WCMW: Why We Do What We Do

Image Credit: Nicholas Garofalo

I feel so fortunate for the opportunity to create, build, and dream up new ideas and bring them to fruition.  Steve and I truly love what we do and I’m so grateful for that.  When it comes to the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop (we’re halfway through our second season now!), many have asked how we got started and why all of our events are free to the public.  Together, Steve and I wrote a response on the WCMW blog last week and I thought I’d share some of our thoughts here, as well.  Since this is a joint post, Steve’s comments will be in blue.  Here we go!

We started the WCMW in 2011 (really, the fall of 2010) as a way to bring excellent musical experiences to Westminster and the surrounding communities.  Soon after relocating to Westminster, we realized there was a need for concerts right here for anyone and everyone that wanted to experience them.

Our original plan for the WCMW included a parallel track for singers and instrumentalists in the area who wanted to experience chamber music first-hand.  As such, our first season (June 20-25, 2011) featured a 16-person chamber choir, which rehearsed all week and performed our final concert.  We also organized six special events for the community, ranging from a voice and piano recital to a trombone duo to an interactive game of musical memory.

We knew from the beginning that we wanted all of our events to be free and open to the public – not because we think music should be free and not because the people we had coming in were willing to perform or teach for free.  Rather, because we wanted these musical experiences to be ACCESSIBLE to everyone, regardless of age, status, or ability to pay.  Through the generous support of cultural council grants, local businesses, individuals, and a special grant through Fitchburg State University, we raised enough money to cover our administrative costs (printing, marketing, website, music, etc.) and pay our faculty and guest artists (six total).

People ask us all the time why we don’t charge “a little something” or put out a donation plate.  Without expounding on this issue of whether free products/services devalue them (which is widely debated), let me say this – if one person attends an event of ours who wouldn’t have been able to pay admission, and what we do sparks an interest in them, moves them, makes an impact on them, then we have done our job.  That person will go out and explore music, share it with others, spend money in the musical economy, and more.

This year, we adjusted the model to include four larger-scale concerts featuring ten excellent musicians.  Our second season includes a different concert every weekend in May: a fiery jazz trio, our first-ever community sing, a dynamic saxophone quartet, and a classical string duo.  Once again, each and every event is completely FREE to those who want to come.  Yes, we’ve gotten some quizzical looks but we stand behind these words:

The mission of the WCMW is to provide opportunities for community members of all ages to come together and experience great music.

Once more, through the generosity and support of many friends, local businesses, and cultural councils, we are able to cover our costs and pay the musicians who are traveling in to present these concerts.  Those who attend will get to experience this great music, free of charge, with the hope that they’ll go out and support music somewhere else in the greater community.  It’s a gift that keeps on giving!  As they say, pay it forward!

In conclusion, get out there!  Perform more, attend concerts, be a good listener, support the arts, try new things, build relationships, create opportunities, and make music happen!

Ashley & Steve

See more: WCMW: Behind the Scenes Webinar: Making Concerts Happen Anywhere 2012 WCMW Schedule of Events

Things That Fire Me Up

Earlier this week, I read this post and was inspired to take the time to make my own list.  Truthfully, if you ask Steve, he’d tell you that there are lots of things that fire me up – I have fire in blood (I am from the south, after all).  However, identifying the things that truly fill me up, satisfy me, and fire me up to do more and be more required a little bit of thought.  What a powerful exercise for setting priorities and recognizing what is most important!  For me, it comes down to worship, time with SD, music (building + making), writing, and clean designs for home and work.  This is my heart, the things that matter most of all.  This is why I do what I do.

What fires you up?  Where is your authentic core?  Download your own Fired Up List right here.

So Good

"Be so good they can't ignore you." - Steve Martin This is the kind of reminder I needed this morning.

Right now, I’m sitting at home with my cup of hot chocolate/coffee with seven different tabs open in Firefox and I admit that I just spent the last 30 minutes jumping from one thing to another: posting, saving files, responding to emails, proofing, downloading, linking, etc.  Then, I read this quote (again).  Be so good they can’t ignore you.  Be that good.  Is the work I did in the last half an hour really that good?  It didn’t have my full attention.  It wasn’t that careful.  It was reactionary rather than thoughtful.

