East Bay Recorder Society

January 2014 Vol. 17 No. 5

MouthpieceMouthpiece www.eastbayrecorders.org

thethe

January

Monthly Meeting

Is Our

Twelfth Night

Celebration

Saturday,

January 4, 2014

at 2:30 pm

Hillside Community

Church

1422 Navellier,

El Cerrito

Everyone—bring your music

stand, a pencil and your

instruments and best of all

bring your delicious offering

for the potluck dinner that

follows our playing session.

Twelfth Night Conductor

Joyce Johnson-Hamilton

Joyce Johnson-Hamilton is well known as a symphony

conductor, professional trumpet player, and as a specialist

in both the renaissance cornetto and the baroque trumpet.

She recently retired after 31 years as conductor of the

Diablo Symphony Orchestra in Walnut Creek. Over the

years she has been a frequent guest conductor/arranger

and trumpet soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic

Orchestra. Ms. Johnson-Hamilton came to the San

Francisco Bay area in 1968 after winning an audition with

the San Francisco Symphony. She went on to do doctoral

studies in renaissance and baroque music at Stanford

University while playing professionally as a soloist and with

most of the symphony, ballet and opera orchestras in the

Bay Area. Her work as a player of the cornetto and

baroque trumpet has brought opportunities to perform

with early music ensembles all over California,

Washington, Oregon, Vancouver, BC, Washington DC,

Innsbruck, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Spain.

The music we will play for Twelfth Night includes:

Darke - In the Bleak Midwinter for 6 parts, arr. jjh (Joyce Johnson-Hamilton)

Praetorious and J.S. Bach -In dulci jubilo - 2 versions

Brahms - Est ist ein ros entsprungen a4

Sweelink - Angelus ad pastores a6

We Wish You A Merry Christmas - arr. Arthur Warrell/orch. for recorders by jjh

Riu, Riu, Chiu - a medieval carol

Holiday greetings everyone. I hope

you all are able to enjoy the season to

its fullest. The New Year will bring

some wonderful opportunities to play

and to hear recorders. The year begins

with our annual Twelfth Night event,

a playing session and potluck. Twelfth

Night is usually on a Sunday but this

year it will be on Saturday, January 4,

at 2:30 pm at Hillside Community

Church in El Cerrito. Joyce Johnson-

Hamilton will be conducting. Bring your instruments

and delicious offerings for a gratifying opportunity to

play, dine and socialize.

January brings two all day workshops. The San

Francisco Recorder Society will host a workshop on

January 18 and the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra

will host one on January 25. You’ll find details about

these two workshops in the newsletter.

February’s schedule features two wonderful listening

opportunities. Hanneke von Proosdij will present an

eclectic program of medieval to contemporary works at

various Bay Area venues February 13 to February 16.

She will be accompanied by Carla Moore, Elisabeth

Reed, Rodney Gehrke, David Tayler and Peter Maund.

Barefoot Chamber Concerts will host Musica Pacifica

playing concertos by Bach family members on February

27 and 28. Details about these superb performers and

wonderful concerts are in this

newsletter.

March 30 is the date for our

member’s recital where you will have

an opportunity to perform for your

fellow recorderists. Everyone who

participates always has a great time.

It’s also a potluck so we again have

the opportunity to socialize and eat

well. Our Marin Headlands weekend workshop is May

9-11. The final event of the year will be the Early

Music Festival the first week of June where there are

more offerings than any one person can attend. Check

the newsletter for announcements of upcoming

concerts and workshops.

There’s plenty to enjoy, either playing or listening, in

the year to come.

Susan Jaffe

President

Online Gig Book is Here

The East Bay Recorder Society is pleased to

announce the online arrival of its popular Gig

Book. We make this work available to the

recorder community in commemoration of

Eileen Hadidian. It may be used freely for any

non-commercial purpose.

This compilation of accessible music for

amateur ensembles includes duets, trios,

quartets and a quintet drawn from a wide

variety of public domain sources, selected,

edited and arranged by Eileen Hadidian.

