Happy Holidays everyone! Many thanks to all who attended our 70th Reunion, and I hope that everyone enjoyed themselves. It was one of the largest groups that we’ve had for our reunion fundraisers. There were alumni from every decade of camp. It was a beautiful day, even when it started to sprinkle after the rehearsal. What did we play? The Sibelius Symphony #2 of course! I would also like to thank the Reunion Committee for all the work they did to make this event a success: Jeff Haberman, Dolores Toth, Kate Conroy Hernandez, David James, Jim Garrecht, Stephanie Crlenica Carter, Ken Olson, Jean Mahnken Predergast , Kirk Watilo, and Laura Dean Kusaba. They took care of everything from the registration, shirts, copying music, parking and many other jobs that had to be done. Also thanks to Dennis, Breck, and Larke Dockstader for all their help getting the Camp set up for us to be there. We also had several campers and current counselors who volunteered to help with parking, clean up, cooking and other jobs needed. Personally, I am grateful that so many of you are able to come back and relive memories. There is a contact list with everyone who attended the reunion included with the newsletter.
Our organization appreciates your generous support for our scholarship funds. We have been able to send many students to music camp who would not be able to attend. Arrowbear still runs a full summer of sessions along with other music camps that still offer sessions in the summer. As reported at the reunion, we are an all volunteer organization. The Board and Scholarship and Reunion committees do not receive any compensation for their time. Our major cost is our newsletter and printing of scholarship materials. Again thank you for all your support and I hope that you have a wonderful holiday season.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
This is the time of the year I really start to think about summer. I want to thank those of you who have donated to our scholarship fund. We had a dramatic increase in applicants this spring, and we helped as many as we could. I also want to thank the members of our Scholarship Committee and Reunion Committee for all their hard work.
The 70th Reunion is approaching fast. The date is Sunday, September 4, 2011. Our theme is “70 Years of Mountain Air Magic.” I am pleased to announce that Roger Johnson will conduct the Reunion Orchestra. We will honor Akira Endo, Carl Lindgren, Jim Mitchell, and Allan McMurray on our “Wall of Fame” for their contributions to Arrowbear. We are also planning to remember Carole Ohlendorf Dockstader by dedicating the garden next to the camp porch in her name. I hope that you can make it to the Reunion. If you can’t, please send us a memory you have of one of the people we are honoring so we can share it with everyone during the Reunion.
The day will be similar to past Reunions. In addition to the Reunion Orchestra, we are planning to have a brass choir and choral selections for our Choral alumni and for those of you who don’t play your instrument anymore.
Tentative Schedule
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8:00 - 10:00 |
Registration and breakfast |
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10:00 |
Photo - so it can be printed and returned to
us by the afternoon |
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10:30 - 12:30 |
Rehearsal |
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12:30 - 2:30 |
Lunch, camp singing, Garden Dedication and
awarding of plaques |
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2:30 - 5:00 |
Free time to visit |
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5:00 |
Concert |
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6:30 |
Dinner |
You’re welcome to come into camp on Saturday afternoon and sleep overnight. You
can stay until 10:00 a.m. on Monday, September 5, if you wish. The
accommodations at camp are just as you remember them, but there are a number of
motels in the vicinity if you’re not up to staying in camp. We do caution you
that it is Labor Day weekend and likely to be busy for the motels. We’ll put out
a list of contact numbers for lodging in our July update.
For your donation we will provide a Reunion picture, a Reunion Note, and lunch. We are going to offer a Henley-style shirt for both men and women. A small Reunion logo will be on the upper pocket area. These will be available by pre-order for a small additional donation to cover the cost of the shirts. Limited numbers of additional shirts will be available on the day of the Reunion. Your best bet is to pre-order so you know you’ll get the size you want. The camp will provide breakfast and dinner for an appropriate donation, or you can eat out of camp. It would be great if you could pre-register as soon as you know your plans for the summer. This will help us order the food and the shirts as well as copies of the music.
