January 21, 2021
Vaccinations against CoViD-19 are gradually becomming available, but there remains continued uncertainty about when we might finally be able to meet in person, so we are carrying on with meeting online via Zoom for our monthly chapter meetings. Although not ideal, we have been having great experiences with teachers presenting and directing engaging and beautiful music, and are so grateful for the technology to "be together" in this virtual way. An unexpected benefit of these online meetings has been the growth of the chapter, and we now have 47 members on the roster! We have also been able to hire teachers from out of the area when our local teachers are unavailable, such as Anne Timberlake (St. Louis, MO), Vicki Boeckman (Seattle, WA), Alexa Haynes-Pilon (Washington, D.C.), John Tyson and Miyuki Tsurutani (Cambridge, MA), and Malachai Komanoff Bandy (Los Angeles, CA). We are very happy to contribute to the continued employment of our recorder professionals.
In keeping with the current norm, we will be holding the February, 2021 meeting online. If you are not an SFRS or SRS member, please contact me and I will add you to our mailing list and be invited to our virtual chapter meetings.
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SFRS 2021 PRESIDENTS DAY WORKSHOP POSTPONED .
** NEW DATE ** April 25, 2021 .
Although we had hoped to hold our annual workshop on Presidents Day, 2021, it has been decided to postpone the date to Sunday, April 25 due to timing concerns. Our wonderful conductors, Rotem Gilbert and Hanneke van Proosdij are developing a program they call Confluence and as of this writing it will feature a variety of music by Binchois, Machaut, Magister Egidus, Landini, Purcell, Schop and Thorn.
The workshop will be open to recorders, singers, viols, flutes, harps, and other "soft" recorder-friendly instruments... although since we'll all be muted, any instruments would be welcome, really! Our format will will be to start with "breakout" sessions for intermediate and advanced players with each conductor. Participants may self-select which group they prefer to be in and are allowed to switch if they wish. After a break, there will be a "tutti" session. Registrants may choose to participate for all sessions, or a half workshop (either the breakout groups OR the tutti session. More information will be posted here as it becomes available.
We have really been enjoying our partnership with the Sacramento Recorder Society (SRS) during this period of distanced participarticipation. To help cover the fees for our conductors, we ask a small, voluntary fee from non-members. Preparing materials for online teaching requires considerably more time and labor than in-person meetings, and these teachers need to be compensated fairly. We also want to support our professionals now more than ever due to lost revenue they are experiencing during CoViD-19 with no live engagements.
Hopefully you are all connected - albeit remotely - to music and friends via the Internet. The online meeting platforms such as Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, and others, have become very important as a way to stay in touch. And of course, we can spend more time practicing! If you haven't read it yet, an excellent article and perspective by recorder professional Anne Timberlake, read her blog post titled "Recorder in the time of COVID-19". She also helped to author the latest ARSNova article about online lessons (for both teachers and students), which you can find HERE.
To all: Keep informed, use trustworthy sources, and follow the guidelines. We hope this will all settle down enough for us to meet again in person. We will continue to update you and offer news or tips when possible.
Let's all do our best stay well and keep playing.
Greta Haug-Hryciw
President, San Francisco Recorder Society
American Recorder Society Board of Directors
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