The Sacramento Recorder Society A place for early music of all kinds in Sacramento

Letter From The PresidentLetter From The PresidentLetter From The PresidentLetter From The President

Dear Recorder Society Members,

I recently purchased Frances Blaker’s Opening Measures: A Compen-dium of Practice Techniques. It is a gath-ering of her articles from American Re-corder magazine over two decades. The articles are on a wide variety of topics: proper ensemble etiquette; playing large recorders; combating cold hands; stage fright; how to rate yourself as a player; and vibrato-yes or no? These are just a few of the many topics covered by Open-ing Measures.

I’m immediately struck by the au-thor’s breadth of knowledge about re-corder playing – and music in general. In addition to the advice from Frances, we also get Vicki Boeckman and David Bel-lugi on achieving fast fingers. It’s a com-pendium to be kept at hand. It will help players to deal with many types of musical

A chapter of the American Recorder Society An affiliate of the San Francisco Early Music Society

April 2015 For more information about the Sacramento Recorder Society, visit our website

at www.sacrecorders.org or our blog at http://sacrecorders.wordpress.com/

April Meeting

6:45pm Tuesday, April 7, 2015

at the Friends Meeting House 890 57th Street

between J St. and H St.

challenges. It is available from www.americanrecorder.org for $25. I rec-ommend this book! Looking forward to seeing you on April 7, when we will be conducted by an-other Frances, Frances Feldon, who brings her own breadth of musical skill and experi-ence to share with us. Until April 7th, Robert Foster, SRS President

Have you signed up for workshops

you plan to attend this summer?

The SFEMS workshops in particular fill

up very quickly.

Lots of good choices are listed in this

newsletter!

2014201420142014----2015 Chapter Meeting Conductors2015 Chapter Meeting Conductors2015 Chapter Meeting Conductors2015 Chapter Meeting Conductors

April 7, 2015: Frances Feldon

May 5, 2015: Shira Kamen

June 2, 2015: June Potluck, Play-In, Annual Business Meeting

August 4, 2015: Informal End-of-Summer Get Together

Our Conductor: Frances FeldonOur Conductor: Frances FeldonOur Conductor: Frances FeldonOur Conductor: Frances Feldon

Frances Feldon is quite sure she was a troubadour in a former life; in her present existence, she performs on baroque flute and recorder, and is a conductor, educator, and arranger. She has performed with American Bach Soloists, California Bach Society, So-noma Bach, Ensemble Mirabile, and in con-junction with the Berkeley Early Music Fes-tival. Ms Feldon was a recipient of the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology recorder resi-dency. She is music director of the baroque/contemporary chamber music ensemble Flauti Diversi, and principal conductor of The Barbary Coast Recorder Orchestra. She teaches recorder and baroque flute privately, at the Albany (CA) Adult School, is a regular conductor and faculty member at recorder workshops throughout North America, and has also taught at UC Davis, Indiana Univer-sity and The Greenwood School in Mill Val-ley, CA. She directed the San Francisco Early Music Society's Recorder Workshop

for nearly twenty years. Ms Feldon conducted her recorder or-chestra arrangements of Gershwin and El-lington classics at the international recorder festival "Les Journées de la Flute à Bec" (Montreal) and again at the Interna-tional Congress of Recorder Orchestras (Holland). She writes about jazz and pop re-corder players for American Recorder. Dr. Feldon received a Doctor of Music in collegium directing at Indiana University’s Early Music Institute with a thesis on musi-cal rhetoric and vibrato in France from 1675 - 1725. Ms Feldon's recording of Boismor-tier’s complete Opus 37 trio sonatas for ba-roque flute, viola da gamba, and chamber or-gan is about to be released. She is currently having a blast study-ing with jazz composer/saxophonist Kasey Knudsen and studying Arabic music with qanun player Sarah Michaels. Look for her concert on Apr 24 at Trinity Chapel in down-town Berkeley, presenting the nearly com-plete Op 51 (1734) duo sonatas of Joseph Bodin de Boismortier for baroque flute and violin with violinist David Wilson. Note: Charming caricature portrait by Bob Dawson!

A Note from Our ConductorA Note from Our ConductorA Note from Our ConductorA Note from Our Conductor

The SRS April chapter meeting will be an appreciation of the element water, which is in such short supply in California during these days of drought. We will enjoy selec-tions from Handel's beloved Water Musick, composed for a barge party on the River Thames. Lesser known, but just as compel-ling, is GP Telemann's musical depiction of water deities and rushing tides in the music from his Hamburger Ebb und Fluth. Finally, we will also thrill to an exciting musical storm from the Tempest scene of Marin Marais’ tragedy Alcyone. Please bring bring basses if you have them.

