September 4, 2020
Dear Friends,
As summer comes to a close, I'm reflecting on Emmanuel Music's recent activities and the efforts of our staff and musicians to continue to stay connected with you, our family. We are thankful for all the support, both financial and emotional, that we've received from our concert-goers, supporters, vendors, musicians, and the community at large.
Our Late Night at Emmanuel: Summer Sessions was a great success! Out of COVID, there is a silver lining, as we are usually "dark" during the summer. We offer our grateful thanks for the creativity and flexibility of the participating musicians, Rose Drucker and Daniel Doña, Sarah Moyer and Tim Steele, Sarah Darling, Kendra Colton and Laura Ward, and Kristen Watson and Eric Reustle. Brad Dumont, Operations Manager, deserves a special thank-you for his coordination of the production elements for the series.
Each live-streamed program in the
Late Night series will continue to be available for viewing, if you missed any of them, or want to revisit your favorite. Click
HERE to access the programs.
Although we were deeply disappointed by the summer cancellations of both our tour to Germany to perform at BachFest Leipzig and Kurt Weill's The Firebrand of Florence to be staged at Tanglewood's Ozawa Hall, thanks to generous contributions, I am proud to share that we have fully compensated all of the musicians who were contracted for those performances. Our board of directors deserves special appreciation for their commitment to supporting our musicians during this difficult time.
All of us at Emmanuel Music have been deeply affected by the systemic injustices and related unrest that have been in the national spotlight recently. As Dana Whiteside, our board president shared earlier in the summer, we are committed to addressing the issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion within our own community. To help us determine our next steps, some of our staff, including me, have been participating in the
Cultural Equity Learning Project,
,an intensive multi-dimensional course for arts and culture sector leaders seeking to building racial equity and justice in the arts.
This summer also saw a personnel change. We said goodbye and offered best wishes to Lori Syngajewski, our Communications Manager over the past three seasons, who has accepted a position as general music teacher in the Lynn Public Schools. Last week, we welcomed
Joe Borgia as Lori's successor in that position.
Looking forward, our artistic team is preparing to publicly share plans for our upcoming season, and you'll be receiving this information this month.This is not a normal year, and it won't be a normal performance season, but we are committed to sharing meaningful music-making with you both digitally and in person, as much as is safely possible.
Lastly, I want to share with you that this will be my final season as Executive Director. I look forward to my retirement, including enjoying Emmanuel Music as a concert-goer and supporter, and continuing the deep friendships developed over the 15 years I have been privileged to be a part of this beloved organization. Later in the season, when we are ready to announce a search for my successor, we will have more specific details to share.
I wish that we could all be together, enjoying a Bach cantata in the Sanctuary or a chamber music performance in the Parish Hall. That day will come, and until then, I look forward to making sure that our music and our musicians maintain a meaningful presence in your life.
Best wishes,
Pat
