News - Communities Without Borders

Program for Concert – Dances and Meditations

Posted: May 1, 2025

Dances and Meditations

Blended – Terry Carter

Excerpts from “Armenian Miniatures” – V. Komitas (1869-1935), arr. Aslamazyan
1. Dear Shogher
2. She is Slender Like a Plane Tree
3. Oh Nazan
4. Festive Song

Excerpts from “Teen Murti” – Reena Esmail (b. 1983)

Mother and Child – William Grant Still (1895-1978)
Helena Froehlich

Kitchen Table – Terry Carter & Jonathan Fagan

Intermission

Blended – Terry Carter & Jonathan Fagan

Suite Argentina No. 1: Hueya – Alberto Williams (1862-1952)

Flower Communion – Music: Adoration – Florence Price (1887-1953)
Helena Froehlich & CreationDance

Legacy (poetry by Terry Carter, music by Jonathan Fagan)
Hard By the Mystic (poetry by Terry Carter, music by Jonathan Fagan)
Beloved Country (poetry by Terry Carter, music by Jonathan Fagan)
Neighborhood – Terry Carter & Jonathan Fagan

Performers:

The Ally Project
Terry Carter, poetry & narration
Jonathan Fagan, piano & composition
Gordon Engelgau, drums
Max Ridley, bass

CreationDance
Helena Froehlich
Lynn Menegon
Ashley Reynolds
Edward Keazirian
Annie Farrell

Orchestra Without Borders
Luca Antonucci, conductor
violin 1: Peter Paetkau*, Matthew Lamb, Katianna Nardone, Jen Hsiao
violin 2: Jackie Bensen, Eya Setsu, Hope Yuan
viola: Stephen Moss, Rebecca Strauss
cello: Taylor Stobinski
bass: Chris Hernandez, Max Ridley

Program Notes for Concert – Borderlines

Posted: May 16, 2024

Borderlines east – west

Orchestra Without Borders

Luca Antonucci, conductor

PROGRAM

Medley of Afghan Songs – Arson Fahim
Nafahat Hijaz – Mahdi al-Mahdi
Hannah Shanefield, soprano

Caravan – Juan Tizol

Four Afro-Cuban Poems – Odaline de la Martinez

Pathos Mio – Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen, saxophone
Jonathan Fagan, piano

– Intermission –

Fantasia in the Chiesa
Jonathan Fagan, piano

Sonata da Chiesa – Adolphus Hailstork
Exultate
O Magnum Mysterium
Adoro
Jubilate
Agnus Dei
Dona Nobis Pacem
Exultate (reprise)

NOTES ON THE PROGRAM

Medley of Afghan Songs: Originally written for chamber ensemble and transcribed for strings, the Medley of Afghan Songs introduces Western audiences to several popular Afghan melodies, many of which were composed or popularized by Abdul Rahim Sarban (1930-1993), a key figure in Afghan musical history known simply as Sarban. Sarban’s music combined aspects of traditional Afghan music with musical elements from jazz and French popular music from the middle of the 20th century. Several of the melodies in this collection share a lilting waltz-like quality with the golden age songs of the French “belle chanson” tradition.

They are, in order, Baz Ba Golshan (Come back to the beautiful garden), Ay Sarban (Oh, camel-driver), Ay Shakh Gul (Oh, flowering branch), En Gham Be Haya (Audacious sorrow), and Shad Kon Jan Man (“Give me a little bit of happiness”). (Luca Antonucci)

Arson Fahim is a pianist, composer and conductor from Afghanistan. In 2021, only two weeks before the Taliban took control and once again banned music, Arson arrived in the US and started his studies at the Longy School of Music where he was awarded a scholarship. Arson believes in the power of music to bring social change and considers music a vital weapon against fundamentalists and radicals who try to silence it. His music is inspired by the tragedies in Afghanistan and beyond. His compositions are a way for him to protest and raise his voice for justice through music. Arson hopes to help young, underprivileged Afghans discover music and help them change their lives through learning music.

