August/September 2025

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!

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American Recorder Magazine is Mailed and Online!

This issue is about looking back to the Summer and onwards to the Holidays.

• On the cover, Recorders Beyond Borders highlights the special report from the Boston Early Music Festival, focusing on recorder events. Find it in the Listen and Play section.
• As well as announcements about international awards and competitions, read about a new concerto for the Eagle Recorder recently premiered by Piers Adams, and what teaching and performing activities kept Frances Blaker on the move this summer in On the Record(er).
• The Feature by David Lasocki discusses the time-honored tradition of arranging music for our instrument. Drawing on newly discovered sources of music by Barsanti and Sammartini, Lasocki reconstructs some of the operating principles Baroque composers used when adapting violin music to the recorder.
• Learn about How Language Shapes Our Musical Expression from Dutch player Lobke Sprenkeling who lives in Spain, and teaches in multiple languages.
• There are plenty of stocking stuffers for you and your consort in the Holiday Reviews list.
•  This quarter’s selection of recordings, Crossing the Centuries, features early music and modern music inspired by earlier styles.

Members' Library Edition 85

 The Members’ Library Edition is Jamison Forge’s Turnstile for SATB recorder quartet, sponsored by Anne Carney. Jamison says about his composition, "Turnstile” is inspired after an old fashioned carnival fun house. Passing through the turnstile gets you in, and the only way out is through to the end." Editor Glen Shannon describes it as "The circus comes to town in this whimsical party piece for SATB."

Click here for the music and recordings

ARS Annual Members' Meeting Announcement

The ARS Annual Members' Meeting is set for Saturday, October 18 at 3pm Eastern and will be held via Zoom. Learn about what the ARS Board has been up to as well as its future plans, and get a look at the financial picture. This is for members only, and your questions are welcome! It will be led by the ARS President, who will be elected by the Board in late September.

Register for the Annual Meeting

Member Benefit: Play-Along Library

We certainly hope that you have found the ARS Play-Along Library and are taking advantage of the over 200 scores and recordings made available to ARS members to download and enjoy playing along with the sound files! From medieval to modern scores ranging in levels of difficulty, and often presented with both slower and faster speeds, our Play-Along Library has something for everyone!

ARS Membership Billing: Your Questions Answered

With the imminent dues rate change, the ARS office fielded a lot of questions about how ARS billing works. Unravel the mysteries with our Q&A!

Click to read more

ARS Welcomes New Members Who Joined in July

We are so glad you've joined! Please contact us if you have any questions about your new membership.

Linda Ashworth, CA

Elizabeth Bishop, CA

Kim Carroll, FL

Susan Dayton, MD

Trevor Elstrop, United Kingdom

James Erb, CA

James Fry, NC

Francesca Holinko, MA

Floyd Hollister, PA

Debra Jones, TX

Eric Lundberg, AZ

Anne Markham, MD

Evan Marzahn, IL

Melinda Matthews, GA

Jean Mevoit, FL

David Palmer, NC

Halena Procopio Ross, PA

Andrew Richard, WY

Laura Spaulding, KY

Chet Stussy, CA

Moira Usher, United Kingdom

Kathleen Waligura, MI

Rachel Walpole, MI

Roberta Wiesehan, OR

Recorder Orchestra Expanding

The Recorder Orchestra of the Midwest, based in Indianapolis and directed by Clea Galhano, is pleased to announce plans to open their 17th season by expanding to the Chicago area. The Orchestra will hold its first rehearsal in Illinois on Saturday November 22, 10 AM to 4 PM, followed by a concert and reception. The Orchestra meets again in Illinois on February 21 and March 21, closing the season with a concert on April 25 in Carmel, Indiana. They will provide details for the Chicago area meeting place soon. The tuition is $250 for the rehearsals and concert, $100 for November 22 only. The November 22 workshop is open to anyone who would like to try out, with no obligation to join, and if you participate your $100 fee will be applied to the $250 tuition for the year. To sign up visit romw.net.

Did you know you can read Chapter News on the ARS website? Check out Community News. ARS chapters, consorts and recorder orchestras are welcome to email their newsletters to us for publication on the website.

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!)

Congratulations to Our Scholarship Recipients!

In 2025, thanks to our generous donors, ARS gave away almost $10,000 in scholarships to weekend and weeklong workshops. Our scholarship recipients attended summer workshops all over the country and wrote us glowing reports of their experiences. Many of the workshops are ARS Partner members.

Here are our 2025 scholarship recipients:

Monica Boruch, Virginia Baroque Academy

Josiah Brooks, Early Music at Mideast

Beth Campbell, Texas Toot

Lynne Coates, Next Level Recorder Retreat

Jamison Forge, Next Level Recorder Retreat

Adriana Caro Gomez, Early Music at Mideast

Anja Hartle, Mountain Collegium

Devanney Haruta, Amherst Early Music Festival

Michael Lerer, CityRecorder! (Amherst)

Saige Long, Texas Toot

Ava Pacheco, Early Music at Mideast

Daniel Parsons, Early Music at Mideast

Cheri Powers, Suzuki

Betty Prescod, Amherst Early Music Festival

Romes Silva, Amherst Early Music Festival

Christopher Todd, Amherst Early Music Festival



Congratulations to all!

Photo: Early Music at Mideast

Upcoming Recorder Events

Check the ARS Calendar of Events for a list of recorder happenings

ARS Beginners' Class for Alto Recorder

with Marea Chernoff

Join the American Recorder Society’s four-part beginner course for alto recorder taught by recorder professional Marea Chernoff. You'll build a strong foundation as you learn to produce a beautiful tone right from the start. The course covers essential skills such as breath control, hand and finger positioning, articulation, and the basics of note reading and rhythm.

Dates:

Sep 24, Oct 1, 8, and 15 at 1 PM, ET

ARS Beginners' Classes are free and available to everyone.

For more information and to register, click HERE.

ARS Beginners' Class for Soprano/Tenor Recorder

with Laura Townsend

If you have never played recorder before, or if it has been eons since you have played, this is the course for you! Build a solid foundation for learning recorder through this beginners' course for soprano/tenor recorder. Professional recorder teacher Laura Townsend will cover basics such as hand and finger position, tonguing, and tone, and instill good habits for continuing to learn on your own or with a teacher. 

Dates:

Sep 29, Oct 2, 6 and 9 at 78PM, ET

ARS Beginners' Classes are free and available to everyone.

For more information and to register, click, HERE.

Virtual Events

North American Virtual Recorder Society presents their September Playing Meeting

with the Rachel Begley

When: Saturday, September 27, 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.

Short Lives, Lasting Legacies: Robert Parsons, Henry Purcell, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart all died heartbreakingly young — and yet their music continues to resonate with us centuries later. Travel from the Renaissance to the Baroque and Classical eras as we explore humorous rounds, heartfelt laments, and radiant sacred works by composers whose genius burned brightly but briefly.

For more information and to register, visit the NAVRS website.

Amherst Early Music Online Classes

October 4 at 1 PM, ET: Voce mea ad Dominum: Music for St Francis of Assisi - with Karen Cook, recorder and early notation

October 5 at 1 PM, ET: Musical Palindromes and Rhythmic Games - Mind-bending music from the Medievel and Renaissance - with Sarah Jeffrey, recorder

For class descriptions and to register, visit the AEM website.

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.

Do you enjoy our ARS NEWS emails? Be a part of it and submit your news story here!



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