Message from the President
Welcome to the 139th season of the Chopin Club!
With such a fine team assembled on our board of directors, my job as your president becomes relatively easy so I have agreed to continue for a longer term. So first and foremost I want to extend a big thank you to the board members who volunteer in order to make possible the fine musicales that we are fortunate to be able to present!
Next I’d like to welcome new members Julia Lovett on piano, Val Korennoy playing cello, Theodore Mook, also a cellist, and Anessa Petteruti, pianist. Anessa comes to us from the Chopin Student Musicians where she served as president this past year. We plan to recruit her for the regular board this fall.
Congratulations to our two scholarship recipients this year (and thanks to the scholarship committee for their dedicated hard work)! Abigail Siegel will be attending Brown University next year. Ethan Hobson will be attending Boston University. We wish them both all the best of luck!
Speaking of the scholarship committee… We have been entrusted to choose beneficiaries of several significant sums of money as scholarship recipients each year. This aspect of the operations of the club turns out to be one of the more significant, along with presentation of the musicales. Thanks to Karen Dingley for offering to take over as chair of the scholarship committee, and thanks to Matt Knippel for offering to serve on that committee. Thanks to Manabu Takasawa for a fine job as the lead most recently.
Manabu was joined by his colleague Kristen Stoner as the two performed for the president’s day musicale this past May as Duo Anno 1647. The program was a wonderful success. World class interpretations of works by living composers Paul Richards and Eric Ewazen opened a very interesting afternoon of music. After intermission we were enthralled by music of Marguerite Canal. Thanks once again to Mr. Takasawa and Ms. Stoner for such an exceptional afternoon of very intriguing music!
Finally, you might have noticed two large pianos gracing the Music Mansion stage. The presence of both pianos can lead to challenges for ensembles of musicians as well as impact the visual presentation for audience members. Acoustic and other considerations come into play as well, leading us to search for a better solution to piano placement. We are considering installing casters that would make both pianos considerably more mobile, and, it is hoped, make available more ideal performance circumstances. Stay tuned!
Enjoy the music!
John Simpson
President and Director