Nafahat Hijaz (‘Hijaz’ Wafts): As the title suggests, Hijaz Wafts illustrates the gentle breeze accompanying the Arabic maqqam (mode) Hijaz, named after the Hijaz region in the Arabian Peninsula. Inspired by the pleasant gentle breeze, cooling the bodies and soothing the souls in the flaming atmosphere, this tune flows like a soft wind and varies in speed through its different tempos, Adagio and Allegro. This mode is packed with emotions as it displays sorrow and longing. It has long been chosen by musicians to compose melodies for poems about lovers’ yearning for each other. When performed by a soloist, the Hijaz mode can produce these emotions of longing and yearning, embedded in the nature of the authentic scale that has shone brightly among Arabic and oriental scales. (Mahdi Al-Mahdi)

Born in Damascus, Mahdi AlMahdi is a violinist, violist, composer, music arranger and orchestra conductor known for his work on Baroque and Classical music as well as Arabic traditional music.

Caravan is a jazz composition by Juan Tizol, a prominent trombonist in Duke Ellington’s band during their residency at Harlem’s Cotton Club. The melody of Caravan lies in the same Hijaz mode as the theme in Nafahat Hijaz, but the harmonies underneath are rooted in the big-band style. Meant to evoke an exotic sound that would captivate the primarily white audience, Caravan is still a core composition in the standard Jazz canon. (Jonathan Fagan)

Four Afro Cuban Poems is based on four poems taken from Nicolas Guillen’s Motivos de Son (1930.) The work was strongly influenced by his meeting that year with the African American poet Langston Hughes. Motivos de son is written in Afro-Cuban dialect, and most of the poems deal with relationships between men and women.

Búcate Plata is sassy and with an attitude. “Búcate plata,” (go find money,) a woman tells her lover – she has nothing to eat and is down to rice and crackers. She tells him that if things don’t get better, she’s leaving. Her man has new shoes and a beautiful watch. No way!

Tú No Sabe Inglé: A woman playfully teases Victor Manuel about his English; an American woman is looking for him, but despite his preening, he can’t even say “yes;” his English is down to “strike one” and “one, two, three.” She warns him not to fall in love with the American woman, because he doesn’t speak English.

Sigue is a short poem where a man warns another to keep walking, not to stop and talk to a certain woman. “She’s no good, no good”.

Mi Chiquita: Mi Chiquita means “my little woman.” It’s joyful and looks at the Afro Cuban Culture from a 1930s-man point of view. “My little woman is so wonderful I wouldn’t trade her for another one. She does the laundry, irons, sews and How she cooks!! When they invite her to dance or to dinner, she always comes to get me. She calls me Mi Santo (my saint). I’ll never leave you, she says. Come and get me so we can enjoy each other.” (Odaline de la Martinez)

Nicolás Guillén (10 July 1903 – 17 July 1989) was a Cuban poet, journalist, political activist, and writer who is considered by many to be the “national poet” of Cuba. Born in Camagüey, he studied law at the University of Havana, but abandoned a legal career to work as a poet and journalist. Guillén is probably the best-known representative of the “poesía negra” (“black poetry”), which tried to create a synthesis between black and white cultural elements. It was not until the 1930s that Guillén’s poetry was acknowledged by many critics as the most influential of those Latin American poets who dealt with African themes and re-created African song and dance rhythms in literary form. Guillen made his mark internationally with the publication of his first collection, Motivos de son (1930). It was inspired by the living conditions of Afro-Cubans and popular son music. The work consists of eight short poems using the everyday language of the Afro Cubans. (Notes from the publisher)

Pathos Mio is a recent composition by saxophonist Michael Rosen, who frequently blends jazz, classical and folk influences in both his playing and writing. Inspired by the mood of the Greek phrase “my pathos,” this tune features lilting melodies over slowly descending bass lines. (Jonathan Fagan)

Fantasia in the Chiesa is Jonathan Fagan’s reharmonization of one of the themes from Hailstork’s Sonata da Chiesa. With a few alternative chords and a folk-like rhythmic accompaniment, the melody takes a contemporary jazz aesthetic while retaining the grounded quality of the original. (Jonathan Fagan)