Frances Feldon, Richard Geisler and Fred

Palmer also contributed arrangements to the

book. The music comes from different cultural

traditions and time periods, including Medieval,

Renaissance and Baroque, American folk and

spirituals, and Celtic tunes.

History of the Gig Book

The Gig Book evolved out of a desire by East

Bay Recorder Society board members to

promote ensemble playing amongst its

members and to encourage outreach to the

wider community. In 2004, several ensembles

were formed which then played in retirement

homes and skilled nursing centers. We

discussed the difficulties of picking appropriate

music for this specialized audience and also the

logistical difficulties of committing to a date

and then having one of the ensemble members

not able to play at the last minute. Both issues

would resolve if only we had a common set of

appropriate music that all chapter members

could own and learn. We realized the perfect

person to accomplish this was Eileen Hadidian,

founder of Healing Muses. She understood the

repertoire needed to entertain this specialized

audience and also the musical issues innate to

recorder and the chapter’s amateur members.

In 2004-5, EBRS hired Eileen to select and edit

music for the Gig Book. We applied for, and

received, the first-ever ARS chapter grant to

help cover expenses. Every member of the

2005-2006 East Bay Recorder Society received a

free Gig Book. Eileen gave a one-day workshop

on healing music and special considerations for

presenting music to the elderly and/or sick.

The preface of the Gig Book provides useful

advice on topics such as instrumentation,

choosing repertoire, contacting venues, and

how to introduce your group to an audience

which might be either lethargic or agitated. For

example, the first piece played should match the

mood of the audience at that moment and

might have to be switched upon arrival.

Although the Gig Book was specifically created

to be played for an elderly audience by

intermediate players, the music appeals to all

ages. At its annual summer party this year,

EBRS chose to play solely from the Gig Book in

tribute to Eileen. Its focus on “beautiful

melodies, simple harmonies and straightforward

rhythms” led to a musically satisfying afternoon

for all.

The Gig Book is an ongoing memorial to the

many contributions of Eileen Hadidian as well

as her innovative program Healing Muses

which brings music specifically designed for

healing to hospital settings.

Thanks to John Ferguson for scanning the Gig

Book and Glen Shannon for the PDF version.

Thanks also to our webmaster for making it

available via our website.

— Britt Ascher

Click on the Gig Book cover below to access the

book. Be warned that it takes awhile to load.

When the PDF opens look to the upper left

and you will see two little white pages. Click on

that icon and all the pages will list down the left

side. Clicking on a page will take you there.

Below the little white icon is another one

(yellow with blue strip) and if you click on that

one a title list appears down the left side.

Clicking on a title will take you there.

It’s not too early to start

planning your solo or

group performance for

our member’s recital.

The Gig Book has

beautiful selections.

EBRS Members' Recital

March 30, 4-6 pm

Hillside Swedenborgian Community Church

1422 Navellier Street,

El Cerrito

THAT UGLY PVC PIPE

CONTRAPTION

You may have noticed me playing one of my

home-made PVC chalumeaux at EBRS

meetings. I am exploring whether a low-

pitched chalumeau sounds good

playing the low voices in mixed

groups with recorders and whether

they are tolerated by recorder

players.

My thoughts are as follows:

recorder groups often play music

written for groups that include

rather low-pitched instruments, and

when we do we often play "up an

octave." We do this at least partly

because a great many of us own no

instrument lower than a bass.

Recorders, like most instruments,

tend to become more costly as the size

increases. In the case of recorders, instruments

larger than a bass are quite expensive,

particularly since there are no relatively

inexpensive plastic instruments made larger

than a bass. So, we typically play SATB and our

lowest note is the F below middle C, somewhat

higher than the lowest note of an ordinary

soprano B-flat clarinet.

Now the clarinet, and its progenitor, the

chalumeau, play an octave lower than most

woodwinds of similar size. (They are

cylindrical, with the mouthpiece end effectively

closed; this produces the lower pitch.) Thus a

chalumeau of rather low pitch will be of

relatively modest size, one-half the size of a

recorder of similar pitch. Then a mixed group

of recorders and lower-pitched chalumeau(x)

may play "at pitch" rather than our usual “up an

octave."