This Reunion is our major fund raiser. We appreciate all the support that you have given us in the past. It is only because of your generosity that we can help so many students who could not otherwise afford to attend camp. We’re excited to announce that we have awarded 42 scholarships totaling $24,665 for this coming summer. Thanks to all of you who donated to our scholarship fund this past year. You do make a difference.
Arrowbear Music Associates is an all volunteer group. We meet at my home and operate our business aspects of the corporation there, usually over chips and sodas. We are a non-profit corporation; however, we keep the costs to a minimum. All the Board members freely give their time and energy to keep our organization functioning so we can provide as many scholarships as possible. If you are interested in helping with the Reunion, scholarships, fund raising, or even being a permanent member of the Board, please contact us at any time.
A final Reunion Update will be mailed out in mid-July. Please send us the addresses of alumni. We need help spreading the date of the Reunion so no one is left out who’d like to attend. Talk to your friends and get them to come!h.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
We have begun planning for the 70th
On a sad note, Carole Ohlendorf
Dockstader passed away in the summer during Choral
Session. We will set aside some time at the
Thank you for all the generous donations.
We always struggle when awarding scholarships. There are so many families who
want to send their children to a summer music camp, but struggle to find the
funds in our current economy. The thank you letters the campers send to us make
it worth all the effort. I hope you enjoy them.
We have continued discussing the idea of
sending out the newsletter by email. It could be difficult to keep up with the
logistics of updating email addresses. We would like to hear your thoughts on
this topic. Please check out our web site at arrowbearrmusicassoc.org where we
also post information about our organization.
I hope you are all well. Please keep in
touch.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
As summer approaches, we are only a year
away from our 70th
We will need help with planning for the
Your generous donations have helped many
students attend summer music camps. When
we read the applications, there are so many families that are in great need of
assistance. It becomes very difficult to
make decisions on who we can give money to because of all the need. Many families barley have enough money to
live month to month, yet they will do what they can to send their children to a
summer music camp. Your donations
directly affect the lives of the applicants and their families. They are so
grateful for the help. We were able to help 47students year. The Board is very
proud of how many scholarships we able to offer. That is because you are so
generous and believe in the power Arrowbear has on
young musicians.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
Thank you for all your support over the
years. I hope that you have a wonderful holiday season. Laura and I spent a day
at Arrowbear this last summer visiting the Advanced
Session. We were able to watch the rehearsals of the Band and Orchestra. Both
groups sounded great. We also heard a wonderful woodwind quintet who was kind
enough to perform a selection for us. Campers still sings camp songs after
lunch and conclude with “Oh, Give Thanks” just like when we both attended camp.
It was great being up at camp. Being there always brings back memories for me.
We really enjoy receiving letters from past campers who share their memories of
camp. Bernice Mitchell Hallam, who was a camper at
the very first Arrowbear session in 1942, is a great
source of memories. Be sure to read her letter that’s included in the
newsletter. We’d love to hear from more of you, especially those of you who
were campers in the early days of Arrowbear.
We really appreciate your continued
support, especially in this economy. There is usually a rush of donations when
the newsletters go out. Then there are stretches of time when the mail box is
empty until it’s time for the next newsletter. That hasn’t happened this year.
Donations have continued to come in consistently all throughout the summer and
into the early fall. Your belief in the power of Arrowbear,
and your trust in us to give out scholarships is very
humbling. Your donations have helped hundreds of young musicians attend summer
music camps. We expect to have a large number of scholarship applications again
in the spring. We’ll do our best to help as many young musicians go to camp.
The magic is still there. Arrowbear still changes
peoples’ lives today just like it did mine.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
Summer is just around the corner, and we just
finished awarding our scholarships for this summer. Many thanks for all the
generous donations to our scholarships funds. We had 76 applications this year,
and we were able to award 47 scholarships. We used to receive from 40-50
applications. This was a record year, showing how the need for financial
assistance has increased.