Sonata da Chiesa

Adolphus Hailstork was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in Albany, singing in his youth in the choir of the Episcopalian cathedral, which became a formative experience. He was one of the many American students of the legendary Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, in 1963, and would eventually get his doctorate from Michigan State University. He also studied composition with David Diamond and Vittorio Giannini. Hailstork’s first big break came while he was teaching at Youngstown State University in Ohio: his Celebration!, commissioned in anticipation of the American Bicentennial, was conducted by Paul Freeman in 1975 at the Black Music Symposium in Minneapolis. The piece was a success and led to further performances and commissions. Hailstork went on to teach at Norfolk State University, and, beginning in 2000, at Old Dominion University in the Tidewater, Virginia, area, where he was also choral director at the Unitarian Church of Norfolk.

As a composer Hailstork is postmodern, pluralistic, and above all pragmatic. He has written much for orchestra, also for amateur choruses, and a surprisingly large amount of organ music. Much of his music refers to spirituals and African American subject matter, but not exclusively. His style is fluid, ranging from a boisterous modernism to a delicate atonality, to devoutly reverent tonal counterpoint. Sonata da Chiesa illustrates mostly the last mode. The 17th-century term “sonata da chiesa” denoted instrumental chamber music suitable for religious meditation; Hailstork has expanded on the concept to give us an orchestral analogue to a choral Mass. The piece’s seven sections, played without pause, have titles taken from liturgical music: Exultate, O Magnum Mysterium, Adoro, Jubilate, Agnus Dei, Dona Nobis Pacem, Exultate (reprise). The Exultate is a vigorous chorale verging on ecstasy. O Magnum Mysterium is in quieter counterpoint, quite chromatic, yet without abandoning a sense of tonality. Adoro is like a slow dance, with an insistent melody introduced in the viola solo, and in fact the entire work gains color from frequent solos for the first-chair players. The Jubilate is more energetic and highly syncopated with changing meters. The Agnus Dei, the emotional center of the work, is a soft chorale in a minor key, limned by gestures of melodic filigree. Dona Nobis Pacem, a chantlike chorale often in 5/4 meter, gradually crescendos to a final statement of the opening Exultate. (Kyle Gann, The Orchestra Now)

Our Condolences on the Death of Kenneth Kaunda

Posted: June 19, 2021

To our friends in Zambia,

We at Communities Without Borders were greatly saddened to hear of the death of Kenneth Kaunda.

As you begin a period of mourning for him in Zambia, we also remember that this man was instrumental in Zambia’s independence and its identity as an important country. He was a force for equal rights and democracy in Africa.

In 2002, our founding president, Richard Bail, and I were honored to meet with Mr. Kaunda in his office at Boston University. He was the first Balfour President-in-Residence. During our visit, we described our love for the Zambian people and our dedication to supporting education for Zambia’s most at-risk children.

We have heard from some of you that Mr. Kaunda’s “one country, one Zambia” theme has been embedded in Zambia’s culture, and that it accounts for the continuing peaceful transfer of power after each national election.

Mr. Kaunda is being heralded internationally for his work to help other African countries become more democratic, and we think that his legacy is especially important for keeping Zambia peaceful and unified.

The Communities Without Borders board of directors respects his legacy during this time of mourning.

Peter Smith, President
Communities Without Borders

Kenneth Kaunda, Patriarch of African Independence, Is Dead at 97 – The New York Times

“Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s first president and a founding patriarch of African independence who kept his grip on power for 27 years before enduring electoral defeat, an attempted assassination, house arrest and efforts to deport him from the country he had established, died on Thursday in Lusaka, the nation’s capital. He was 97….” New York Times, June 17, 2021

The Dick Bail Fund

Posted: December 28, 2020

Communities Without Borders has a firm commitment to provide education to the most disadvantaged children in Zambia by supporting community schools and providing scholarships for hundreds of secondary school students. With your continued help, we have an opportunity to significantly benefit over 300 more children in the spirit of our founder Richard Bail, who passed away in May 2019.