The next step will be, I hope,

to organize a quartet (or trio

or ?) to play at the EBRS

Members’ Recital on March

30, 2014. My idea is to play a

piece "up an octave" with

SATB recorders, and then play

the same piece "at pitch" with

recorders on the upper parts,

say TB or TBgB on those

parts, and chalumeau(x) on the

bottom 1 or 2 lines.

Any suggestions and volunteers for music and

for players are most welcome. I am thinking

that the music should be of modest difficulty,

since I would like to play a chalumeau line and

my capability as a recorder (and chalumeau)

player is distinctly modest. Let me know if you

would like to experiment with me on this idea.

Ray White

rayhwhite@yahoo.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

The San Francisco Recorder Society

(SFRS) is happy to announce that

registration for its Winter Workshop is now

open! This is the chapter’s TENTH annual

workshop for recorder players from low-

intermediate through advanced levels. As

always, we welcome players who have never

attended workshops before. Mentoring will

be available. There will be plenty of

challenging music presented for the advanced

players as well in this bi-level setting. Please

register as early as possible.

La Bella Musica

Four centuries of beautiful

Italian music

Directors Louise Carslake and Tish

Berlin will bring music to delight and inspire

from Italy – the land from which the

Renaissance of art and music sprang, giving us

some of the most elegant and beautiful

polyphony in history. These excellent teachers

will guide us through the repertoire, helping us

gain a deeper understanding and appreciation

of it as they do.

Please join us for this day of joyous music and

reconnection with recorder friends from other

areas. SFRS will provide a bounty of delicious

snacks in addition to coffee, tea and juice. Just

bring your own lunch, as there are no

restaurants in the area.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

10:00 am to 4:30 pm

Christ Church Lutheran

1090 Quintara Street

(at 20th Avenue)

San Francisco

Tuition: $45

Attached to this newsletter is a PDF of the

registration form which you can fill in on

your computer before printing it and sending it

in with your tuition to Florence Kress at the

address on the form. If you have any

questions, please feel free to contact me at this

email address (gr8asf@yahoo.com).

Hope to see you there! Please pass this along

to any recorder friends or students who may

be interested.

Many thanks,

Greta Haug-Hryciw

President, SFRS

(415) 377-4444

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Art of the Recorder

Hanneke van Proosdij, recorders

Sunday, February 16, 2014, 7:30 pm

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists,

Berkeley

Adult $40/Senior/Student:$35 SFEMS/EMA/

ARS member:$35

For information please call: 415-260-4687 or

see website

Musica Pacifica

Bach Family Concertos

Judith Linsenberg, recorders; Elizabeth

Blumenstock, violin; Josh Lee, viol; Charles

Sherman, harpsichord with fabulous surprise

guest artists.

Friday, February 28, 2014, 6:00 pm

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall,

2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94704

Tickets $15 general, $13 seniors/students/

SFEMS members, 18 and under admitted free

and welcome.

Tickets at the door or order online (cheaper)

at www.BrownPaperTickets.com/

event/436465 for the Friday in Berkeley

Recorder Workshop

With

Paul Leenhouts

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

330 Ravenswood Avenue

Menlo Park from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Workshop fees are as follows: MPRO, SFEMS

and ARS members, $50.00; non-members,

$55.00.

For further information or to register for the

workshop please visit the MPRO website at

http://mpro-online.org/ or contact Leslie Pont

at 650-941-3065.

Our Musical Shakespeare;

Reveling in the music of Henry

Purcell. A week of daily classes

taught by John Prescott.

Monday, January 13 through

Friday, January 17 from 9:30 am

to noon.

Flyer is attached to this

newsletter.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Affiliate of the San Francisco Early Music Society

Chapter of the American Recorder Society

Save the date for…

Marin Headlands Recorder Workshop

May 9-11, 2014

Join us on the beautiful coast of Marin County just north of San

Francisco. Make music with fellow recorder enthusiasts. Visit with old

friends and meet new. Information about conductors and topics to

follow.