One thing that the Scholarship Committee
noticed when they were reviewing the applications was that many of the
applicants do not take private lessons. The number of young musicians without
lessons who are applying for a scholarship is increasing every year. It could
be because of the economy that the ability for parents to afford lessons has
become more difficult. This lack of private lessons also means the applicants
are likely to have a limited mastery of their instrument. Sometimes we have to
turn them down for a scholarship because we know they’d be overwhelmed at music
camp until they have more time to develop their skills. Many
thanks to the school music teachers who are trying their best to help students
learn their instruments without additional support from private teachers.
Also, many of the families that we help barely make enough money to support themselves, but they still try to send their children to a
summer music camp. Your donations have assisted many young musicians that would
not have had the opportunity to attend music camp at all.
Our reunion is about two years away in the
summer of 2011. The board will begin planning next year. If you have ideas for
what to do at the reunion please email them to us. One note, about a year ago
we printed the name of Bill Mitchell mistakenly instead of Jim Mitchell. Our apologies. Finally I hope you have a fun summer. If you
are in the area you should visit Arrowbear.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
The holiday season is here again. It’s a
time for reflection on the year that is ending and a time to look forward to the
possibilities in the New Year to come. Your generous donations have helped
hundreds of young musicians attend summer music camps. Last summer we were able
to help forty-nine campers. When we read the letters of need, I’m amazed that
families can afford summer programs for their children given their incomes, but
somehow they seem to find a way to pay the difference and send their children
just like our own parents did.
The Board struggles each year to award
scholarships to all of the deserving applicants. Our organization is made up of
volunteers who donate their time and expertise to make decisions concerning who
is awarded a scholarship. Our only overhead is the newsletter and the materials
needed for the scholarship process. I encourage you to check out our web site
at www.arrowbearmusicassoc.org. Our scholarship information and application is
posted. We have alumni news, our donation form, and the contact information for
the Board. If you have time, please feel free to give us suggestions on what
else you’d like to see posted on the site.
I do like hearing from all of you who take
the time to contact us. Just the other day, a former camper emailed us and
recounted a time when Larry Kohorn and I rented a
small boat to cruise around
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
We just completed awarding our scholarships
for this summer. We are never able to help everyone who applies. It’s always
difficult to tell someone we can’t help them. The cost of summer music camps
makes it difficult for many families, and as you know, the cost of everything
we buy these days is increasing. Our schools in
The Board spent two days listening to
tapes and making recommendations for awards. We spent another two weeks trying
to divide up what we received in donations from our last two newsletters.
Fortunately, our anonymous donor listened to our plea to help seven additional
student applicants and willingly gave us an additional $3,400. Except for the
two newsletters and other materials costs, we use all of the money donated to
our Fred & Edna Ohlendorf Scholarship Fund for
summer scholarships. The money you donate from this newsletter and the fall
newsletter will be used for next year’s scholarships. We’re at “0” dollars
again right now after awarding scholarship for this summer.
Arrowbear’s costs
are still much less expensive that other summer music camps in the
We really appreciate your support. The
money you send us makes a difference in the life of someone who may not have
ever had the chance to experience a summer music program. We have one high
school winner who has already called us several times to make sure he has
filled out his acceptance and registration forms correctly. He’s so excited
about going to camp that he just starts speaking and forgets to identify
himself when he calls us. Calls like that make all of our time and effort
worthwhile.
I hope you have a great summer. If you
have a chance to visit the camp, check out their web site to look for dates. I
recommend you email them for concert dates since they don’t always have a
concert every weekend these days. The students always seem to have a wonderful
experience. In comparison, the Arrowbear “Coconut
Bear” makes the TV American Idol show look like an amateur contest, at least in
my opinion!
