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The Makings of a Melody

September 2023In the fall of 2022, the Avaloch Farm Music Institute, the Composers Conference, and Concord Community Music School began an exciting new collaboration. Several students from CCMS were selected for the New Music/New Communities Initiative (NM/NC), with the goal “to inspire and engage young musicians through collaborations with local music education organizations in the greater New England area.”CCMS faculty member Rebecca Herst was excited by the partnership and suggested the program to students that showed interest and promise in composition. “Participants didn’t necessarily need previous training or experience, only to show an interest in composing,” says Herst. “I felt thatthe group collaboration might offer new ways for students to explore and create.” Chase (13), one of three CCMS participants in this year’s program, started taking piano lessons at the Music School last fall, but his interest in music and composing began much earlier. “I started beat boxing when I was really young,” he smiles, “and I got interested in the piano when I received a small Yamaha keyboard for Christmas.” The miniature Yamaha quickly transformed into a full keyboard with weighted keys, and Chase seized the opportunity to start building his musical portfolio. Between the songs he wrote on the keyboard and those he composed digitally using an online tool called BeepBox,Chase entered the NM/NC Initiative with a sizeable songbook.Ethan (11) didn’t have as extensive of a musical background when he started lessons with Rebecca Herst at age 7, but quickly fell in love with playing and writing for the piano. After starting with classical pieces, Ethan quickly transitioned to playing rock music and began writing songs inspired by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Pixies. When his teacher mentioned the NM/NC Initiative, he knew it was something he wanted to try: “The chance to get to compose for other instruments was something that interested me.”The NM/NC Initiative helps young composers develop their skills through a mentor-mentee relationship. Participants in Avaloch’s Fromm Composer Fellowship are paired with selected students, and the mentorship takes place through virtual meetings over the course of the spring academic term. The initiative culminates in a recital at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute wherethe students’ pieces are performed by their composer mentors.The virtual meetups were constructive in different ways for Chase and Ethan. While Chase was able to further develop his existing material and even integrate using BeepBox into his sessions, Ethan reveled in the tips and techniques his mentor gave for writing out the pieces he was composing. Bythe time the final concert came around, both boys had developed new material they were proud to share with an audience. Chase’s piece, entitled “Vibes,” was performed by a vibraphonist and Ethan’s “Jamtastic” was a duet for vibraphone and cello. “It was definitely cool to hear somebody else playing my piece and be able to recognize it,” says Chase, while Ethan agrees, “It was really cool to hear the musicians perform my piece and they played it reallywell.”While scales, form, and technique will always be part of a sound practice routine, Herst is adamant about the importance of creating and composing in music education: “Self-expression is paramount, whatever our musical persuasion. Improv and composing can be a departure from the rigors ofthe lesson, and we can discover ourselves outside of the lesson model. I think it also engenders deeper understanding of whatever music one is studying and vice versa.”Both Chase and Ethan are eager to start back up with their lessons this fall, utilizing the tools they developed during the composer’s initiative. Chase is hopeful that his experience will help him create more dynamic melodies, while Ethan will look to put his newfound notation skills to good use. And the young composers will also be ambassadors for the budding partnership between Avaloch, the Composers Conference, and CCMS. Learn more about the program here.Below: Chase. See his performance on YouTube here.Bottom: Ethan. See his performance on YouTube here.
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Everything’s Coming up Rose

Rose Kosciuszek Student Feature, August 2023 Putting on a senior recital at Concord Community Music School is truly a one-of-a-kind experience. It is a unique opportunity to reflect on pre-college years spent at CCMS and the culmination of hours spent honing a skill through adolescence. For as long as she had been at the music school, vocal student and 2023 high school graduate Rose Kosciuszek knew she wanted to have her own senior recital, and her dream became a reality this spring with an authentic experience she will never forget. “It’s not an audition or a huge concert, it’s something that is just for you and the people that support you,” she notes. Rose first came to the music school in 2014, excited for the opportunity to sing athe summer Creative Arts Camp. She loved the freedom that came with expressing herself through singing, dancing, and creating, and to this day incorporates the free-dancing and yoga she learned at camp in her daily routine. It was a natural progression to join the Purple Finches that fall (at the suggestion of choral director Maria Isaak), and Rose went onto participate in recitals and productions with the group, earn a spot in the selective OAKE singing competition, study privately at CCMS, and even return to the summer camp as a Leader in Training. The idea to put on a senior recital started percolating at a young age. When Rose was just starting in the Purple Finches, a mentor for the group put on her own senior recital and asked the finches to sing backup on one of the songs in the program. “I remember seeing her recital and thinking it was the coolest thing ever,” recalls Rose. “And I was like ‘I can’t wait until I can do that.’” The time finally came this past fall when Rose was given the opportunity to construct her own senior recital. And despite what she knew would be a substantial amount of work combined with a hectic senior schedule, she jumped at the chance. “It was a cool opportunity to choose a whole lot of music that I really wanted to sing and create an entire program,” she says. In putting together the set list, Rose sought to pay tribute to her years of study at CCMS. She started the program with a handful of musical theater pieces from her early days with the Purple Finches and first years studying privately with CCMS faculty Ellen Nordstrom. Rose also incorporated several classical pieces she studied as a junior with Jane Berlin Pauley and finished with jazz standards she discovered towards the end of her high school career. She even opened the recital with “In My Own Little Corner” from Cinderella, the first song she ever learned as a music school student and her father’s favorite song she sings. “The program felt very well-rounded and representative of all my years here,” she notes. Friends and family were on hand to celebrate Rose’s capstone achievement, lauding her talent and wishing her well as she heads off to college. And in the back of the recital hall, still in uniform having come right from a softball game, sat a group of current Purple Finches, who wouldn’t have missed the recital for the world. “It was lovely to see that,” smiles Rose, “because I remember when I was that age and seeing people’s recitals. It just made me feel so connected to the school.”
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New Horizons Band Featured on NH Chronicle

New Horizons Bands of New Hampshire Featured on NH ChronicleThe New Horizons Bands of New Hampshire, including Concord, Lakes Region, Portsmouth and Monadnock Region banded together for a concert at the Meredith Community Center in April and NH Chronicle was there to capture the event.Check out this video on WMUR to watch the New Horizons Band in action, and to hear from some of the band members and CCMS’s own conductor, Maria Isaak. If you’re inspired, please consider joining the band! Rehearsals resume in September. https://www.wmur.com/article/thursday-june-8th-the-new-horizons-band-where-adults-can-join-too/44065838 https://www.wmur.com/article/thursday-june-8th-the-new-horizons-band-where-adults-can-join-too/44065838
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September 8

All day

Welcoming Week at CCMS

September 8

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Featured September 9 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

CCMS Fall Open House

September 8

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Featured September 14 @ 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm

Hub New Music Concert

September 8

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September 8

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Welcoming Week at CCMS

September 8

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Welcoming Week at CCMS

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September 24

September 24 @ 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

CCMS at the Concord Multicultural Festival

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