Post date: Oct 22, 2014 2:13:51 PM
Greetings, everyone! I was so happy to see many of you at our First Meeting of the Year, where we had the delightful opportunity to hear Sophia Agranovich perform all 4 Ballades by F. Chopin. The First Meeting of the Year marked the beginning of the school year for the Cecilians, and this particular year is full of new plans and new faces. First, I would like to welcome two new officers: Lisa Frost-Goodall will serve as Secretary and Helen Bungert will be doing Publicity of the Club. We are all very grateful for the many years of dedication that their predecessors, Barbara Lerro (former secretary) and Phemie Chien (publicity), contributed to these positions. Thank you, Barbara and Phemie!
We also have some exciting plans for our annual performances and programs. The Showcase Recital will begin a new chapter as Heidi Valvano will be joining Jennifer Bao to prepare for the performances, held at JHMMO this year! I am also excited to announce that the Young Artist Competition is moving to the prestigious Grace Rainy Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, NYC. Of course, our traditional Monster Concert will continue to be at Brookdale Community College, and we look forward to Alan's Music Hours at the Freehold Music Center once more this year.
Last May, we held a fantastic new program, the Candlelight Showcase - a concert dedicated to the Classical period of music. It was a wonderful success and is coming back in May 2015. We will be especially thrilled to host Dr. Stephan Moller, visiting from the Prayer Conservatory of Vienna, to give a lecture recital at the end of student's performances this year.
As we begin a new year of music, I wish a of you a vibrant and successful year ahead!
Marina Strakovsky