MARIN BRANCH TO HONOR BARBARA VONK
Sunday, 11 June 2006, 5 PM
Home of Nancy Loder, 95 Oakridge Rd, San Rafael, 415-479-3557
RSVP: Call Nancy to let her know what you will bring
Spring Potluck/General Meeting
Directions: From 101, take Civic Center Exit. Proceed west on N. San Pedro Road. Right on Los Ranchitos and follow to the stop at Circle Road. Left on Circle Road. Right on Oakridge, #95. Parking is limited, so car pooling is recommended.
This years Spring potluck will be held Sunday 11 June, 5pm at the home of Nancy Loder. We will honor Barbara Vonk for her outstanding contributions to our branch and especially for her work as founder and chair of our Discovery Scholarship Program.
Ms. Vonk started this program approximately 23 years ago for children of low income families when the schools started cutting music programs due to budget problems in Marin County. Last year we were able to provide full or partial music scholarships to 21 needy Marin County students. Year after year, the Marin Branch has won the State MTAC Award for Outstanding Community Service. Congratulations Barbara. Well done!
Come join the festivities! This is a great opportunity to welcome new teachers and to chat with our fellow members. The short General Meeting will install the new board:
Officers Board of Directors
President: Janice Clark Marie Carbone
Vice President: Paul Agricola Mariko Heenan
Recording Secretary: Audrey Mahler Helen Konowitz
Membership Secretary: Phoebe Dong Joan Weinstein
Treasurer: Chris Bradley
MTAC MEMBERSHIP DUES
The annual invoice for your MTAC membership dues has been sent by the State Office. If you have not received an invoice, please call the State Office 1-800-834-3344. You must get your dues in on time, postmarked no later than July 1st.
STATE CONVENTION IN LOS ANGELES
JUNE 30 – JULY 4, 2006
This years State Convention promises to be another wonderful event, packed with student performances, informative and exciting workshops, special discounts by music merchants and spectacular concerts by renowned artists. Make you reservations by going to the official MTAC website www.mtac.org and click on Convention 2006.
You must register by 5pm Monday 12 June to receive an early bird discount.
New members approved after February 2005 will also receive a discount. One member from each branch, who has never before attended Convention, may qualify for a free registration. If you wish to attend as a branch delegate, we may be able to pay for half of your enrollment.
For information, contact Janice Clark, President 721-0635 or jblegend@aol.com.
DISCOVERY SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS NEEDED
Our Discovery Scholarship Program may have room for 1-3 new students this coming year. If you know of or have students you think may qualify, contact our Discovery Scholarship Chair, Chris Bradley (415-302-0296) or email MusicaMarin@pacbell.net.
FORMER STUDENTS HONOR CHARLES MEACHAM
A Tribute Concert for Charles Meacham, our branch member, was held Sunday 14 May 2006 at the Fine Arts Theater, College of Marin. Former students honored Mr. Meacham and to the delight of the audience performed works by Telemann, Amy Beach, Brahms, and the Swedish composer, Johan Svendsen. Bravo to the performers and congratulations to you, Mr. Meacham!
Charles Meacham has made great contributions to the musical life of Marin County and beyond. In addition to being one of the founders of the Marin Symphony Orchestra in 1951, he also established the Marin Arts Quartet which performed regular chamber music concerts here in Marin for 40 years. For more than 50 years, Chares taught private violin lessons to a huge number of budding and accomplished violinists in his studios in Mill Valley and San Rafael. After 20 years as a violinist in the San Francisco Symphony, Charles left the orchestra in 1966 to become a full-time music instructor at the College of Marin, where he remained until 1982. Many of his former students have gone on the pursue careers as professional musicians and music teachers around the entire country.
Here are a few comments from branch members who are former students.
Jeanette Wilkin Tietze: “As a teacher, he was challenging and dedicated, always professional, and very committed to each student. He always demanded our best. He inspired me with a comment many years ago, which was that he himself made a choice to return to his community and give back his musical skills on the local level. This was his choice, rather than pursuing fame and fortune far and wide. This influenced me in my own desire to return here after studying in Vienna. Something else he emphasized was the idea that studying an instrument is of great value simply because it keeps a person in touch with excellence. Charles Meacham has done great things for so many of us, with much personal sacrifice, and with humility. Thank you, Mr. Meacham!”
Bonnie Rasmussen: “I began taking lessons from Charles when he was in his mid-seventies. He was always kind and encouraging. I felt he truly cared about my progress. If there were certain technical areas I needed to work on, he seemed to always have a solution for them. I still use his techniques with my students. I am positive that the time I spent studying with Charles has made me a better teacher today. He introduced me to many other musicians in the area, including Tara Flandrea at the College of Marin. He provided opportunities for performances and was a will coach. He always seemed to make time for attending performances. He just inspired me to play my best. I will always be grateful to him for helping me with my music.”
Wendy Loder: “I studied with “Mr. Meacham” from the age of 10 to 17. My mom went to the Marin Youth Orchestra concert, and noticed all the violinists who had great bow arms, asked who their teacher was, and it was Charles Meacham. What I remember was how thorough he was; what high expectations he had; and how many etudes I studied with him! Not just once through, but with every possible variation, all the way through, using one part of the bow or another, using just part of my bow hand, using different areas of the string, amounts of hair, etc. Meanwhile, I was itching to play Bach and Mozart, but he insisted I get a good foundation technically before tackling the Masters. He never wanted a student to come across any technical difficulty for the very first time on a piece they would perform, believing that the difficulty would remain difficult for the rest of your life if you weren’t truly prepared before. He was a real stickler on learning theory as well, and insisted on analyzing the form and harmonic structure of pieces. I learned about “dirty” notes, which were the non-harmonic tones that make the melody ever so much more interesting! I really learned to pay attention and actively listen to what I was playing.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Students of James Marchand in Novato will attend State Convention 2006. Jasper Blunk, Rona Chen and Gabriel Cataldi will be performing at the Festival Recital.
Students of Kuei-Ling Pomerleau in San Rafael will attend State Convention 2006. Athalie Tom and Heather Leo will perform at the Festival Recital. Allison Pang will perform on the Panel Honors Recital.
Congratulations to these talented young students representing our branch in Los Angeles!
Marin Branch member Jeffrey Paul toured Scotland and England accompanying the St. Vincent de Paul High School Choir. Jeff also accompanied the College of Marin Chorus and Chamber Singers on 18 May 2006.
Member Gini Wilson & her SF Chamber Jazz Quartet will perform at the Old First Church concert series on 25 June 2006. The location is 1751 Sacramento St, SF. For information call 415-474-1608 or check their website www.oldfirstconcerts.org.
Our member Jan Pedersen Schiff, artistic Director of SingersMarin is seeking interns and/or children’s choir directors for the 2006-2007 concert season. Job description is listed as Music Education/Conducting Internships and Children’s Choir Directors. Application deadline is 15 July 2006. For position qualifications and full job descriptions contact Jan Pedersen Schiff email sing@singersmarin.org. (no phone calls) or check the website www.singersmarin.org.
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The next issue of the MTAC Marin Branch Newsletter will be Fall 2006. Deadline for the next newletter (Fall 2006) is August 15, 2006. Attention members: Let us know what’s happening!
Send updates, announcements and special request in writing (no phone calls) to Janice Clark, Editor at JBLegend@aol.com or to Janice Clark, 119 Legend Road, San Anselmo, Ca 94960.
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