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
Michelle Chace
Bass, who lives in the Blue Jay area, thankfully did not lose her home, but the
houses across the street from hers were completely destroyed. Her dad did lose
his home to the fires. She said there were power lines down and fire damage
everywhere. In
Thank you for your generous donations to
our scholarship fund. When it’s time to decide on scholarships, we never seem
to have enough money, but we always find a way to help as many young musicians
as possible. The new three-week session was especially difficult for us to fund
because of the cost. There are still elementary, middle-school age, and choral
and jazz sessions for the older students to enjoy.
One last note: Dennis is planning to have
a work/clean-up chamber music time before camp opens for the summer. I do not have
the details, but we can post them on our web site at
www.arrowbearmusicassoc.org when we get more information. Sometimes it takes
disasters to make you think about what is important and what you can lose. For
me, it is the memories of the place, the dining hall, the dorms, orchestra
bowl, and all the activities that took place there over the thirty plus years
that I was involved with Arrowbear.
I hope you have a safe and happy holiday
where ever you may be.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
Summer is almost here once again. That means we have just completed awarding
our scholarships for this summer. We thank all of you who have donated to our
scholarship fund. Your generous contributions make it possible for us to send
49 students to camp that could not afford the cost of a summer music camp
experience.
Arrowbear has extended their Advanced Session to
three weeks. This will be a new experience for that age group. Once
disappointment for us is that we have money for choral scholarships; however,
it is difficult to get choral students to apply for the scholarships. We sent
out letters to choral teachers, made sure all the choral campers got the fall
newsletter advertising the scholarships, and put the word out the best we can.
If you have any ideas, please email us some suggestions.
I hope you have an enjoyable
summer, and if you are able, try to attend one of the summer camp concerts.
Check before you go since there is not necessarily a concert every weekend.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
Our Reunions are a wonderful moment in time that bring
together alumni and friends. I hope those of you who were able to attend
enjoyed the day as much as I did. I also know that many more of you were with
us in spirit. There were 95 alumni and their families at the
The best part for me is visiting
with friends and reliving memories. The Choir sang three wonderful selections
in the dining hall. Many thanks to Fran Harding for her fine
conducting. We then moved out to the Ohlendorf
Bowl (orchestra bowl) to hear the Brass Choir play a selection by Gabrielli. Jack Hollander graciously and effectively
conducted the piece. The concert concluded with the orchestra playing “
The dedications to Dr. Sawhill and Phil Elithorpe were a
highlight of the
The day was a success due to the
volunteer hours put in by the Board of Directors. I’d like to thank them for
all their hard work. All of those on the Board devote their own time and energy
to make sure your donations help as many students as possible. If you are
interested in helping in any way, please contact us. The organization survives
only because you all believe in Arrowbear and the
difference it makes in the lives of young musicians.
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
I hope that everyone is doing
well and that you enjoy reading our newsletters. It’s hard to believe that Arrowbear will be celebrating its 65th Summer
this year. On Sunday, September 3, 2006, we will gather for our
One of the activities at the
The day will be similar to past
Reunions. In addition to the Reunion Orchestra, we are planning to have a brass
choir and choral selections for our Choral alumni and for those of you who
don’t play your instrument anymore.
