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Bringing music to the masses (or at least the region)
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| Monadnock Music’s Lend An Ear! program visits Peterborough Elementary School May 19. The artists in the photo are cellist Mark Simcox and flutist Jackie DeVoe. |
Monadnock Music, Inc.
2A Concord Street, Peterborough 03458; 924-7610
www.monadnockmusic.org
Managing director: Christina Meinke; board president: Hilary Sims Feldstein; music directors: Jonathan Bagg, Laura Gilbert; development director: Cynthia Geary
Founded: 1966
Service area: Entire Monadnock Region; summer concert series serves more than 9,000 individuals each year; Lend An Ear! music education program annually serves over 2,000 children in 22 area elementary schools
Annual budget: $375,000; 39 percent from contributions, remainder from grants and ticketed events
Staff: 4 full-time, 4 part-time, 20 volunteers
Makes exceptional music accessible to all in intimate and informal settings in the towns and villages of the Monadnock region, and beyond. Through a commitment to varied and imaginative performances and teaching, Monadnock Music keeps a sense of musical daring and discovery alive.
Making a Difference: Nonprofits and people in the Monadnock region
In the mid-1960s, conductor James Bolle assembled professional musicians from around the country for a free public concert in Nelson. From that single event evolved a nonprofit organization that annually hosts nearly three dozen summer music performances for the public in the region.
Now in its 43rd season, Monadnock Music’s summer festival showcases a wide range of traditional and contemporary classical music by nationally acclaimed musicians, including chamber players, vocalists, instrumentalists and soloists. The performances, which are held in local town halls and churches, are free or paid.
“We host 17 free concerts in historic venues throughout the region,” said Cynthia Geary, the organization’s development director. “That way, people everywhere can come hear beautiful music at no charge.”
The six-week summer series has drawn national attention. This year, the nonprofit received the prestigious 2008 award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Chamber Music jointly presented by Chamber Music America and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
In addition to the summer festival, Monadnock Music also conducts music education for local school children.
Its “Lend An Ear!” program was founded in 1985 to supplement public school music education. It brings together professional musicians and more than 2,000 youngsters in 22 Monadnock Region elementary schools. Participating schools in the year-round program include: the entire Conval school district, Fitzwilliam, Gilsum, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson, Rindge, Sullivan, Troy and Keene elementary schools.
Students personally interact with musicians to learn about their lives. Professionals, in turn, introduce and demonstrate various groups of instruments to children, who become familiar with music concepts such as pitch, tempo and rhythm, and various musical styles.
“It brings musicians directly to the students,” Geary said. “Children actively participate in the demonstrations. It engages them in a manner that helps them be forward thinking, and keeps them abreast of the arts despite the technological tools, like computers and computer games, that kids use everyday.
“It’s very tactile,” she said. “The children get to handle the instruments. They touch the wood, touch the strings. They become very interested because it’s hands-on participation. They’re not pushing buttons to engage their minds. They’re actually doing it, not watching it on a computer screen.”
Plans are under way to expand the program to additional area schools. Also in the works are collaborative efforts with other area arts organizations. This year, Monadnock Music and Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music launched a new arrangement whereby a musician in one group also performs with the other.
Additional cooperative ventures are in development, including combined music education classes and performances and a possible three-way collaborative initiative with The Colonial Theatre in Keene.
Underwritten in large part by endowments and grants, the group welcomes individual donations as well as new volunteers for a variety of tasks.
The 2008 summer festival ends today. Community members are invited to the final concert at 8 p.m. at the Peterborough Town House. The performance features music of the past three centuries, including compositions by Brahms, Bach and Schoenfield with performances by vocalists Ilana Davidson and Elizabeth Shammash. Tickets are available at the door.
~ Joan Geary
“Making a Difference,” a weekly feature, is a collaborative project of The Keene Sentinel and Giving Monadnock, which seeks to raise public awareness of the role of nonprofit agencies in the Monadnock Region. For more information, e-mail info@givingmonadnock.org or call 357-7171.
Now in its 43rd season, Monadnock Music’s summer festival showcases a wide range of traditional and contemporary classical music by nationally acclaimed musicians, including chamber players, vocalists, instrumentalists and soloists. The performances, which are held in local town halls and churches, are free or paid.
“We host 17 free concerts in historic venues throughout the region,” said Cynthia Geary, the organization’s development director. “That way, people everywhere can come hear beautiful music at no charge.”
The six-week summer series has drawn national attention. This year, the nonprofit received the prestigious 2008 award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Chamber Music jointly presented by Chamber Music America and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
In addition to the summer festival, Monadnock Music also conducts music education for local school children.
Its “Lend An Ear!” program was founded in 1985 to supplement public school music education. It brings together professional musicians and more than 2,000 youngsters in 22 Monadnock Region elementary schools. Participating schools in the year-round program include: the entire Conval school district, Fitzwilliam, Gilsum, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson, Rindge, Sullivan, Troy and Keene elementary schools.
Students personally interact with musicians to learn about their lives. Professionals, in turn, introduce and demonstrate various groups of instruments to children, who become familiar with music concepts such as pitch, tempo and rhythm, and various musical styles.
“It brings musicians directly to the students,” Geary said. “Children actively participate in the demonstrations. It engages them in a manner that helps them be forward thinking, and keeps them abreast of the arts despite the technological tools, like computers and computer games, that kids use everyday.
“It’s very tactile,” she said. “The children get to handle the instruments. They touch the wood, touch the strings. They become very interested because it’s hands-on participation. They’re not pushing buttons to engage their minds. They’re actually doing it, not watching it on a computer screen.”
Plans are under way to expand the program to additional area schools. Also in the works are collaborative efforts with other area arts organizations. This year, Monadnock Music and Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music launched a new arrangement whereby a musician in one group also performs with the other.
Additional cooperative ventures are in development, including combined music education classes and performances and a possible three-way collaborative initiative with The Colonial Theatre in Keene.
Underwritten in large part by endowments and grants, the group welcomes individual donations as well as new volunteers for a variety of tasks.
The 2008 summer festival ends today. Community members are invited to the final concert at 8 p.m. at the Peterborough Town House. The performance features music of the past three centuries, including compositions by Brahms, Bach and Schoenfield with performances by vocalists Ilana Davidson and Elizabeth Shammash. Tickets are available at the door.
~ Joan Geary
“Making a Difference,” a weekly feature, is a collaborative project of The Keene Sentinel and Giving Monadnock, which seeks to raise public awareness of the role of nonprofit agencies in the Monadnock Region. For more information, e-mail info@givingmonadnock.org or call 357-7171.
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