and compassion through the storyline of a young journeyman falling in love with a miller’s daughter. Schubert's musical landscape develops with incredible creativity over the course of the twenty songs, with the brook serving as a trusted confidante as the youth experiences the pangs of first love’s blossoming, only to be thrown into bouts of jealousy and envy at the arrival of the confidant hunter.
Outreach news
Sarasa had the opportunity to share some of Schubert's moving song cycle with incarcerated youth at two units in Dorchester, MA. We had some amazing feedback from the teens, who despite the language barrier of the sung German, found deep connections in the music with their own personal lives and experiences. Some comments: “I enjoyed the 'raw emotion' behind your craft and performance.” “[The music] still translate till today. Very important because it motivates me to keep going.” “There is a story to basically every song.”
Grants to further our Outreach Work
Sarasa has received notification that we have been awarded grants from the Boston Cultural Council and the Harvard/MIT COOP Public Service Grants to further our outreach work in the Boston area. With the help of these grants, we will be able to bring our programming and on-site visits to the Epiphany School, an independent school for children of economically disadvantaged families in Boston, in which each child receives full scholarship for tuition and meals. https://www.epiphanyschool.com/ We are excited about this newest development. We will also begin to prepare a special outreach booth at our concerts starting next season, in order to share the poetry, artwork and rap music of the teenagers we encounter at our Department of Youth Services visits.
Meanwhile in Vermont…
Merton’s Maple Syrup has been on a roll the last few weeks; Tim is on track to meet his annual maple syrup production tally — 1,550 gallons so far, and counting!
From the Archives…
Over the coming days and weeks, in an effort to provide some much needed solace and music in these difficult times, Sarasa will be updating and releasing a wide variety of video and audio recordings from concerts this season, as well as works performed in past seasons. We’ll be sending regular updates with new pieces for you to check out and enjoy from the comfort of your own home! Here are two lovely audios to get you started, both recorded Live at Sarasa’s concert-set “Les Délices de la Solitude” with Jennifer Morsches, cello and Reiko Ichise, viola da gamba at First Parish in Lexington on March 4, 2018.