Contact: Brenda Bailey

bbmh12@gmail.com

East Bay

Recorder

Teachers

David Barnett

Letitia Berlin

www.tibiaduo.com

Tom Bickley

www.metatronpress.com/artists/tbickley/

Frances Blaker

www.tibiaduo.com

Louise Carslake

www.sfems.org/musicsre-creation

Frances Feldon

Judy Linsenberg

www.linsenberg.com

http://www.musicapacifica.org/

Hanneke van Proosdij

www.hannekevanproosdij.com

Happy New Year

Last minute notice of a

workshop for instrumentalists

and singers.

Sunday, January 5 and Sunday,

January 12 from 1:30 pm to 8:00

pm with Tish Berlin, Shira

Kammen and Peter Maund.

Arlington Community Church,

Kensington. See flyer and

registration form attached to this

newsletter.

2013 – 2014 EBRS Board of Directors

President: Susan Jaffe

Treasurer and Electronic Distribution: Susan Merrill

Conductor Locator: Greta Hryciw

Newsletter: Carol Coon, Editor and Producer

Chapter Meeting Music: Linda Skory

Webmaster: Suzanne Siebert

Headlands Committee: Bill Stewart (Coordinator), Merlyn Katechis (Registration)

Brenda Bailey (Publicity)

Publicity/Librarian/Composer-in-Residence: Glen Shannon

Member Performances: Cindy Keune

Hospitality: Anna Lisa Kronman, Ray White, Brenda Bailey

Members at Large: Britt Ascher, Greta Hryciw, Kathy Cochran, Brenda Bailey

The Mouthpiece is published by the

East Bay Recorder Society.

EBRS is a chapter of the American Recorder Society and an affiliate

of the

San Francisco Early Music Society.

Please send information and photos for newsletter consideration to Carol Coon at

ccoon.wildwood5@att.net

The deadline for the February issue is January 15

Schedule of Conductors

Jan. 4 (Twelfth Night Celebration) - Joyce Johnson-Hamilton; 2:30 at Hillside Community Church

Feb. 7 - Andrew Levy

March 7 - Louise Carslake

April 4 - Frances Feldon

May 2 - Judy Linsenberg

A MUSICAL SMORGASBORDa workshop for instrumentalists and singers

Choose from many tasty musical styles & flavors, including: motets of Palestrina, Dowland and Holborne dances, music of early and late

Medieval England, percussion classes, beginning musical improvisation, and much more

WITHSHIRA KAMMEN, TISH BERLIN and PETER MAUND

Workshop classes will include Medieval, Renaissance, and traditional musicSingers and instrumentalists (including percussion!) welcome

SUNDAY JANUARY 5TH and SUNDAY JANUARY 12THCOME TO ONE OR BOTH DAYS!

Arlington Community Church52 Arlington Ave., Kensington, CA

WORKSHOP REGISTRATIONMail form with your check to Tish Berlin at 806 Washington Ave., Albany CA 94706

Name:Phone: e-mail:Instruments you will bring to the workshop:Your voice type and range:

FeesWorkshop tuition: $215 January 5th only: $110 January 12th only: $110Both Sundays: $215Early registration discount: register by December 30th and pay $100 per Sunday ($200 for two Sundays)Amount enclosed: (please make check out to Tish Berlin) _____

Workshop Schedule (location: Arlington Community Church, Kensington CA)Sunday January 5th: 1:30-8:00 (potluck supper – bring something to share)Sunday January 12th: 1:30-8:00 (potluck supper – bring something to share)

Workshop classes will include Medieval, Renaissance, and traditional musicSingers and instrumentalists (including percussion!) welcome

QUESTIONS? Call Tish at 510-882-1169 or emailtishberlin@sbcglobal.net or shira@shirakammen.com

Portrait of Henry Purcell after John Closterman (NPG1250)

Our Musical Shakespeare Reveling in the music of Henry Purcell

    

  Five independent sessions led by John Prescott for interested adults: 

The seventeenth centurywas one of themost turbulent and difficulttimes in English history. However it also saw one of the greatestflowerings of Englishmusic. Henry Purcell (1659‐1695) represents theapotheosis of thismusical flowering. In these classeswewill experiencePurcell'sintenselydevoutsacredmusic,hisgrandcourtodes,hislivelyandtendertheatermusicandhisbawdytavernsongs.Inadditiontolisteningto and learning about the details of music and word setting whichcontributetoPurcell'sgenius,wewillexplorethetangledwebofreligion,politics, social thought and economics which form the backdrop forPurcell'sstunningmusicalachievements.Nopreviousmusicalexperienceisnecessary.Cometolearn,listenandjoinintheadventure.

