Welcome to the 2017 – 2018 Season of the Chicago Chapter of the ARS!

We hope you’ve all had a great summer, and that you are now energized for all the recorder playing and performing you will have opportunities to do!

This recorder season, we welcome back our wonderful music director, Lisette Kielson!

The Board has also developed a new meeting format designed to emphasize ongoing improvement in our recorder playing and provide a welcoming environment for new members.

To promote these efforts, the new meeting format will generally include:

a) the session director to present and develop a topic from 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM, then

b) a SHORT break for snacks, etc., from 3:50 PM to 4:05 PM, then

c) our own ‘chapter hour’, in which we hope to include:
i) any chapter business and announcements
ii) breakout instruction for any lower level players, with their mentor or
other instructor
iii) rehearsal for our upcoming programs at Covenant church
iv) other informal group playing

Note for number ii): As part of our effort to welcome newer recorder players, we plan to have our experienced members act as mentors to new members. We will also
offer break-out groups for new member and mentor playing during our chapter hour.

As our main music director, Lisette will start each session with a technical topic, and then proceed to repertoire. The theme for the year will be “We’ve Got Rhythm”
and the music Lisette chooses will work on various different rhythms and meters.

Lisette’s technical topics will be:
Sep 17 – breathing
Nov 19 – tone
Jan 21 – tuning
Feb 18 – technique
Apr 15 – rhythm/counting

On two other dates, Oct. 15 and Mar. 18, we will have guest directors:
– On Oct. 15, our director will be well-known “international” recorderist
Mirja Lorenz, member of Black Tulip and the Chicago Recorder Quartet.
– On Mar. 18 we will welcome noted singer and voice teacher Andrew Schultze.
He will focus on the music of Claudio Monteverdi, in honor of his 450th birthday. (Monteverdi’s birthday, not Andrew’s!)

As part of the goal to emphasize ongoing improvement, we generally want to perform as well as possible. So we will ask that anyone who performs at the planned two Covenant
Church services will commit to attending monthly rehearsals and will practice between
monthly meetings.

Also, to make newer members feel at ease and to keep up with everyone, please remember to stop by the registration table and sign in at the start of every meeting.

The Board hopes that making these changes will give us all some new energy, and renew our commitment to the ongoing study of the recorder.

Looking forward to another year of recorder fun, friendship, and many opportunities for learning and playing!

Board of the Chicago Chapter ARS:
Larry Johnson
Lynette Colmey
Valerie DePriest
Hyacinth Egner