Tentative Schedule
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8-10:00 |
Registration and breakfast |
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10:00 |
Photo - so it can be printed and
returned to us by the afternoon |
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10:30 - 12:30 |
Rehearsal |
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12:30 - 2:30 |
Lunch, camp singing, Sawhill recognition and awarding of plaques |
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2:30 - 5:00 |
Free time to visit |
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5:00 |
Dinner |
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6:30 |
Concert |
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9:00 |
Camp fire |
You’re welcome to come into camp
on Saturday afternoon and sleep overnight. The Intermediate session will be
having their concert at around 6:00 that evening, so please leave your bags in your
car until they have had a chance to clear out. You can stay until 10:00 a.m. on
Monday, September 4, if you wish. The accommodations at camp are just as you
remember them, but there are a number of motels in the vicinity if you’re not
up to staying in camp. We do caution you that it is Labor Day weekend and
likely to be busy for the motels. You can try Running Springs, Big Bear, and
For your donation we will
provide a
This
Arrowbear Music Associates is an all volunteer
group. We meet at my home and operate our business aspects of the corporation
there, usually over chips and sodas. We are a non-profit corporation; however,
we keep the costs to a minimum. All the Board members freely give their time
and energy to keep our organization functioning so we can provide as many
scholarships as possible. If you are interested in helping with the
A final Reunion Update will be
mailed out in mid-July. Please send us the names and addresses of alumni. We
need help spreading the date of the
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See you on September 3, |
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Clifford Kusaba |
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President |
I hope everyone had an enjoyable summer. We were able to award forty-one
scholarships because of your generous contributions. Music education in our
schools is an important part of our children’s education. Educators know that
these programs help improve student learning which is reflected in our schools’
test scores. We also know that summer music camps bring remarkable changes in
the lives of the children who attend them. With your help, we will continue to
support these programs for as long as possible.
At
our last Board of Directors meeting, we set the date for the 65th
Roger
Johnson is planning to retire from directing the Long Beach City College
Community Orchestra next spring. This is the same group that Dr. Pappone directed for many years. Roger has already retired
from teaching at LBCC. He’s ready to enjoy other things, like spending more
time with his grandchildren. Our last concert will be on May 7, 2006. If you
are able, please join us for Roger’s last concert with our orchestra.
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Clifford Kusaba |
It was in November of 1985 that Arrowbear Music Associates had its first official meeting.
During the past twenty years, our organization has helped hundreds of campers
to attend music camp. As I return to the
presidency of the Associates, I hope that we will continue to provide
scholarships for another twenty years, and hopefully, many more years beyond
that. Our organization is an all volunteer group. We volunteer our time to help
others enjoy a summer of music as we did. We are always in need of help
with raising money, awarding scholarships, and planning activities. If you are
interested, please contact us.
Over the past twenty years, the
Associates has sponsored several reunions, picnics,
and recitals to raise money. Our primary goal has always been to provide
scholarships to students who need financial assistance. We have been able to
help so many campers because of your generous donations. Sessions this summer
at Arrowbear cost between $360 and $800. This is
really al bargain. Other camps in the
The first Reunion our organization
sponsored was the 50th
This year’s Arrowbear
Music Camp’s brochure has a quote from Mr. Ohlendorf:
“I believe in music as an enrichment for anyone, and I
believe that the more they can perform in beautiful organizations of great
music and get inspiration and happy memories of great pieces performed . . .
the richer their lives will be.” He always believed that all school children
should have music as part of their education. This belief is why the Associates
works so diligently to help students. As you all know,
it is an experience that stays with you for a lifetime.
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Clifford Kusaba |
Every time I stop at a stoplight, someone drives up next to me
with rap music blaring very loudly. Is this what our music world is coming to?
Is this what the public schools are satisfied to graduate every year? Where is
the effort to teach the great classics, to teach that seeing the actual Mona
Lisa is better than seeing a picture of it? What can we do as individuals to
preserve the greatness of the past while encouraging young artists of the
future? Well, we can become teachers in the public schools, take on a mentor or
tutoring situation after school, help finance a young kid through summer camp,
and contribute whatever we can to help out wherever we can.
I went to a conference in
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Virginia Frazier |
Hello, Everyone.
I often feel I keep saying the same things, but there's always news to think
about. This summer will be like no other with the passing of Seth. It seems like
there is nothing I can even begin to say that will provide comfort. I can only
rely on the words of great poets like E. E. Cummings who wrote, “Somewhere I
have never traveled, gladly beyond any experience, your eyes have their
silence: in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me, or which I
cannot touch because they are too near. Your slightest look easily will unclose
me though I have closed myself as fingers, or if your wish be to close me, I
and my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly, as when the heart of this
flower imagines the snow carefully everywhere descending; nothing which we are
to perceive in this world equals the power of your intense fragility: whose
texture compels me with color of its countries, rendering death and forever
with each breathing. I do not know what it is about you that closes and opens;
only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all
roses.”