HONORING OUR FOUNDER

Dr. Richard Bail, the driving force behind CWB for 20 years, envisioned the creation of a “model community school” with our newest partner, the Sekelela Community School. To honor his legacy, we are embarking on an exciting new building project to add three classrooms and a cooking facility at this school. It is the largest project CWB has ever undertaken.

The Dick Bail Fund is targeted to the building project in lieu of our regular yearly fundraising. We need $60,000 to complete the project while still maintaining our ongoing commitment to the 260 students we are supporting in high schools in Lusaka. We know this is a difficult time to fundraise, but with your help we can still make a major contribution to many students in impoverished circumstances.

THE CHALLENGE

Sekelela is a rural community school* in the outskirts of Lusaka. In Zambia, community schools receive no government funding since they are outside the government system.

With only four classrooms for grades K-9, the school has to run on triple sessions, which severely limits hours for learning. Many of the children walk long distances without breakfast to get to school. Some of them eat only one meal a day. Additional classrooms and daily nutrition will ensure higher quality learning.

OUR PARTNER

The Sekelela Community School is 20 years old, having started under some trees until funds were secured to put up the four current classrooms. It has a strong parent community, which demonstrates the commitment of the community to the school. It is also is a school that fits the mission of CWB, serving orphans and vulnerable children from poverty-stricken communities who would not otherwise have access to education. The students of Sekelela Community School want to learn; they are eager to come to school. They deserve to have the time and the nourishment they need to maximize their learning and eventually find a way out of poverty.

OUR PLAN

Provide a new building containing three classrooms, secure storage, and teacher rooms, plus a kitchen facility to enable community members to prepare daily meals for students and staff.

With the pledges from our board, a few early donors, and Dick’s family, we have more than $20,000 toward our $60,000 goal. The project is underway but we need your help to take full advantage of this opportunity to make an important difference for these children by meeting our ambitious funding goal as soon as possible.

Construction is underway at Sekelela Community School

* You can learn more about community schools in Zambia HERE.

News from Sekelela

Posted: December 1, 2020

To reduce crowding during the June-through-August term, schools in Zambia were open only for students in grades 7, 9, and 12, who were preparing for exams. They will start writing their exams next week.

CWB recently repaired and added desks at the Sekelela Community School, making it possible for students to maintain a safe distance.

CWB also provided thermometers, handwashing basins, and cleaning supplies.

Soft Lockdown in Zambia

Posted: May 5, 2020

ZOCS (Zambia Open Community Schools), our partner in assisting the Sekelela School, notified us that Zambia was closing all schools and colleges and ending public gatherings as of March 20. We asked our contacts at the school to give us some news about their situation.

The head teacher at Sekelela School, Always Kaumbi, told us that none of the teachers had contracted the virus, but he said, “Cases in our area are increasing every day.”

Mr. Kaumbi also said that Sekelela’s six teachers were “preparing educational materials for their students,” who are staying in their poverty-stricken communities while schools are closed. CWB continues to fund these teachers. Mr. Kaumbi said the teachers “are planning to open an e-learning platform engaging students’ caretakers who share smart phones.”

CWB is funding one of Sekelela’s teachers, Eunice Nachimata, for a three-year program to get her teacher’s license. The pandemic paused her schooling, but the program was recently reopened online. We have provided Ms. Nachimata with a new smart phone and internet access so she is able to continue her education online. She is the third teacher we have sponsored.

Evita Phanor, CWB-Z Board Member, gave her perspective on April 21:

The Ministry of Health streams live updates every few days on Facebook. These updates are live talks by the health minister himself broadcasting the increase or decrease in cases, recoveries and deaths. Here is a LINK in case you’d like to follow these updates.

Right now the soft lockdown we have (businesses are still open except for public places where people gather, churches, bars etc) has been extended…. Food and the necessities are still available, but I only go out once every few days to get food and a breath of fresh air.

Ministry of Health report on May 4:

Lois Shapiro – Jasmine Flower

Posted: May 4, 2020

We are sorry that we had to cancel our April 2020 concert. We hope to reschedule it for Spring 2021.

Pianist Lois Shapiro offers this music to share with you. Lois wrote this arrangement of the Chinese folk song, Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower).

