For the past 13 years, Sudbury Valley New Horizons Music (SVNHM) has provided the opportunity for local musicians to learn to play music or continue their musical journeys, and to perform as part of a friendly and nurturing community of like-minded adults. Over the years audiences have enjoyed SVNHM performances at the group’s biannual concerts, at various assisted living facilities, at Russell’s Garden Center and First Parish Wayland during the holidays, and at its summer concerts at the Wayland Town Building.
Recently, COVID-19 has presented some challenges to groups like these. Bringing together over 80 musicians to an indoor facility to rehearse or to deliver a concert to an audience has not been possible over the past few months, so Diane Muffitt and her team of instructors have had to get creative. As a result, the group’s rehearsals have morphed into a variety of music education topics delivered online, including conducting, music theory, an introduction to jazz, and others. One of our instructors is using an online platform called Smartmusic to take participating students through a progressive sequence of exercises that are recorded for review and comment by the instructor. Musicians have been able to grow their skills despite not being able to meet in person.
Of course, nothing has stopped the group from performing “virtually”. Linda Murdock, a SVNHM co-founder, took on the monumental task of coordinating the recorded contributions of over 60 musicians, and bringing all of them together into a virtual performance of her arrangement of Mozart’s “Andante from Notturno, K.286”. It was an ambitious project for all involved, both musically and technically, but the results were worth it. The recorded performance can be seen on YouTube at:
SVNHM is working on another virtual performance that will be completed over the next few weeks.
Sound interesting? Sudbury Valley New Horizons Music is always open to welcoming new members. Whether you are well-versed at playing an instrument, have never played and don’t even know how to read those little black marks on the paper, or are somewhere in between, our string ensemble or band is for you. Our credos are: “Your Best is Good Enough!” and “It is never too late!”. For more information, e-mail Diane Muffitt at muffitt@svnhm.org, call her at 978-261-5065, or go to www.svnhb.org.
