Chicago Recorder Society

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  • Join the Chicago Chapter on Sunday, Nov. 15th!

    Lisette Kielson will continue our story-telling theme with extended techniques, free improvisation, and descriptive duos. The session will include a review of September’s techniques and Glen Shannon’s Papillons as well as new techniques and musical selections by Lance Eccles, Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (in a nod to Andrew Schultze’s recent workshop) and more!

    Music for the session is now available on this website in Resources -> Meeting Downloads -> 2020-2021 Season.

    Please mark your calendars and come play with us, at 2 PM, on Sunday, November 15th! To participate, just send a note using the Contact Us option on this website, and we’ll respond with the Zoom signin information and the website resource password.

    Hope to see you on the 15th!

  • Welcome to the September meeting of the 2020 – 2021 season of the Chicago ARS!

    Welcome to the September meeting of the 2020 – 2021 season of the Chicago ARS!

    Please join Lisette and the Chicago Chapter on Sunday, September 20th, at 2 PM, for our first class meeting in this season’s Storytelling 101. We’ll warm up with a great “conversation” from the ARS Members’ Library Edition, He Talks, She Talks. Then on to our own, unscripted dialogue with some extended techniques and free improvisation. You can remain tasteful or go wild (muted, or unmuted) in this call and response segment. Then we’re off to dissect our insect duets with Thomas Morley’s Il Grillo, Lance Eccles’ Grasshoppers, and Glen Shannon’s Papillons.

    Music is available on our website at Resources / Music Downloads / 2020-2021 Season:
    https://chicagorecorders.org/resources/meeting-downloads/2020-2021-season/

    Along with the printed music on the website, Lisette includes a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R36uy8zSfgE
    to a great performance of Il Grillo, as well as some ARS guidelines for Zoom settings, at the above Resource link, for those who want to play (and be heard) during the improv section.

    Please mark your calendars and come play with us on Sunday, September 20th! To participate, just send a note using the Contact Us option on this website, and we’ll respond with the Zoom signin information and the website resource password.

    Hope to see you on Sunday!

  • To Trill or Trillo?

    Noted bass-baritone performer and teacher, Andrew Schultze is generously sharing with us a recently completed research study of his on 17th century vocal ornamentation, that can also apply to the recorder. He traces the meanings of several terms, such as trill, tremolo, trillo, vibrato, and more, from original Renaissance and Baroque sources, comparing them to later practices in singing and instrumental playing. Among the sources you’ll find some familiar names in recorder performance, like Ganassi, Praetorius, John Playford and others.

    TO TRILL OR TRILLO?

  • April and May 2020 Meetings Cancelled

    Nobody needs any more bad news related to COVID-19. But…

    Due to the extraordinary circumstances we are living in for the foreseeable future, we in the Chicago Chapter ARS are cancelling the April and May meetings. With conditions changing daily, it’s just not sensible to make definite plans at present.  Given the drastic steps taken by so many other businesses and organizations, I don’t think we should do otherwise than cooperate. Covenant church has cancelled everything and closed its buildings until at least April.  Chicago Opera Theater and Lyric opera have cancelled the rest of their seasons, not to mention all the other closed businesses, schools, bars, restaurants, etc.  Certainly we can help fight the spread of this virus by waiting to play recorders in groups again, until it’s deemed safe to resume some semblance of public life.

    I believe the biggest concern is unknowingly passing the virus on to someone else, before we even know we’re affected.  We all still need to go out to stores for supplies, some to work, so we’re all possibly being exposed at least occasionally. So the most socially responsible thing to do is keep our ‘social distance’ for now.

    If things improve so much, so quickly, that we can get together sooner than next September, then we will happily send out a special invitation to meet and rejoice, just to play with a group again!

    On a related, entirely predictable note, the National ARS Board has cancelled its April meeting in Milwaukee, so the MARS chapter will not be having the planned potluck and playing session on April 25th.  We’ll just have to consider having a shared event with the Chicago and Milwaukee chapters some other time.

    So, until we meet again in person, stay safe, healthy and keep on playing recorders at home!

    — ARS Board

    Our season has been cut short as we join with many to do what we can to slow the spread of Covid-19. As sad as we are to miss our group music-making, I feel connected to you more than ever before. I think of you all–each member–and all that you bring to Chapter Sundays, and I thank you for this year, for seasons’ past, and for when we’ll meet again! Stay safe and be well!

    — Lisette Kielson

  • March 15 meeting cancelled

    Sorry to disappoint at this late date, but we’ve decided to cancel the ARS meeting for tomorrow, Sunday, Mar. 15.

    By this afternoon, there was only a very small number of people who planned to attend, and after talking to Andrew Schultze, we believe that his program would be much better enjoyed with a larger number of players.

    Also, to paraphrase our great Illinois governor, we’d rather be accused of being overcautious than to cause harm to anyone by not being cautious enough.

    Fortunately, Andrew will be happy to reschedule his program of French Baroque music, from the time of Lully, on any future meeting date that works out for all of us.

    So, stay home, stay healthy and we’ll plan on regrouping in April, with Lisette Kielson once again directing.

  • March 15th and The French Baroque!

    Andrew Schultze leads us on March 15 with music from the French Baroque, with plans to mark the 350th anniversary of the collaboration between two 17th century giants of the arts, composer and performer Jean-Baptiste Lully and playwright Moliere, in “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.” Andrew plans to provide dialogues from the play and invite recorder players to read them aloud (in English) to the accompaniment of music written by Lully specifically for this work. In his program, Andrew will also include music by Louis XIII, Jean Phillipe Rameau, Michel Corrette and other minor composers of the era.

    Our newsletter is now available for March 2020

  • February 2020 Meeting

    On Sunday February 16 Lisette will lead the chapter meeting in readings of Giovanni Priuli’s “Canzone a 7”, Sören Sieg’s “kinyongo” (from his African Suite #4), and Glen Shannon’s “Friendship Canzona” which we will perform at our Spring Concert in May.

    Our February newsletter is now available: February 2020

  • Annual Holiday Concert Sunday December 15

    Our annual Yuletide Concert for the Chicago Chapter is coming up, Sunday December 15 at 2 PM. Send the name of your group, the names of the participants, the names of the pieces you plan to play, and the composers, to Larry Johnson at ll_johnson1239@sbcglobal.net.

    Note that the Chicago Recorder Quartet is planning to perform! Feel free to bring some snacks to share, and plan to stay after the concert and holiday festivities to join in some jamming to close the season together.

    The latest newsletter is now available: December 2019 Newsletter

  • Pictures from November 2019 Meeting

    Some photos from our last meeting taken by Peter Beck.

    Larry Johnson on a Paetzold recorder.

    Lynette Comley and Mark Dawson on recorders. Paul Schmidt on a serpent.

    Jenifer Buckley on the soprano.

  • November 17th Meeting Announcement

    For the November Meeting, Lisette continues her “Molto Espressivo” theme and leads the group in works by among others, Henry Purcell and Ludwig Senfl, as well as Glen Shannon’s Friendship Canzona. Also, we will rehearse a selection from September’s or November’s meeting for the Yuletide concert. There was talk of playing the Rheinberg piece as a chapter. It is time to think about what you would like to play for December 15

    Our November 2019 newsletter is now available.