Lois said: I wrote this recently for one of my Chinese Wellesley College students who was unable to get a flight back home to her family and was homesick. And also as a gift for an ESL Chinese student of mine, her husband and her parents; they have extended family in China, about whom they were quite worried. This was my way of “reaching across the divide” to express connection, as we are all in this disaster together. There is no “us” and “them.” We all drink from the same spring, as fellow human beings.

Interview with Dick Bail

Posted: June 6, 2019

“I am because we are.
We are because I am.

– John Mbiti/African proverb

On February 11, 2019, Beau Stubblefield-Tave, Managing Principal of the Center for Culturally Fluent Leadership, interviewed Dick Bail, MD, the co-founder of Communities Without Borders. The video is available on YouTube.

Dick talked about being a physician, FUUSN, anti-racism work, his involvement in world health and Africa, Communities Without Borders, teamwork, Ubuntu, philosophical ideas, cultural competency, gratitude, family, and facing cancer and death. Beau summed it up to Dick: “Your life has truly been amazing and inspirational.”

The full video is A Conversation between Dick Bail and Beau Stubblefield-Tave.
A segment on how Dick became interested in Africa starts HERE.
A segment on CWB immediately follows, starting HERE.

The Passing of Richard Nelson Bail

Posted: June 6, 2019

Richard Nelson “Dick” Bail Jr., 76, of West Newton, Massachusetts, passed away on May 29th, 2019, surrounded by family. He was born to parents Richard Nelson Bail Sr. and Vivian Gibbs Bail on October 28th, 1942 in Brockton, Massachusetts but spent many summers on his grandfather’s farm in rural Pennsylvania.

Dick graduated from Whitman-Hanson High School and Bowdoin College, where he was a James Bowdoin Scholar and majored in Physics. Inspired by the physician-polymath Albert Schweitzer— and the civil rights movement of the late 1960s— he completed a medical degree at Harvard Medical School in 1969 and worked at the Centers for Disease Control in Michigan and Maryland for two years. After serving as Chief Resident at Boston City Hospital, he practiced internal medicine at Harvard Vanguard Healthcare (previously Harvard-Pilgrim Healthcare), Mt. Auburn Hospital, and Cambridge Hospital.

During a summer abroad in Germany, Dick became interested in conflict resolution and reconciliation. In the early 1980s, he joined Physicians for Social Responsibility and Physicians for Human Rights. In 1985, he co-founded Trust Through Health, a non-profit organization that led good-will missions to the Soviet Union during the height of the cold war. He worked with the Chief Epidemiologist from the USSR to develop a public health training program in Tanzania. He also worked on disaster relief efforts in Armenia. In 1987, he testified before Congress in support of the International Health Corps. His participation in such efforts— and Dick’s belief that social and medical problems were deeply intertwined— inspired him to pursue a Master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health from 1987-1989.

In 1991, Dick accepted a position with the World Health Organization as the Health Strategy Coordinator for the African Regional Office in Brazzaville, Congo, where he served until 1993 and supervised employees from 43 countries. He played a major role in the effort to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa by consulting with governments, the United Nations, and various non-profit organizations.

In 1993, Dick returned to his career in internal medicine in Watertown, Massachusetts where he served hundreds of patients in the Greater Boston Area. He also volunteered one morning a week at the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, which serves underprivileged clients. In recognition of his skill and service, he received the Physician Practice Connections Recognition Award and was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Insurance (in Medicine). He was much more proud, however, of the close relationships he developed with his patients.

In 2000, Dick founded Communities Without Borders (CWB), a non-profit organization that serves underprivileged communities in sub-Saharan Africa, and Zambia in particular. CWB constructed two public health centers in Zambia, provided funding to more than 6,000 young people to complete secondary or post-secondary education, and Dick’s legacy continues through its ongoing work.

One of his greatest pleasures was mentoring young physicians in the clinic, or as an adjunct faculty member at Harvard University and Boston University. He also produced ten peer-reviewed articles during this career (often via collaboration with his students), and received the Community Service Faculty Award from the Harvard School of Public Health to recognize his work with medical students in Africa.

