Our Fantastic 2022-23 Season - News and Highlights

What an amazing year L’Amore della Musica has had!  We have bounced back to a season of fifteen concerts.  Due to the decrease in the number of concerts we were able to give in 2020-2022 because of COVID, we had more funds available for concerts this year.  As a result, we were able to fulfill several requests by senior residences to have us return three and four times.  This gave us an opportunity to prepare four unique programs filled with Simeon’s transcriptions of string masterworks by Beethoven, Mozart, and Mendelssohn, and present engaging arrangements and original works from other gifted musicians. Listeners heard Rodgers’ Medley from The King and I, Morton Gould’s Pavanne, Albeniz’s Orientale, Beethoven’s Quartet Op 18, #6 and Funiculi Funicula. Senior residents have connected even more through these multiple performances at 80th St Residence, Amsterdam at Harborside, and Brookdale Senior Living.

This year we also have brought other artists under the auspices of L’Amore in order to widen the variety of musical offerings we give to our audiences. Two programs were given, one with pianists David See and Jack McKeown, Soprano Lily Arbisser and flutist Cecilia Sparacio. And another by oboist Arianna Kalian and violinist Anna Majcherczyk. L’Amore concerts continue to be anticipated events in senior residences and community centers. Following our most recent concert at the Jewish Community Center of Rockland, an attending preschool class was given impromptu presentations by our oboe and horn players. L’Amore reinforces the power of music that continues to have an important place in the lives of people of all ages.

In the area of grants, we have lost one that had supported us over many years because the rules of the grant had changed, and we were no longer eligible.  We have written several grants which have been submitted and have promise.  The number of performances next season is contingent on the generosity our patrons, new contributors, and our fortune with the grants.

Departing with our best wishes, Nancy Vizza has completed her final season as L’Amore’s horn player. Nancy first came to the group in 2006 having been a colleague at the Amato Opera. During her tenure, she brought a beautiful tone to the ensemble and inspired audiences with her colorful presentations at performances. We welcome our new horn player, Sigrun Kahl, to the ensemble.

Fall 2022

We hope that 2022 has become a time where the doors of life have opened back up and you are making daily entrances into the artistic joys that our city holds. The doors have been opened to L”Amore’s performances in senior residences again. Since October 2021, the quintet has given nine concerts with five more scheduled for the Fall. The personnel changes in L’Amore have brought a new flavor to the group. One of our founding members, Lori Brand (bassoon), has recently decided to retire from the group. Her musicianship helped the group to establish its unique warm and vibrant sound. Her ideas helped to shape the concert programs, and her devotion helped build the long and successful performance history we have in our senior and community musical outreach. Arianna Kalian (oboe) has taken a long leave. We have now regularly engaged two wonderful musicians, Dorothy Darlington (oboe) and Jonathan Watkins (bassoon) who are transforming the group with their ideas, their musicianship, exuberance, and humor. In the Winter, there was still an apprehensiveness by residences to have live music performers. But over the months, mask restrictions have lessened and we have resumed concerts. Our audiences have been thrilled with our presentations and our programs. On the organizational side, we have two new board members, JoAnne Nolemi and Jeff Lance, who have dedicated large amounts of their time to applying for grants and new venues. How fortunate we are to have them with us! Please look at the concert listings and plan to attend a concert. Thank you, patrons. You have stuck with us, supported us, and we look forward to your continued support as we carry on our important work.

November 2021

After a year of confinement, the L'Amore woodwind quintet returns but with some notable changes.  Our beloved oboist and bassoonist have both taken leaves of absence.  Living with COVID has made us reevaluate our lives.  As Arianna and Lori take this time, we have several substitutes who bring their new chemistry to the ensemble.  We welcome Dorothy Darlington on oboe, and Gil DeJean, Jeff LaMarca, and Jonathan Watkins on bassoon. 

Even though live concerts for us were dormant, there was still action behind the scenes for the last year.  Simeon and Cecilia investigated doing live concerts in the parks in proximity to the senior residences we play for. Through transactions with the parks department, we gained a better understanding of the COVID guidelines for outdoor performances in the parks looking to Spring/Summer 2020.  Along with Arianna, we wrote a tailored outdoor concert proposal considering COVID, and submitted a grant to the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC). Although we were not given the grant, we were inspired to find ways to play together using online means. What we discovered was that the amount of technical work required to make that happen outweighed the musical reward.  Instead, we practiced individually at home, and gave intermittent individual performances at meetings and services.  The members felt this was the overall safest approach until vaccinations changed the game.

 Nancy has recently submitted another grant proposal to LMCC for the 2022 season.

 Simeon spent the last year choosing some of the great string repertoire to arrange, and completed several.  This is an ongoing project. He has already programmed some of those works on the upcoming programs.

 In October, 2020, Cecilia, with the help of Ying-Chi I, built this new website for L'Amore della Musica.

 Currently, the reconnection with our audiences at the senior residences has shown us that live music has been greatly missed. We look to our patrons and supporters of quality live music in the residences to dig deep this upcoming fundraising season to help meet our season goal of 20 concerts.   

Fall News 2020

We hope you like the new website for L’Amore della Musica. It will enable us to give you more access to music we have made and are making. Please contact us with any or all comments you may have at info@lamoredellamusic.org . We want the site to be a mirror of our family.

Since our May news post, our ability to play live music together remains at a standstill. We have taken this time to review our history and project our future. Michael Panayos, our videographer, has just finished reworking our Lincoln Center Concert of 2018. Presently, Simeon is working on an arrangement of a Mozart aria originally for Baritone and orchestra. We have just submitted a grant proposal to the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council for a Public Outdoor Woodwind Quintet Concert Series in the parks beginning next summer. We are hopeful that by then, the medical world will have come up with some other options for us. Even so, the proposal does work within the current guidelines for safety from COVID-19. Stay diligent, kind, safe, and well.

May 2020 News

After some months of not being in contact, we wanted to reach out and send you some news. Our last performance was on December 29, 2019 at the 80th St Residence in Manhattan. This particular concert welcomed the newest member of our ensemble. Richard Paratley has replaced Cecilia as flutist. Cecilia has remained as treasurer and board member of L’Amore. Richard is an excellent arranger and has already introduced two of his arrangements to the group. The residents of 80th St. were happy to have us play for them. This is a place where we feel our presence is especially appreciated as many of those in the audience have varying degrees of dementia. That seems a world away at the moment, during these unprecedented times with the corona virus.

Of course, we have not been able to rehearse or perform in many weeks. But we did want to share with you some of the ideas we are pursuing for 2020 and beyond:

— Until we can resume live performances, we are in the process of having our last Lincoln Center concert video completed so we can share music with you and with our residences. We will also be assembling recordings from our past performances to create a CD we can share.

— Simeon is hard at work on several new arrangements. He just finished arranging a wonderful rumba by Arthur Benjamin that we anticipate will be one of our future “greatest hits”!

— All of us are practicing individually so we will be ready to “go” again when it is safe to do so.

The arts in general, due to their nature of personal contact, have been drastically impacted, and yet they are so important to our quality of life that we wonder what the future will bring.

Please stay in touch with or send comments and suggestions to info@lamoredellamusica.org

Con Amore,

Arianna, Nancy, Lori, Richard, and Simeon