......Aaaaand We're Off!

The 2019/20 season started with a bang with our October senior center performance at Goddard House. Two new Continuo musicians, Marilyn S., flute, and Hana W., violin, joined us in an exciting, musically wide-ranging program featuring works from Shosty, Haydn, and Ysaÿe.

Joanne L., violin, and I were delighted to return for the umpteenth time. It was a pleasure to come back to some familiar faces at Goddard and catch up with the residents we’ve gotten to know over the years.

This performance was special for another reason. We were recognizing #ArtsMattersDay (October 25), a MassCreative initiative demonstrating that “arts and creativity should be an expected, well-funded, and valued part of everyday life.”

This Goddard performance truly exemplified the cause. Yes, there was extraordinary music-making. But we weren’t there to make music for ourselves. We were there to share live classical music with the residents. As we concluded at our post-performance reflection, it was about an exchange, about enriching each others’ lives. After, when I talked to Joanne, she described how through community performances, she felt a “give and take. An exchange between the audience and me.”

All in all, a fabulous start to the season!

For more from Joanne, check out our first musician feature in the next post, from our "Meet Our Musicians" collection.