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| MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR - DECEMBER 2007 |
Dear friends, 
When I was thirteen I spent the summer at an idyllic music camp in Maine. Brahms and Beethoven symphonies were broadcast at full volume over the loudspeakers to awaken us in our woodland cabins. Some pretty important self-revelations took place that
summer--namely, that I would make music my life's calling. On one of the Friday evening all-school "Chamber Music Nights" in the lodge that first summer, four young musicians played the Telemann Concerto you are about to hear. There was something so fresh and uplifting about the sound of the four violins playing in canon during the Allegro, that I felt happy and exhilarated in a way that I hadn't yet associated with music. I never noted the name of the piece or even the composer but I remembered the tune and the way it made me feel. When I heard it by chance at my son's chamber music concert at the Boston Youth Symphony just last year, I had finally found my piece! The feelings of that momentous summer came flooding back to me and I knew I would program it at our next Holiday concert. The Madeleine may have done it for Proust, but for me, nothing can recall a period in my life as emotionally and viscerally as a piece of music that I fell in love with at the time. Even more than any other concert of the season, the Holiday Concert evokes the warm and fuzzy realization that music fosters a sense of community among music lovers. When we walk out and see the festive church filled with people willing to put aside their long lists of chores, shopping and commitments to come enjoy some beautiful Baroque music, we feel grateful to be musicians. Thanks once again for the very big part you play---musicians can only play as well as they feel they're being received and you have always given us a very grand welcome indeed. Thanks, also for remembering us in your year-end charitable giving. We couldn't play these programs without you. Happy Holidays and see you in 2008! Julie |