Spring Early Music ConcertsSpring Early Music ConcertsSpring Early Music ConcertsSpring Early Music Concerts

Ensemble Mirabile with Dan Laurin La Primavera: The Spring of the Italian

Baroque

Friday, April 10: First Lutheran Church, Palo Alto, 8:00pm Saturday, April 11: St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, 7:30pm Sunday, April 12: St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 4:00pm Information: www.sfems.org

Frances Feldon and David Wilson

Bienheureux Boismortier

Duos for baroque flute and violin by Joseph Bodin de Boismortiers

Friday, April 24: Trinity Chapel, Berkeley, 7:30 pm Information: franfel@aol.com

The Tallis Scholars Josquin, Byrd, Muhly, Part

Friday/Saturday, April 10 and 11: First Congregational Church, Berkeley, 8:00 Information: www.calperformances.org

Les Arts Florissants

William Christie, director Airs Serieux et a Boire

Friday, May 1: First Congregational Church, Berkeley, 8:00pm Information: www.calperformances.org

Baroque and Beyond "Mostly Madrigals: An Age of Refined Mu-

sical Pleasures"

Kathryn Canan, Isabelle Henry, Robin Houston, Miriam Morris, and Mark Schiffer will collaborate with the Vocal Arts Ensem-ble of Davis. Friday May 1: Trinity Episcopal Church, Sacramento, 7:30 p.m. Saturday May 2: Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, Davis,7:30 p.m. Sunday May 3: Davis United Methodist Church, Davis, 4:00 p.m.

Information: www.vae.trug.com

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Chamber Ensemble

Friday, May 8: Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, Davis, 8:00pm Information: www.mondaviarts.org

For Early Music Concert InformationFor Early Music Concert InformationFor Early Music Concert InformationFor Early Music Concert Information

Check the websites listed below: • San Francisco Early Music Society: www.sfems.org • UC Berkeley’s CalPerformances: www.calperfs.berkeley.edu • UC Davis: www.mondaviarts.org • Voices of Music: www.voicesofmusic.org

Seven Hills Middle School’s Medieval Feast (see Recorders Out and About on the next page)

website, but now she can post by email from her smart phone if she needs to. She can easily authorize others to post as well, and anyone can add more information by commenting on the posts. You can check the blog for new in-formation any time, or you can subscribe to it by entering your email in the “Follow” field. Information that rarely changes is also on the blog. Click on the tabs at the top: About SRS, Calendar, Contact, and Lessons. If you want to see information about only one category, such as Work-shops, you can use that menu.

Listening to Early MusicListening to Early MusicListening to Early MusicListening to Early Music

Here are some possibilities:

• Sunday Baroque, which airs from 8am to 10am on 88.9 FM, KXPR.

• Harmonia provides podcasts at its web-site: indianapublicmedia.org/harmonia

• The Chicago Early Music website pro-vides access to many early music re-sources. Go to earlymusicchicago.org, then click on “ensembles,” then click on “beyond”

• Magnatune.com allows you to listen to music free and pay when you choose to download, or you can subscribe for $15/month for unlimited downloads

• Millennium of Music: "The sources and mainstreams of European music from the thousand years before the birth of Bach."

http://www.millenniumofmusic.com • recorder-radio.com streams a variety of

recorder music 24 hours a day • Also available online: Baroque Around

the Clock (a variety of Baroque music, no announcer) and Concertzender Oude Muziek (all early music, there’s an an-nouncer every so often who is speaking Dutch). You can find these stations us-ing Tune In Radio.

Recorders Out and AboutRecorders Out and AboutRecorders Out and AboutRecorders Out and About

Wednesday, March 4: Baroque and Beyond presented a concert at Westminster Presbyte-rian Church . SRS members Mark Schiffer, Kathryn Canan and Alex Ives were joined by Ashley Hill, violin, Thomas Adkins, cello, and Robin Houston, recorder and baroque oboe. Friday, March 6: Sine Nomine provided music for the Country Day School Renais-sance Faire and played with and to the fourth grade recorder students. The time they spent with the students this year was especially en-joyable! Wednesday, March 18: Kathryn Canan and John Pronko played with Nevada City Re-corder Society members at the 25th Anniver-sary of the Medieval Feast at the Miners Foundry, Nevada City. This was a benefit for enrichment programs at Seven Hills Mid-dle School. Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22: Kathryn Canan, Mark Schiffer, and Elvyn Blair taught sessions at the Renaissance Symposium in Folsom. This annual gather-ing provides classes for Renaissance Faire participants. It is an opportunity for us to teach about the authentic music repertoire we play at the court and give beginning recorder lessons to adults already interested in Renais-sance history.