The passing of loved ones takes time to
comprehend. I will continue to ponder and reminisce. At least we can all be
grateful that the camp survived the terrible fires of last fall. We came so
close to losing Arrowbear. I’m sure you felt as
helpless as I did as you listened to the news reports or searched for
information on the Internet. The rain and the wind turned the tide and kept
Camp from what seemed like certain destruction.
Musicians are
fighting many battles in the workplace and schools...always
the funding is being cut for the arts. Producers threaten to replace
Broadway shows with virtual orchestras (a little black box), but of course
never give the public a break in prices. Right now, something called Phamlet B is threatening to cut in half the wages of
Theatre Musicians. The President of the Union is coming from
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Virginia Frazier |
Dear Fellow Alumnni...it's
that time again to write a newsletter. What will be our children's greatest influences?
I guess mine was music...the teachers and friends who surrounded me. I remember
when Kiki Collins played the Bruch
violin concerto in All City Honor Orchestra. She probably doesn't even remember
me. I listened and hoped to play like that some day. Shoot ahead 30 years. Has
it really been that long? I have the privilege to sub frequently for the
musical The Producers at the Pantages Theater, and in
the violin folder, I see that Kiki did the show in
The Japanese have beautiful concert halls. It's a pleasure to play in the
acoustics of a great hall. They really support the arts there too...so many
concert halls in so small a country. Well, I'm enlisting your support once
again. Please contribute to the scholarship fund so we can include as many kids
as possible at camp next summer. Thanks again for you previous support and
please be generous once again.
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Sincerely, |
Greetings to
you and welcome to our spring newsletter. We spent a recent Saturday listening to the tapes of over 40
kids, all making admirable efforts to win the prize of a scholarship. I
remember those days! It was always so hard to make the tape sound just right. I
would try it several times before I was satisfied.. Then came the writing part. Did my story sound legitimate?
Did I exaggerate? Did I tell them enough about my qualifying problems? I see
these kids going through the same things I did. Life keeps repeating itself.
These kids weren't even born when I was in high school. It's hard to comprehend
sometimes. Oh well, I hope we make a difference in as many cases as possible.
The good news is that music
programs are alive and well in southern
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Virginia Frazier |
Dear Arrowbearites
- Happy New Year! Hope all finds you well. Have you heard the news about
classical orchestras lately? All the players are taking pay cuts just to keep many
orchestras from folding. It's not encouraging. I do gigs where the audiences
are mostly older with few young children in them. Where are the audiences of
the future? Will it come to the point where only the elite can afford to train
their children in the classics and the general masses will be passed over? If I
didn't have good public school training, where would I be? Just listening to
CDs, I guess, rather than playing. Who will be my children's "Mr. Ohlendorf"?? Who will train, inspire, and motivate them
to choose classical instruments as a career even if the odds are against them,
even if there are too many musicians for too few chairs????
The only answer I know is for
all of us to support the arts in our communities and through alumni
contributions. I implore all of the alumni to take someone under their wing:
help inner city kids pay for music lessons, adopt a kid through a summer camp
program, and take your own kids or grandchildren to the symphony! Technology is
a fact, and somehow the classical music business has to catch up. Could you
write a string quartet and orchestrate it for the junior high orchestra in your
area! Donate your time to your local public school music program. You could
offer to coach sectionals or give lessons at reduced cost. Let's find a way to
make technology beneficial to us as musicians so we don't have to worry about
being downloaded and all our profits taken away. I'm sorry to be so
pessimistic. I guess I'm in the thick of it because it's what I do to make ends
meet. Anyway, I appreciate all your support in the past for Arrowbear,
and hope you will continue to be generous in the future.
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Virginia Frazier |