Dick remained active in serving social justice causes within the Greater Boston area during the last decade of his life. He was a founding member of the Watertown Youth Coalition, a joint program between Harvard Vanguard Health Care and Watertown Public Schools to serve the complex health issues many underprivileged youths face in the area. He was the recipient of this organization’s Community Service Award in 2018.

Because of his distinguished career and passion for public service, Dick was awarded the prestigious “Common Good” award from his alma mater in 2014. To further recognize his many contributions— and much to his embarrassment— the mayor of Newton Massachusetts, proclaimed April 28th, 2019, “Richard Bail Day.”

In addition to public service and scholarship, Dick was an avid outdoorsman. He enjoyed hiking, biking, kayaking, cross-country skiing, camping, tennis, swimming, and long-distance running. His passion for the outdoors took him from the highest peaks in Europe and Africa to the American Rockies and Hawaii— and many other trails in between. He was particularly fond of exercising on crisp New England mornings with canine companions who were among the few living organisms that rivaled Dick’s endless energy, and his enthusiasm for nature.

What set Dick apart from others was his inextinguishable belief in the potential for good in all people— even Yankees fans. He looked for value in every single human interaction. His altruism inspired others, and he worked tirelessly to connect with people across geopolitical, racial, and religious divisions— inviting dozens of refugees and students who were in need of housing to live in his house because of his undying faith in humanity. He learned German, French, Russian, and Swahili during this life; tutored young men in prison; and participated in civil disobedience on numerous occasions to confront injustice and all forms of discrimination. Many of these activities were arranged with friends from the First Unitarian Society of Newton.

Dick is survived by his beloved wife, Arlynne (Lawless) Bail, eldest daughter, Lisa Bail, sons Jeffrey Bail and Christopher Bail, sister Caroline Bail, eight grandchildren whom he absolutely adored (Mei Lee, Connor Lee, Amaia Bail, Jasper Bail, Zarina Bail, Cormac Bail, Charlie Bail, and Teddy Bail), three nieces and nephews (Jonah Jonathan, Geneva Jonathan, and Orelia Jonathan), son-in-law Wai Lee, daughters-in-law Kari Bail and Maureen Murphy, and brother-in-law Darius Jonathan. He was predeceased by his brother Fred Bail, whom he loved dearly.

The memorial service will be held on June 15th, 2019 at 2pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in West Newton Massachusetts. The family requests that visitors make donations to support his non-profit organization (Communities Without Borders), in lieu of sending flowers. Donations can be made via the following website: https://www.communitieswithoutborders.org/

Written by Chris Bail

Voices of Hope – Benefit Concert for CWB

Posted: February 14, 2019

Voices of Hope
Benefit Concert for CWB

featuring
The Triple Helix Piano Trio:
Bayla Keyes, violin; Rhonda Rider, cello;
Lois Shapiro, piano
Michelle LaCourse, viola; Paul Glenn, bass
World Premiere by Francine Trester
Vocal quartet: Deborah Selig, Britt Brown,
Gregory Zavracky, Ryne Cherry
FUUSN Choir
Anne Watson Born, conductor

⋅

Franz Schubert, Piano Quintet in A Major, D.667 (“The Trout”)
Triple Helix Piano Trio
with special guests Michelle LaCourse, viola; Paul Glenn, double bass
Francine Trester, Sekelela (Rejoice) (2018) World Premiere
based on the words of Zambian students and teachers who have benefited from the work of CWB
Triple Helix Piano Trio
Vocal quartet: Deborah Selig, Britt Brown, Gregory Zavracky, Ryne Cherry
First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton Choir
Anne Watson Born, conductor
Robert Schumann, Piano Trio #2 in F Major, Op.80
Triple Helix Piano Trio

⋅

Ticket holders are invited to a pre-concert talk by the musicians at 3:15 pm.

Sunday, April 28, 4 pm
First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton
1326 Washington Street
Newton, MA

Tickets: Adults $30, Students $15

All proceeds benefit Communities Without Borders, which supports education for orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia.
We thank the musicians who are donating their time and considerable talents, and we thank the church for donating its space.