Refreshments at Monthly MeetingsRefreshments at Monthly MeetingsRefreshments at Monthly MeetingsRefreshments at Monthly Meetings Every month we take a break to chat and munch the delicious treats provided by some of our members. In March, we enjoyed goodies provided by our own SRS president, Robert Foster.

Check Out the Blog!Check Out the Blog!Check Out the Blog!Check Out the Blog! www.sacrecorders.org still works, but Kathy Canan has reduced it to a single page with basic introduction and a link to the blog. The new blog at http://sacrecorders.wordpress.com/ has all the information that Kathy kept on the

The South Bay Recorder Society Presents a Spring Workshop:

MACROMUSIC Directed by Glen Shannon Saturday, March 28th, 2015;

9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

First Congregational Church in San Jose

This workshop will focus on being part of a sound greater than our individual selves, while enjoying some excellent contemporary repertoire out of Germany, Eng-land, and the US. For information, contact Liz Brownell at (650) 223-7139 or visit their website at: http://sfems.org/sbrs

San Francisco Early Music Society’s Medieval & Renaissance Workshop Collegium:

All vol, all vol! Directed by Adam Gilbert

Saturday, April 25th

9:30AM to 4:00 PM

Hillside Community Church, El Cerrito This workshop will focus on German songs and devotional music from the Glo-gauer Liederbuch (ca. 1480), including songs by Ludwig Senfl, both moral and comic. Information: www.sfems.org

Note: Rescheduled!!

See new dates!!

A Musical Smorgasbord

A workshop for instrumentalists and singers

Choose from many tasty musical styles & flavors!

with Shira Kamen, vielle Tish Berlin, recorder

Peter Maund, percussion Saturday, May 2, 10:00am-5:00pm

Sunday, May 3, 1:30pm-5:00pm

Arlington Community Church, Kensington

Information: tishberlin@sbcglobal.net and on the SRS blog: http://sacrecorders.wordpress.com/

Marin Headlands Recorder WorkshopMarin Headlands Recorder WorkshopMarin Headlands Recorder WorkshopMarin Headlands Recorder Workshop

May 15 - 17, 2015

The workshop will be held at the YMCA near Point Bonita, California. Beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Pacific Ocean, and San Francisco. Levels of playing in-clude beginning to advanced. Faculty includes: Tish Berlin, Tom Bickley, Louise Carslake, Frances Feldon, Adam Gilbert, Rotem Gilbert, Peter Maund, and David Morris. For more information contact: Headlandspw1234@gmail.com

Rocky XIRocky XIRocky XIRocky XI Springtime in the Rockies WorkshopSpringtime in the Rockies WorkshopSpringtime in the Rockies WorkshopSpringtime in the Rockies Workshop

May 15-17

YMCA of the Rockies, Estes, Colorado

The eleventh episode of the Denver Recorder Society’s biennial workshop, known as “Rocky,” runs from Friday afternoon to Sunday noon, and features a variety of offerings taught by an outstanding faculty. The workshop is divided into three daytime sessions: Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning. Three classes are offered during each timeframe. In ad-dition there will be a “Big Bash” group play along led by one of the faculty members on Friday and Saturday evenings. Information: website: http://www.denverrecordersociety.org/rockyxinew.htm.

The Port Townsend Early Music WorkshopThe Port Townsend Early Music WorkshopThe Port Townsend Early Music WorkshopThe Port Townsend Early Music Workshop July 5-11, 2015

Tacoma, Washington Classes in technique and consort playing for recorders, viols, and “buzzies.” Topics from Medieval music to Baroque ornamentation to jazz improvisation and traditional music from the Balkans and Armenia. Registration is now open!! Information: www.seattle-recorders.org/workshop

Register Now! Workshops fill up fast!!