Let’s reset.

1. Choose the things that are most important for today. 2. Structure the day so that each task gets your full attention. 3. Eliminate distractions. 4. Do your best work.

Be that good.

Leap

It’s the last day of my spring semester classes and I could not be more grateful!  This semester has stretched me farther than I thought possible and molded me into a different teacher than I was when I started.  Here’s my semester, at a glance: 45 students 330 PowerPoint Slides 89 pages of notes (single-spaced) 28 lesson plans 15 Quizzes 7 Group Project Assignments 2 Paper Assignments (5-page, 10-page) 4 Playing Quizzes (4 tracks each) 12 Piano Juries

Can you believe it’s been two years since I started as an adjunct?  There have been moments where I felt I was in over my head, teaching classes I didn’t feel qualified to teach, and drawing connections between content I had only learned myself through my lesson planning.  But, I knew the challenges would be worth it.  I knew overcoming those fears was necessary and important to my future success.  I knew I had to say “yes” to these new opportunities even though my head (and all sensibility) said “no.”  I knew I had to leap – and trust that I could build my wings on the way down.

What have I learned through the process?  I’ve learned that some students really love learning and soak up everything you say like a sponge.  I’ve also learned that some students struggle with the demands and responsibilities of college – enough to lie multiple times about a missing assignment.  I’ve learned that some students have never been asked to write a research paper before and don’t know where the line of plagiarism falls.  And I’ve learned that some students care enough about their final papers that they look up the archives of a Russian newspaper to find a review of a musical premiere – even though they don’t read Russian.  I’ve learned that accessible teaching means connecting to things they know – like showing the Family Guy Remix of Steve Reich’s tape phasing experiment, “It’s Gonna Rain.”

What’s holding you back?  Is it fear that keeps you from doing and being your best?  Define it, acknowledge it, and then set it aside.  Who’s stopping you?  Are you stopping yourself?  Is your head telling you you can’t, you’re not good enough, you’ll fail?  Identify whatever it is that disables you and move on.  Take that leap and learn how to fly.

Planning a Concert Reception

What a busy weekend we had! 

Saturday marked our first WCMW concert of the season and we had a great time with the Samirah Evans Jazz Trio!  Steve and I decided to put together a brief reception after each concert this year so I've been collecting inspiration for a few weeks now.  We knew we needed food that was crowd-friendly, easy to prepare and serve, and kept the flow of traffic moving.  Mini food seemed like the perfect option and the presentation is just too cute!

Being that Saturday was Cinco de Mayo, we fixed individual portions of Mexican layer dip topped with tortilla chips and served cups of chilled limeade.  Delicious and it was quite the hit!

Sneak peek!  We'll be making these Caprese Salad bites in a few weeks - mozzarella cheese, cherry/grape tomatoes, and basil leaves.  I love them!

WCMW: Behind the Scenes

Goodness!  There’s just one more day until our first WCMW concert of the season and we are beside ourselves with excitement!  I thought it might be fun to give you a little behind-the-scenes glimpse of our preparations for tomorrow’s event and our 2012 season.  Hope you enjoy!

Wednesday night: Steve and I did our final round of edits on the program book and did a once-over proofing to make sure everything was set to go for our first round of printing Thursday morning.  After several hours of tweaking, converting, saving, and sharing between computers (madness, at times), we finally ended up with a final copy of the file… at 12:45 a.m.  Phew!

First thing Thursday morning, Steve was at Staple’s to pick up some extra paper and I was on my way out the door to get started on the copying.  This year’s program book is a grand 36 pages (9 sheets, front and back)!

Things never go exactly as planned, of course.  After many frustrating encounters with a botched file (and a trip home to fix it), paper jams, chewed up glossy (expensive!) paper, and roller marks, we finally got everything sorted out.  We spent a total of 3.5 hours sending one page at a time to the copier (Steve’s job) and feeding a few pages at a time (one side at a time) into the copier (my job) but we have 100 beautiful program books to show for it!  I count that as a success!

