Dear Friends,
Happy new year! I hope the holidays allowed you some rest and rejuvenation with family and friends, and that the beginning of 2017 has brought new opportunities and a fresh start.
I know that 2016 wasn’t the easiest of years for many of us, rife with personal, political, and professional challenges of all sorts. In my own life, I recognized the need for change in how I approached and understood others, for sustained reflection on my own thought patterns and decision making, and for increased engagement in my political world. Some of these revelations were incredibly difficult and painful, but I know that they have changed me for the better. Throughout the year, I drew strength from watching similar changes occur in friends and acquaintances. Human beings’ enduring capacity for learning, for overcoming challenges, and for fighting to make the world a kinder, more connected place gives me hope.
|
|
|
|
The sun rises on a new day and a new year at Lake Umbagog, New Hampshire.
|
|
With this in mind, I am proud to announce that our theme for the 2016-2017 season is “Hope is My Philosophy,” a lyric from the beautiful song You are the New Day, composed by John David and made popular by the King’s Singers. This piece, while written in response to imminent threat of nuclear war in 1978, encapsulates much of what Ensemble Companio stands for and what many of us believe our guiding motivation should be in challenging times. We hope this message resonates with you as well, and we invite you to join us at our rehearsals this winter:
January 21, 2017: Swarthmore Friends’ Meetinghouse in Swarthmore, PA
January 22, 2017: Swope Music Building at West Chester University, in West Chester, PA
February 25-26, 2017: Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, NY
In addition, we are delighted to share the dates and locations of our three spring concerts below; please mark your calendars and visit www.ensemblecompanio.org for additional details.
March 18, 2017 at 7:30pm: Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, NY
April 29, 2017 at 8pm: All Souls' Memorial Episcopal Church in Washington, DC (with guest group The Capital Hearings! http://www.thecapitalhearings.com/)
May 20, 2017 (time TBD): Saint John The Evangelist in Newport, RI
|
|
|
|
Ensemble Companio's very first Christmas concert, at Mabee Farm in Rotterdam Junction, New York.
|
|
As I’m sure you’ve seen, our annual Drive to Sing campaign is in full force, and we are incredibly grateful to those of you who have already donated. We are also in the final stages of our Artistic Director search, and I look forward to sharing the results of that with you later this spring.
Please email me at president@ensemblecompanio.org to share your reflections on our theme and suggestions for future seasons. Thank you, as always, for your support of Ensemble Companio, as we continue to learn, build new bridges and share our philosophy of hope.
With best wishes for the new year,
|
|
|
|