Dailyclasses–9:30AMto12:00noonMondayJanuary13throughFridayJanuary17,2014

Location:St.MaryMagdaleneChurch2005BerrymanStreet,BerkeleyCA94709

Registerforeitherthefullcourse($85/$80SFEMSmembers)orforindividualdays($20each):

Monday:Therestorationofthecathedrals:Purcell'ssacredmusic

Tuesday:FromChurchtoStage:Purcell'stheatricalandoperaticvocalmusic

Wednesday:TheSplendorandintimacyofPurcell'sinstrumentalmusic

Thursday:FromStagetoChambertoTavern:theManyMoodsofPurcell'sSongs

Friday:WhateverhappenedtoEnglishBaroqueMusic?Purcell'slegacy

JOHN PRESCOTT received his M.A. and Ph.D. in musicology from U. C. Berkeley. Prior to this, hereceivedhisB.A.magnacum laude inMusicandwaselectedtoPhiBetaKappafromCarletonCollege(MN). He has been the recipient of a number of academic honors, including the British MarshallScholarshipfortwoyearsofstudyatSt.John’sCollegeinCambridge,England.HealsostudiedatOxfordUniversity’sWorcesterCollege.Dr.PrescotthaswrittenextensivelyonthemusicofHandel.Hewrotehis doctoral dissertation on John Stanley, the 18th‐century blind organist, conductor, violinist andimpresario.Dr.PrescotthastaughtmusiccoursesatU.C.BerkeleyandmusictheoryatTheCrowdenSchool(BerkeleyCA),andwasthemusicologistfortheSanFranciscoElderhostelArtsandHumanitiesProgram.HeteachesmusichistorycoursesfortheOsherLifeLongLearninginstitutesatU.C.BerkeleyandatSanFranciscoStateUniversity.Hegivespre‐operalecturesforBerkeleyWestEdgeOperaandthe Livermore Valley Opera Company. He also gives pre‐concert lectures for Philharmonia BaroqueOrchestra.

Proceeds from thiscoursego tobenefit theSFEMSMusicDiscoveryWorkshop,adaycamp that introduceschildren toearlymusicandRenaissancesocialhistorythroughmusicinstructionandtheaterprojects.Lookforinformationaboutthissummer’sMDWcomingsoontowww.sfems.org.JohnPrescottisanaffiliateoftheSanFranciscoEarlyMusicSociety.

Forfurtherinformationandregistration,contactSuzanneSiebert,suzannesiebert@gmail.comor510/843‐2425.

Please circle all that apply:

Thank you!

The San Francisco Recorder Society (a SFEMS affiliate) presents

Tune in to the Recorder XX Our TENTH annual workshop for recorder players (low-intermediate to advanced)

We welcome players who are attending their first workshop!

La Bella Musica Four centuries of beautiful Italian music

Saturday January 18, 2014 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

with Louise Carslake and Tish Berlin

Christ Church Lutheran • 1090 Quintara Street (at 20th Avenue) • San Francisco

Tuition: $45

Bring a music stand, pencil, and a bag lunch. Coffee and snacks provided during breaks. For information contact Florence Kress, (415) 731-9709, or fkress@aol.com

Registration form is also available at www.arssanfrancisco.org

Please detach the completed registration form and mail with your check.

Make check payable to Florence Kress, 34 San Andreas Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94127

Name ______________________________________________ Phone____________________________

City____________________________________Zip____________ E-mail_________________________

Donation to SFRS beyond tuition $__________

This will be my first music workshop Amount enclosed $____________ Recorders I play: Si S A T B GB CtrB Recorders I’ll bring: Si S A T B GB CtrB

I play with others: Seldom Occasionally Frequently

Level I consider myself to be: Low Intermediate High Intermediate Advanced

I can help with: Set Up Clean Up