Today's job is collating and stapling.  So looking forward to handing these out on Saturday night at our jazz event!

About the WCMW: Based in the beautiful north-central region of Massachusetts, this summer chamber music series offers an assortment of dynamic concerts and special events presented by renowned guest artists from the regional area.  Founded in 2011, the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop exists to provide opportunities for community members of all ages to come together and experience great music.  With the support of generous grants, sponsors, and donors, all of our events are free and open to the public.

May: Getting Organized

For me, the beginning of the month is usually a good time to evaluate my priorities and make a plan for action.  So without further ado, here's what's going on in May:

WCMW

Four concerts, ten guest artists, four weeks.  Steve and I are so excited about this year's series of events - everything kicks off this Saturday night!  Of course, being that it's Thursday, we're still madly working through our to-do list. 

Program books are being printed this morning, concert reception food will be prepped Saturday morning, and we'll welcome our first guest artists (coming down from Brattleboro) Saturday afternoon! 

Join us for an evening of sultry, fiery jazz tunes if you're in the neighborhood, and stay tuned for updates on the blog throughout the month!

Finals

This has been one long semester. I may be more excited about finals than my students! 

For my lecture class (28 students), the final is a 10-page paper (I know, what was I thinking?).  For my class piano students (13 between two sections), the final is a jury demonstrating major scales, solo repertoire, accompanying repertoire, harmonization, transposition, and improvisation. 

As of today, there are just two more teaching days and juries left to go!  Come on, summer!

Concert/Recital Preparation

This weekend, I'm organizing a student recital for the community music lesson program at Fitchburg State University.  That will mark the end of the term for the six private students I've had this spring. 

Next month, Steve and I are planning a joint recital for our teaching studios in Westminster which means our lessons this month are focused on choosing repertoire, polishing, and preparing for performance.

The Sanctuary Choir (my adult choir at church, pictured above) will be presenting a Sunday afternoon program of music early next month.  Last month, I chose the repertoire and we spent part of one rehearsal voting for our favorites.  Now that I have a program of anthems and a narrator on deck, I need to put everything in order and write the narration!

Balance and adventure

The last few months have been crazy. 

In January, I had to let go of planning way ahead and embrace the "sink or float" mentality, taking things one week (and in some cases, one day) at a time. 

That recital in two weeks?  I can't think about that until I've gotten through the recital this week. 

That webinar we're doing next month?  I can't work on that PowerPoint until I'm done with my slides for class next week. 

As hard as this has been for me to get used to it's reconfirmed to me the necessity of balancing my priorities.  The big things on my calendar this spring were all priorities... just not all at the same time.

Additionally, while these things are important, there is something to be said for living a life of adventure.  Things change.  Be open. 

Sometimes, spending the evening talking with SD is more important than finishing that blog post for tomorrow.  Sometimes, Sunday afternoon naps are more important than catching up on emails.  Sometimes, taking time for a walk is more important than grading papers.  Those other things will get done. 

In that moment, choose what matters.  Choose the people you love.  Choose the things that fire you up.  Choose the things that inspire you.  As things wind down this month and next, I want to continue to challenge myself to live a life of balance and adventure.

Previously: April: Getting OrganizedMarch: Getting Organized

Image Credit: Samirah Evans, personal, Steve Collar, personal

Making Music Together

Meet one of my ideal clients: An active career woman in her late 40s, she works as an assistant in the dean’s office at a small, liberal arts college during the week and sometimes on the weekends. She is a definite people person but she enjoys escaping from it all when at home. Her husband travels frequently, leaving her several free evenings a week to read, teach herself to cook, and rearrange the living room. She considers interior design a part-time hobby and brings the several most recent issues of Elle Décor to read on her annual Hilton Head vacation. Her home is decorated with a mix of old and new items – mostly neutrals. She enjoys adding color by the season. She listens to music in the car, during dinner, and on lazy Sunday afternoons. She sings along when she thinks no one’s watching and has always wanted to learn to play the piano. She shops at Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and J. Crew (especially when they have a good sale) and values classic pieces that she can wear from season to season. She enjoys traveling with her husband when work permits it, trying new things, and spending time with friends.

