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Welcome to ARS NEWS, an e-newsletter for recorder players. Please make sure to scroll to the bottom to see upcoming virtual recorder classes and events. Enjoy!
Click here to view email as a Webpage
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Play-the-Recorder Month is Nearly a Wrap!
2025 marks 33 years of celebrating Play-the-Recorder Month, also known as PtRM. Many ARS chapters, consorts, and recorder orchestras created ways to illustrate the versatility and beauty of our wonderful instrument.
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Saturday, March 15, 2025 was Play-the-Recorder Day. The ARS released a special video featuring the composer of our PtRM composition, Dr. Harvey Stokes, being interviewed by ARS Board Member Eric Haas. There is also a play-along opportunity with the piece "Flight Games."
Click here for more information on the music and PtRM.
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Focus on a Member Benefit: Workshop Scholarships
This summer, many exciting summer workshops are being held for recorder players to build their skills, and also build community. For those who would like to attend but could use a little financial help, ARS offers scholarships up to $600 for week-long workshops, and weekend scholarships for up to $175. Your personal financial information is not required to receive a scholarship.
Learn more about scholarships and apply
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The ARS at the Boston Early Music Festival
The Boston Early Music Festival is June 8-15, 2025, and the ARS will host several events there of interest to recorder players. The ARS's Recorder Relay will be held on Friday, June 13th from 10AM-12PM and celebrates the recorder community with terrific performances. It is free to attend and open for you to perform. If you or your group would like to play in the Recorder Relay, please apply here by May 1.
In addition, the ARS will co-sponsor the BEMF Beyond Borders Concert on Sunday, June 15th at 10 AM. This will be a wonderful event celebrating young local and international musicians.
The youth concert will be followed by a performance by the award-winning and world-renowned recorder group Boreas Quartett Bremen, entitled "Shakespeare in Love: Golden Age Venetian Consort Music at the English Court."
There will also be an exciting Recorder Masterclass led by the Boreas Quartett Bremen on Saturday, June 14th, where the public is welcome.
Last but not least, don't miss the wonderful BEMF Exhibition with many fine recorders and other instruments for trying and buying! The ARS will have a table at the exhibit.
Click to Read More
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Workshop/Festival Season is Coming Soon
If you are interested in recorder-related summer activities, see the ARS webpage on events happening this spring, summer and fall. Organizations who are ARS advertisers or Partner Workshop members are featured.
All this information can also be seen in much more depth in our Spring 2025 issue of American Recorder magazine.
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Apparently, some bad actors are accessing names of chapter representatives and Board Members and sending emails asking for wiring of bank account information. PLEASE DO NOT CLICK on ANYTHING or REPLY to the emails. We will NEVER ask you for gift cards, wiring information, bank account numbers, etc.
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Welcome to a New Consort!
ARS has a new consort called The Villages, FL Recorder Ensemble. They offer sessions for intermediate and advanced players, and are open to self-taught beginners. If you live in the area, you can learn more by emailing consort representative Joyce Lundeen at TheVillagesFLRecorderEnsemble@gmail.com.
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ARS Chapter Representative Roundtable
The ARS Chapter Roundtable has one last session before the summer break. It will be held on June 1 at 2:00pm - 3:30pm Eastern time. Gather on Zoom with Phil Hollar and have a chat with your fellow leaders about what's happening in your chapter.
If you have a topic suggestion or haven’t been receiving announcements about the roundtables, please contact Phil Hollar.
The next ARS Website Site-Seeing Tour will be June 7.
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ARS offers a webpage with all the chapters offering virtual/hybrid meetings. There are several chapters with a worldwide membership, led by world-class music directors, thanks to the wonders of Zoom.
(Is your group offering virtual meetings but not on the list? Email us!)
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A Brief Reminder of ARS Scholarship & Grant Deadlines
Workshop Scholarships Any member who needs financial assistance to attend an in-person or online weekend or week-long workshop may apply for this scholarship. Deadline for week-long workshops: six weeks before funding is needed
Weekend Workshop Scholarships Apply four weeks before funding is needed. Virtual events are also eligible for funding, as long as the amounts do not exceed stated limits.
Chapter and Recorder Orchestra Grants These grants are awarded to Chapters or Recorder Orchestras with 10 or more ARS members to supplement membership-enhancing programs. Deadline: May 15, with funds to be used after September 1
Educational Outreach Grants Meeting certain criteria, anyone teaching the recorder may apply for this grant. ARS membership is not required to apply.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grants Any chapter, recorder orchestra, or consort may apply. Partner Workshops and Businesses are also eligible. Apply anytime.
Traveling Teacher Program Recorder communities without a recorder teacher in their area may apply for a grant to cover a professional teacher's traveling costs. Deadline: May 15, to be used after September 1
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ARS 2nd-Level Class for Alto Recorder
with Lisette Kielson
If you've taken an ARS Beginners' Class, then you are ready for Level 2! Lisette Kielson will guide you in continued work on recorder technique and musical expression, solidifying varying time signatures and rhythmic patterns while continuing to work on tone, articulation, and musicality!
Dates:
April 23rd, 26th, 30th, and May 3rd at 12 PM (noon), ET
2nd-Level Classes are free and available to ARS members only.
For more information and to register, click HERE.
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Multiple Class Options
with Tish Berlin
1) Next Level Bass: Solos and Duos Tuesdays: April 1, 8, 15, 22
10:00 - 11:15 AM, PT
Start each session with a short warm up to work on tone, fingers, and tongue, then work on Renaissance duos from Eric Haas’ Duos for Basses, Volume I, and solos from Baroque and Contemporary repertoire.
