October
23, 2007
Dear
Music Lover,
It
gives me pleasure as president of the New England String Ensemble board
to report to you on the successful beginning of the 2007-08
season—our 14th. We know those of you who were at the "Hungarian
Dance" concert in September will long remember the performance; we
welcome you for the rest of the season. For those who missed the concert,
there are three exciting programs in Andover and Jordan Hall coming up
in December, February and April. (Please note, they are available at the
subscription price under the three-concert option.)
Two
recent happenings were particularly pleasing to us.
It
was also our good fortune to hire Federico Cortese, former
Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as Music Director of
NESE in 2005. Federico eagerly accepted this position, not only for the
opportunity to bring a somewhat overlooked but refreshingly varied and
sophisticated repertoire to the greater Boston audience, but also because
by that time he had been Music Director of Boston Youth Symphony for six
years, and he enjoys being part of our musical city. As
Music Director of BSYO since 1999, he has raised its visibility and
importance; its staff and budget (a five-fold increase) reflect this. He
is now in the process of repeating this success with NESE. To this end, we
are strengthening our staff and board of directors.
We
want to capitalize on our increasing success, to continue providing such
exuberant, memorable performances for audiences throughout New England.
And we want to continue developing our education programs, which reach
5,000 students a year: the annual String Competition, entering
its 12th season, and highly acclaimed Flute Competition; String
Fever for elementary schools; Kids to Concerts for middle
school string students; and the New England Musical Heritage Initiative
for high school string orchestras.
To
assist in this effort, a generous friend of NESE has offered to match,
dollar for dollar, all contributions made to this fall appeal up to
$10,000. I hope that, as you look at your end-of-the-year
giving, you will recognize that you can double your impact on
music and music education in New England by digging deeper and making that
extra contribution. For those of you in corporations that make matching
gifts, you can have a fourfold impact!
This
season we have returned to four fully conducted concerts, and we would
like to increase this number in the future. With your help, we will be on
that path.
Sincerely,
D.
Roger Howlett, President
New England String Ensemble
