March 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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Membership Benefit Highlight

March is both Play-the-Recorder Month and Early Music Month - it's the perfect time to support the organization that helps promote the recorder and its music! As a member, you get access to our collection of commissioned music, including the Play-the-Recorder Month piece. Click here to listen to and learn about this piece. Our PtRM Music Library of all the PtRM pieces commissioned for the ARS is available for members to access and download the music.

American Recorder Magazine is Mailed and Online!

This issue is all about looking forward – to summer activities, and to advances in technology.

·      Maureen Curran-Dorsano describes the Workshop Wanderlust that took her around the globe over the last decade, a fitting introduction to the Workshop and Festival Roundup in the LISTEN & PLAY section

·      For those needing encouragement, or support to attend training programs, workshops, or assistance setting up training for others, Jody Miller writes about the Scholarships and Grants available to all Society members

·      On the Record(er) features a report on Emily O’Brien’s involvement in a new Record Sample Library which was partly funded by ARS

·      Continuing the theme of New Technology, the main Feature, 3D Printing Historical Recorders for Musicians, describes important new work involving innovative technology being carried out in England

·      In Learn, Lobke Sprenkeling discusses notation to help you approach scores, facsimiles, and make instrument choices

·      There are reviews of music with exotic themes: Vitambo vya moyo (African Suite No. 4) by Sören Sieg and Pink Noise: A Caribbean Rhapsody by Guus Haverkate

·      The Recordings reviews feature Musical Time Travels to 17^th-century Amsterdam and 18^th-century Germany

·      And Gail Nickless reviews By Any Other Name, a novel by Jodi Picoult based on the premise that a woman from the Bassano family of recorder makers and players could have written Shakespeare’s plays.

The Members’ Library Edition is lumin.essence by Annette Bauer

The MLE for the Spring edition of the American Recorder is a hypnotic ostinato rhythm sets the stage for a shared meditative dialogue. Separate parts and play-along recordings with one part missing are available for ARS members.

Click here for the music and recordings

If You Receive a Suspicious Email from Someone Claiming to be from the ARS - It's NOT US!

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.

March is Play-the-Recorder Month

2025 marks 33 years of celebrating Play-the-Recorder Month! Many ARS chapters, consorts, and recorder orchestras create ways to illustrate the versatility and beauty of our wonderful instrument.

Saturday, March 15, 2025 is Play-the-Recorder Day. The ARS will release a special video featuring the composer of our PtRM composition Harvey Stokes being interviewed by ARS Board Member Eric Haas, as well as including a play-along opportunity. You can listen to Stokes' Flight Games, the 2025 PtRM composition below.

Click here for more information on the music and PtRM.

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 you. The ARS's Recorder Relay will be held on Friday, June 13th from 10AM-12PM and celebrates the recorder community with terrific performances that is free to attend and open for you to perform in. If you or your group would like to play in the Recorder Relay, please apply here.

In addition, the ARS will co-sponsor the BEMF Beyond Borders Concert on Sunday, June 15th at 10 AM. There is also a Recorder Masterclass taught by the Boreas Quartett Bremen on Saturday, June 14th; and the wonderful BEMF Exhibition with many fine recorders and other instruments for the trying and buying! The ARS will also have a table at the exhibit.

Click to Read More

Voices of Music releases videos of their 2024 Berkeley Festival performances

Voices of Music, led by Music Directors Hanneke van Proosdij (recorders and keyboard) and David Taylor (plucked strings), is the most popular early music ensemble in America thanks to their stellar videos of their top-rate performances. They recently released videos of their performances this past June 2024 at SFEMS' Berkeley Festival and Exhibition. Visit the VOM YouTube site for all of their videos, or listen to Handel's Il volo così fido featuring Amanda Forsythe, soprano, and Hanneke van Proosdij, recorder, from June 2024.

ARS Chapter Representative Roundtable Dates for first half of 2025

The ARS Chapter Roundtable is back for 2025! Gather on Zoom with Phil Hollar and have a chat with your fellow leaders about what's happening in your chapter.

This year we are alternating the quarterly meetings between Saturdays and Sundays so that every rep has the opportunity to attend at least once or twice. The dates are on the ARS homepage Events Calendar. All times are 2:00pm - 3:30pm Eastern time.

·      March 1, 2025

·      June 1, 2025

 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.

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!)

Upcoming Recorder Events

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

ARS Beginners' Class for Alto Recorder

with Lisette Kielson

Learn to play the alto recorder in this 4-part introductory course starting on March 5th, 2025. Professional recorder player/teacher Lisette Kielson will guide you in playing with beautiful tone, expressive articulation, and various rhythms. If you have never played recorder before, or if it has been years since you last played, this is the course for you!

Dates:

March 5th, 8th, 12th, and 15th at 12 PM (noon), ET

Beginners Classes are free and open to everyone.

For more information and to register, click HERE.

ARS Beginners' Class for Soprano/Tenor Recorder

with Cornell Kinderknecht

Learn to play the soprano or tenor recorder in the next series for C instruments with professional recorder player/teacher Cornell Kinderknecht. Whether you are learning from scratch or a need a refresher, Cornell will guide you in establishing a foundation of good recorder technique!

Dates:

Tuesdays, Mar 18, Mar 25, Apr 1, and Apr 8 at 8 PM, ET.

Beginners Classes are free and open to everyone.

**Registration will be available very soon, so check our website for updates.

ARS 2nd-Level Class for Sop/Ten Recorder

with Annette Bauer

Only a few spots left! Continue your soprano/tenor recorder studies with Annette Bauer. This course is a straight continuation of the four-week beginners' course offered in January, but that course is not a pre-requisite for taking this course. Review and expand upon foundational concepts of recorder technique and further develop technical skills. 

March 18th, 25th, April 1st, April 8th, at 12 PM (noon), ET

2nd-Level classes are free but only available to ARS members.

For more information and to register, click HERE.

Virtual Events

Multiple Class Offerings

with Anne Timberlake

1) Wednesday Webinar: Divide and Conquer - A Diminution Primer

Wed, March 12 at 8 PM, ET

Diminution is an age-old practice that lets us take simple melodies and elaborate upon them. This live, 1-hour Zoom webinar will introduce the 5 key building blocks of diminution and discuss how to combine them.

Fee: $20

2) Four Weeks to a Better Tone

Tuesdays, Mar 18, 25, April 1 and 8 at 4:30 PM, ET

Tone is the heart and soul of the recorder, yet we seldom set aside time to focus on it. This short course will demystify the ingredients of good tone, addressing specific issues as they arise within the group.

Fee: $98 for all 4 sessions

Click Here to Register for either/both courses.

North American Virtual Recorder Society presents their March Playing Meeting

with Sarah Jeffery

When: Saturday, March 22, 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.

Early Music by Female Composers: During our time together, we will meet and explore the madrigals of Maddalena Casulana, the sacred works of Vittoria Aleotti, the songs of Francesca Caccini, the cantatas of Rose Giacinta Badalla, and the polyphonic magic of Leonora Duarte. And there is so much more to discover! Bring your recorders and join in as we enjoy playing this wonderful repertoire together.

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

Amherst Early Music Online Courses

for March 1-2 and April 5-6, 2025

1) Fair Firenze - Exploring the Greatest Hits of Late Medieval Florence with Karen Cook. Class is designed for recorder players.

Sat, March 1 at 1 PM, ET

2) Music Appreciation - The Joy of Listening with Frances Blaker. Class is open for all musicians.

Sun, March 2 at 3 PM, ET

3) 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

4) 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.

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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