Zambian Crafts and Student Photo Project at Concert

While you are at the concert, you can shop for Zambian crafts and visit the Student Photo Project display to see fabulous photos by Zambian students who had never before touched a camera! Please support the photo project by making a donation to CWB and choosing a framed image to take home.

When the award-winning and internationally known Triple Helix Piano Trio musicians—violinist Bayla Keyes, cellist Rhonda Rider, and pianist Lois Shapiro—joined together in 1995, The Boston Globe described the results of their union as “the livest live music in town,” with “wildly imaginative, emotionally charged, virtuoso playing” that was “sophisticated in musical detail, wholeheartedly interactive, uninhibited in emotion, and touched by a special grace.” Subsequently, the ensemble has become known as one of the best piano trios on today’s musical landscape. Read more.

Michelle LaCourse has appeared as soloist and chamber musician on four continents, and has released two highly acclaimed CDs of works (all world premiere recordings) for viola and piano. She was formerly a member of the Lehigh Quartet, the Delphic String Trio, and the Aeolian Trio, and has performed at numerous festivals such as Aspen, Bowdoin, Skaneateles, Musicorda, the Heifetz Institute, Campos do Jordão (Brazil), and Positano (Italy) and in major musical centers around the world. She currently teaches viola and chairs the String Department at Boston University’s School of Music. Read more.

Paul Glenn concertizes on both double bass and cello. The former principal cellist of the Concord Orchestra, of the New England Philharmonic, and the former principal bassist of the Civic Symphony of Boston, Mr. Glenn currently plays with the Lexington Symphony and Wellesley Symphony. He also performs frequently in solo and duo recitals, with Boston chamber groups, and in various amateur chamber music festivals. A student of the eminent pedagogue George Neikrug, Paul earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in physics at Harvard. Read more.

Francine Trester is Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music. She has had commissions from the Mirror Visions Ensemble, Shelter Music Boston, Kenneth Radnofsky, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Nahant Music Festival, the Scottish Clarinet Quartet, and the Rivers School Conservatory. She has been the recipient of a Tanglewood Fellowship and grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Fromm Foundation. Trester holds doctoral and undergraduate degrees from Yale University and has been the recipient of a Fulbright in Composition. Read more.

Soprano Deborah Selig’s voice has been described as “radiant,” “beautifully rich,” “capable of any emotional nuance,” and “impressively nimble.” She performs repertoire spanning music from the baroque to contemporary in opera, oratorio and art song. She has degrees from University of Michigan and Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and she serves on the voice faculties of Wellesley College, Brown University, and the summer Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Read more.

Boston-based mezzo-soprano Britt Brown has performed with Boston Midsummer Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, MetroWest Opera, the Boston Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera, Guerilla Opera and the Boston Pops. She premiered several pieces with Juventas New Music Ensemble. Britt is a graduate of Stetson University and the Boston Conservatory and continues to teach and perform locally as a sought-after new and sacred music singer. Read more.

Praised for his fine musicality, “glowing intensity,” and “clarion tone,” Gregory Zavracky maintains an active performance schedule on concert and opera stages, including Boston Lyric Opera, American Repertory Theater, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Saratoga, Opera in the Heights, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Utah Symphony. His compositions include several song cycles, three operas, and a number of choral and chamber works. He has a DMA in voice performance from Boston University, and teaches at the University of Connecticut, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and Brown University. Read more.

Baritone Ryne Cherry is an opera, oratorio, and ensemble singer based in Boston. He has premiered numerous new works. In the summer of 2017, Ryne enjoyed his second season as a vocal fellow at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home. “Baritone Ryne Cherry has a voice of real beauty and his velvety tone was well-suited for Pietro’s legato passages.” (Examiner.com) Read more.

Anne Watson Born is the Music Director of the Nashoba Valley Chorale. She is also the Director of Music Ministry at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton. She is the Board chair of the Music Leadership Certification Committee for the Unitarian Universalist Association. She has been a faculty member at Roxbury Community College and at Bristol Community College. Ms. Watson Born holds a M.M. degree from New England Conservatory. Read more.

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Program for Concert – Dances and Meditations