Fortunately enough for me, I have a new student this semester who is very similar to the woman in this description. She is a career woman – committed to lessons, always sharply dressed and very prompt, a great desire to learn, and so very funny! I have such a great time in her lessons each week.

Since she came to me as a beginner, we’ve been working through the first few unites of Keyboard Musician for the Adult Beginner by Frances Clark. We’ve learned about the three primary landmark notes: Middle C, Treble G, and Bass F; we’ve studied intervals up to a fifth; we’ve learned rhythms with quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, and whole notes; we’ve learned to identify tonal and rhythm patterns; and we’ve been working on beginning technic such as tucking the thumbs under, playing with curved fingers, keeping the wrist and arm relaxed, and transferring weight from the outside of the hand to the inside.

This week, we put the book aside.

You see, this student shared with me a few weeks ago that she loves to sing with her 5-year-old granddaughter (especially when they’re in the car). At the end of last week’s lesson, she asked if we could learn a few familiar (simple) songs that she could play and sing with her granddaughter. So sweet! I couldn’t wait for our lesson this week.

We started out with “Old McDonald” and “Farmer in the Dell” – two children’s songs that can be played solely on the black keys (great for beginning pianists). Soon, we were playing “The Itsy, Bitsy Spider,” “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” (also “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and the “ABC Song”) as well. She couldn’t believe that all three of these familiar songs share the same melody! I came up with a quick shorthand method of “notating” these songs without notation so that she could reference them later. She also hopes to teach a few of these songs to her granddaughter. That just blesses my heart!

We had the best time singing, playing, and laughing through this lesson and again I was reminded – this is why I do what I do. The more I teach, the more I realize the importance of connecting with each student, communicating with them, and responding to their individual needs and goals. It’s not about moving at a certain pace. It’s not about getting through a certain unit. It’s not about playing particular repertoire. It is about making music (music was meant to be shared). It is about inspiring creativity (so that this student and her granddaughter can continue learning to play and sing new songs together). It is about instilling a love for music (because that will last a lifetime).

Around the World: The Invitations

This year, I planned an "Around the World" theme for my children's choir (1st-8th grade). As we approach the end of the choir year, I am planning an International Night/end-of-the-year party to celebrate our journey around the world!  Today’s post is all about the invitations. I came across these images from Seven Swans Wedding Stationery a while ago and I held onto them because they were so perfect for this year’s choir theme!  I decided to make postcard invitations for our end-of-the-year party.  I recreated the map and plane trails with the places we’ve been this year, leaving the back free for date/time details, what to bring, etc.

I love this wrap-around label inspired by airmail envelopes.  I modified it a little by creating a smaller size box on the back of the postcard to fill in each child’s name.  I thought it might be best to hand them out in choir rather than mailing them – that way, I can be sure that every child receives one.  Here is what I created:

I love how they turned out!  I can’t wait to see what they look like in print!

Read More: Around the World: The Food Around the World: The Decorations Around the World: The Party

Around the World: The Decorations

This year, I planned an "Around the World" theme for my children's choir (1st-8th grade). As we approach the end of the choir year, I am planning an International Night/end-of-the-year party to celebrate!  Today, I’m sharing my inspiration for the decorations. As a visual aid for the kids during the year, I made an 8.5″x11″ paper flag of each place that we visited, leaving me with 8+ flags to use for decorating at this party!  I like this idea of hanging them behind one of the food tables but I’m also considering stringing them together to make some colorful bunting.

I think a colorful bunting would bring the whole room to life.  Bunting (in some fashion) is a must.

Everyone knows drinking with a straw make your drink way more fun.  How about some striped (color-appropriate!) ones like these?

Lastly, it wouldn’t be a party without some type of favor!  I’m still trying to decide what will be best.  A flag key chain?  A sweet treat?  An iTunes download?  The possibilities are endless!  I've seen mini paper bags made from recycled maps – perfect for giving away a prize at the end of the night!

Read more: Around the World: The Food Around the World: The Invitations Around the World: The Party