For bass recorder players who read bass clef fluently, and can play a two-octave chromatic scale from the low F. Pitch: a=440.
$100 for all four classes. Classes will be recorded and available to stream for one month.
Duos for Basses can be ordered from the Von Huene Early Music Shop HERE.
2) An All-Zoom Practice Challenge Tuesdays: April 1, 8, 15, 22
1:30 - 2:45 PM, PT
In this 4-session class you’ll practice technique exercises with me, then work on a Medieval duo and a Baroque sonata, focusing on effective practice methods for both pieces.
For intermediate and up players of soprano, alto, and tenor recorders. Pitch: a=440. Students are invited to request that we work on repertoire they are practicing.
$100 for all four classes. Classes will be recorded and available to stream for one month.
To learn how to register for either class, please write to Tish at tishberlin@sbcglobal.net
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Bach Family Album Tunes
with Debby Greenblatt
Tues, April 15 at 7 PM, CT
Wed, April 16 at 10 AM, CT
Fri, April 18 at 7 PM, CT
Different tunes will be played at each session.
The workshop will explore tunes from our “Bach Family Album Tunes for Two". This collection of 26 lively pieces were composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and four of his sons, Wilhelm Friedemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Christoph Friedrich, and Johann Christian. A generous helping of dance movements (courante, sarabande, gigue, bourree, minuet, and polonaise) are included.
There is limited enrollment, and pre-registration is required. The cost for each workshop is $15. The cost of each optional book is $15 (includes shipping if ordered with workshop registration).
For more information, and to register for the workshop:
https://www.greenblattandseay.com/workshops_bach.shtml
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Multiple Class Offerings
with Anne Timberlake
1) Powerful Practice
Tuesdays, 4/29, 5/6, 5/13, and 5/20 at 3:30 PM, CT
In this live, four-week small-group short course, we’ll explore important principles of effective practice and work toward applying principles in our own routines. We’ll discuss concrete strategies that work, the practice pitfalls you may be falling prey to, and why some conventional practice wisdom is wrong.
With great power comes great responsibility! Gain confidence in your practice.
Course fee: $99
Register on my website! Registration will be closed if the participant limit is met.
2) Wednesday Webinar: Scale Secrets!
Wednesday, 4/30 at 7 PM, CT
If you’ve had any kind of formal musical training, you’re probably acquainted with scales. You may even be doing some in your own practice– they are a fabulous tool! But are you using scales to their full potential? In this live, one-hour Zoom webinar, we’ll explore the whys and hows of scales, discussing how to set scale goals, what kinds of scales to do, how to vary your practice, and how to keep from reinforcing bad habits.
Class fee: $20
To register, please visit my website.
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North American Virtual Recorder Society presents their April Playing Meeting
with Annette Bauer
When: Saturday, April 26, 2 - 3:30 PM, ET
Cost: NAVRS Membership is $20 and each playing session is $15.
Your first playing meeting is free and membership is not required.
"April... hath put a spirit of youth in everything."-William Shakespeare: Our playing meeting will be all about celebrating the capricious month of April! The music selected includes a 13th century motet, compositions by Alexander Agricola, John Dowland and Luca Marenzio from the 15th and 16th centuries, a famous Jazz standard, and a traditional Waltz… What do they all have in common? They reference the month of April in text or title. I am looking forward to playing music with you on April 26th!
For more information and to register, visit the NAVRS website.
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Amherst Early Music Online Courses
for April 2025
1) 4-week Notation Classes with Annette Bauer:
Class 1: The 16th-Century Series: Cancionero de Palacio
Tuesdays, 3/25, 4/1, 4/15, 4/22 at 7 - 8:15 PM, ET
Class 2: Squarcialupi Codex II
Wednesdays, 3/26, 4/2, 4/16, and 4/23 at 5:30 - 6:45 PM, ET
2) The Dove, the Eagle, and the Nightingale - Birds in Musical Compositions of the 14th Century with Annette Bauer
Saturday, April 5 at 3 PM, ET
3) A Bach Sampler with Tish Berlin
Sunday, April 6 at 1 PM, ET
For more information and to see AEM Online's full lineup of virtual classes, please visit their website.
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Want to Share Your News?
The deadline for this e-newsletter is the 20th of each month. To submit your news using an online form, please go to https://americanrecorder.org/newsform. You may also email an article and photos. We love to hear stories of how the recorder community is still going strong. Send any of the types of news items you have seen in the paper newsletter or past ARS NEWS emails. Digital photos are welcome, as are digital videos for YouTube (DropBox or Google Drive suggested). Send your articles/photos to newsletter@americanrecorder.org.
Want to Share Your Upcoming Events?
Virtual events can be publicized by emailing Jennifer Carpenter. In-person events can be publicized using our online Event Calendar submission form (only ARS members may submit). Event info will appear in the calendar on the ARS homepage.
The deadline for ARS NEWS (this publication) is the 20th of the month. Send news to Susan Burns and event information to Jennifer Carpenter. ARS NEWS is emailed the last Tuesday of every month, with occasional exceptions.
Newsletter editors and publicity officers for Chapters, Consorts & Recorder Orchestras should make sure that your regular communications like e-newsletters are sent to the ARS office.
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If you've received this from a friend, sign up for your own monthly subscription to ARS NEWS or to ARS NOVA, our monthly e-mag, using this link.
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Learn more
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P.O. Box 480054 Charlotte
NC 28269-5300
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Toll Free: 1-844-509-1422
Fax: 1-866-773-1538
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