San Francisco Early Music Society Summer WorkshopsSan Francisco Early Music Society Summer WorkshopsSan Francisco Early Music Society Summer WorkshopsSan Francisco Early Music Society Summer Workshops

Medieval and Renaissance Workshop

“Councils and Heretics”

St. Albert’s Priory, Oakland June 28, 2015-July 4, 2015 Director: Adam Gilbert From the lowest and bawdiest to the highest devotional song, all will be fair game. So dust off your Books of Hours, bring out your torches, and help us set fire to some exciting music, both sacred and secular!

Classical Workshop

“Quartets and More”

July 5-11, 2015

St. Albert’s Priory, Oakland, CA Directors: Kati Kyme and William Skeen

Explore string chamber music of the Classical era. Morn-ing and afternoon coaching sessions are followed each eve-ning by informal performances of the day’s repertoire.

Baroque Workshop

“Fertile Ground-Lutheran Music from Michael

Praetorius to J. S. Bach”

June 21-27, 2015 Dominican University, San Rafael

Director: Linda Pearse Sacred concertos and cantatas, as well as instrumental works for small chamber ensemble, will figure prominently throughout the week of music–making.

Recorder Workshops

Week 1 (July 12-18): “Villain et Courtois: Music for Kings, Queens, and Peasants”

Directors: Rotem Gilbert, Hanneke van Proosdij Week 2 (July 19-25): “Metamorphoses” Directors: Rotem Gilbert,Hanneke van Proosdij

St. Albert’s Priory, Oakland, CA

Workshops feature small class sizes and an international faculty and they are designed for intermediate to advanced recorder players . Each week concludes with a spectacular performance of all workshop participants in the Recorder Orchestra at St. Albert’s beautiful chapel. More information: www.sfems.org

About the Sacramento Recorder About the Sacramento Recorder About the Sacramento Recorder About the Sacramento Recorder SocietySocietySocietySociety

The Sacramento Recorder Society, founded in 1982, is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. It is a chapter of the American Recorder Society and an affili-ate of the San Francisco Early Music Soci-ety. We welcome recorder players of all ages and abilities as well as players of other early music instruments such as lutes, viols, sackbuts, shawms, curtals, krummhorns, and percussion. Beginners are urged to study privately and learn fin-gerings and become comfortable reading music before joining the recorder orches-tra. We meet monthly from September through June, from 6:45pm to 9:30pm on the first Tuesday of each month, at the Friends Meeting House, 890 57th Street, between J St. and H St. Most of our meet-ings are conducted by a professional early music specialist who teaches recorder technique and relevant music history and theory while exploring music of many eras. Many of our members also play in smaller groups in members’ homes during the rest of the month.

Sacramento Recorder Society BoardSacramento Recorder Society BoardSacramento Recorder Society BoardSacramento Recorder Society Board 2014201420142014----2015201520152015

President: Robert Foster Vice President: Mark Schiffer Secretary: Patricia Johnson Treasurer: Doris Loughner Members-at-Large: Steve Sherman, Gail Crawford, Susan Titus Education Chairperson: Crystal Olson For information on SRS, please contact

the following board members by email: rfoster@europe.com or marschif@gmail.com

Consider joining one of the larger Consider joining one of the larger Consider joining one of the larger Consider joining one of the larger organizations which make our own SRS organizations which make our own SRS organizations which make our own SRS organizations which make our own SRS

possible: possible: possible: possible: The San Francisco Early Music So-ciety, with whom we are affiliated, offers excellent workshops and concerts in the Bay Area. Their website: www.sfems.org American Recorder Society, of which we are a chapter, is the national or-ganization which promotes recorders. Their website: www.americanrecorder.org

Take lessons from a recorder expert!Take lessons from a recorder expert!Take lessons from a recorder expert!Take lessons from a recorder expert!

Sacramento area: Kathryn Canan is available for re-corder lessons or ensemble coaching. Con-tact her at 916-723-2409 or kacanan@yahoo.com.

Bay Area (or willing to come to Sacra-

mento, if there’s enough interest):

Greta Haug-Hryciw, SRS member and conductor, would love to give lessons before chapter meetings. Contact Greta at (415) 377-4444 or at gr8asf@gmail.com Frances Feldon, conductor of the Barbary Coast Recorder orchestra and mu-sic director of the ensemble Flauti Diversi, is available for lessons. She can be con-tacted at franfeldon@gmail.com Judy Linsenberg, the director of the Baroque ensemble Musica Pacifica, holds a doctorate in early music from Stan-ford, and has extensive recorder teaching experience. She may be contacted by phone at 510-444-4113. More information about teachers is on

our blog: http://sacrecorders.wordpress.com/