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I've been a member of the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra since 2007 and it has been a wonderful experience. A wonderful part of it has been the orchestra's warm and productive partnership with MassBay Community College. MassBay (which serves about 6,000 students) has been the home of the Wellesley Symphony since 1984. As part of our responsibilities as the Orchestra-in-Residence, we are part of MassBay's commencement ceremonies. We play a short concert prior to the start of the ceremonies, the well-known processional, Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance, March #1, and recessional music at the close of the ceremony. The first commencement I played in, in 2008, was quite an eye opener. The enthusiasm of the MassBay grads, families, and friends is simply incredible. When one gets a sense of how hard these students work - many of the graduates have one job and most have two -- the journeys of many just to get to MassBay, much less to graduate, are quite inspirational. One extra treat is to accompany singers of the national anthem for commencement (standing in front of a good orchestra is one of the coolest experiences!) This past May we were pleased to play behind Tahlia Butler, who did a terrific job. It was wonderful to watch Tahlia working with Mark Latham, our music director, at rehearsal and the performance went off without a hitch. For commencement the orchestra is seated with just enough space that's shaped something like a shallow, wide crescent. Instead of being in the middle (behind the woodwinds, in front of the percussion for a typical concert,) we (trumpets) found ourselves against the tent in the far left just behind the lower strings. I suspect that the woodwinds were relieved to be out of the typical trumpet-induced mayhem, and we did have a rare thrill hanging out with the violas. Another big difference between commencements and anything else is the musical downtime. Once we're done with our 'pre' concert and procession music, we've got a lot of time to ourselves until we resume for the recessional. Some of the players read or talk -- for example, this year I learned a few things about double reeds while eavesdropping on a conversation between our principal oboist and principal bassoonist. For me it's mostly wandering outside the tent and chatting up MassBay staff and security and other WSO players. It's nice to get a chance to just talk with other players, some of whom (like those mysterious string players) I've never really met. Throughout all this we follow the progress of names in the program. Then, all-of-a-sudden, we need to find our way back into the tent for the recessional. This year we closed with the entire Pomp & Circumstance Marches #1 and #4; Elgar wrote five of them -- the performance of the first one in 1901 was a 'frantic success.' We hear that 'land of hope and glory' theme a lot, of course, but the piece overall is quite something. In any case, I say a quick trumpeter's prayer to not crack my first notes, and we're off to celebrate another great class of MassBay graduates. Chris Ten Eyck Principal Trumpet

It's almost spring - there are little daffodil shoots and I have even seen some teeny flowers blooming along my favorite path by Morse Pond. It's fitting that our annual Family Concert on Sunday, March 26 celebrates young people in particular - but we perform for everyone in your family and ours because we truly believe that live music brings all people together! If you attend our performance (and I hope that you do!), you will be able to read the wonderful program notes written by bassist James Heazlewood-Dale. James is completing his Ph.D. in musicology at Brandeis and knows a lot about music. He always finds interesting tidbits to share. Briefly, we will begin our program with Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," which will be enhanced by a slide show to help you learn about the instruments in a typical symphony orchestra. The Britten will be followed by the third movement of Mahler's first symphony (known as "The Titan"). However, this movement is not titan-like at all - it's a wonderful take on a well-known tune - "Frère Jacques" (Brother John), that we all learned at an early age! Following the beautiful and somewhat somber Mahler, you will get to meet the winner of our Michael H. Welles Young Soloist Competition. This is an annual competition that we have held for several decades (minus a couple of pandemic years). Several years ago, friends of Michael Welles, one of our fabulous French horn players, gave a donation to the orchestra in Michael's honor to fund this competition. We generally have about 30 competitors and they are all terrific. This year's winner, Brian Lee, played the first movement of Shostakovich's first cello concerto so brilliantly that we (the judges) were blown away! We are grateful to the wonderful music teachers who work with these students, and to the amazing accompanists without whom the students couldn't audition. We are also grateful to the Dana Hall School of Music for graciously allowing us to hold our competition there. Our final two pieces are also fantastic - in fact, Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" (arranged by Rimsky-Korsakov) is included in Disney's famous "Fantasia" movie. And to end with a rousing fanfare, we will perform Joan Tower's sixth "Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman". Joan Tower is a contemporary female composer who was inspired by Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man". As a woman, I am especially pleased to play this piece! On a sadder note, the orchestra members are mourning the loss of one of our beloved colleagues. Becky Moury, who played clarinet in the orchestra for many years, died recently from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease). In Becky's memory, the orchestra has pledged to donate 10% of all donations received from today through the date of our next concert, May 7, to Compassionate Care ALS, one of Becky's favorite ALS organizations. DONATE HERE Here is a beautiful tribute, written by Bobby Kipp, our principal oboe, and a dear friend of Becky's: We are so sad to report that our beloved Becky Mourey, former WSO clarinetist, passed away on February 14, 2023. Diagnosed with ALS in 2020, Becky motivated us every day to fight unselfishly for change in the ALS research, therapeutic, and legislative space. Many of us in the WSO have known Becky for over 20 years. We first got to know her through our shared love for and involvement in music. Becky was a fantastic clarinetist and music teacher. One of the experiences she most enjoyed during her WSO years was playing the bass clarinet in “Tubby the Tuba” at the Orchestra’s 2017 Family Concert. You can see this on YouTube (https://youtu.be/XJqPkFQjRmI). Our shared love of music blossomed into much deeper friendships, and when Becky was diagnosed with ALS, many of us rallied around her to support her in her journey and in her fierce advocacy for desperately needed changes in the awful world of ALS. We watched Becky unselfishly join ALS organizations and working groups, show up at legislators’ events (see https://youtu.be/8po1sqItJ9s), and enlist countless others to participate. All while she traveled her own terrible ALS journey. Always with insight, wisdom, humor, and compassion. All while being a loving and caring mother, wife, sister, aunt, and friend. Several ALS organizations recognized how special Becky was by giving her awards. But that wasn’t her motivation. She just wanted change, and so do we.

Happy New Year! We have 3 more fantastic concerts in our current season, and we're excited to share this glorious music with you. As WSO musicians, we believe that live music brings all people together! Being a nosy sort, I am always interested in learning why people do the things that they do. So I decided to ask our fabulous WSO musicians why they joined the orchestra, do they have a favorite piece, do they like to practice, do they enjoy rehearsals and performing. Here are some answers from a few of our wonderful orchestra members: Brandon Sciarra, principal trombone I joined the WSO because I have a passion for performing orchestral repertoire and the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra is a high quality ensemble which I am proud to be a part of. This is my second season with WSO. My favorite piece is Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony and I was excited to be a part of those rehearsals last season. Unfortunately, I got Covid the week of the concert and could not play the concert. My favorite piece from this season was Dvorak's New World Symphony! I enjoy practicing trombone and play better each time I do. I was always quite competitive when it comes to music and knew that if I wasn't practicing to improve, my competition was. With two young children at home I don't practice as much as I used to, but now play trombone mainly for my own enjoyment. I enjoy the WSO rehearsals because playing music is fun! And, I enjoy performing! I have been playing trombone for 30 years and performing in concerts has long been a part of my life. Performing in concerts is simply fun and that is why I continue to do it! Bobby Kipp, principal oboe I joined the WSO around 2000, after subbing a couple of times. I was thrilled to be invited to join this wonderful orchestra. Playing orchestral music in a fine ensemble like the WSO is not only musically satisfying but has led to some amazing friendships. It means a lot to have a regular group of like-minded people who play great music for the love of it! I like playing classics like Brahms, Beethoven, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky. AND I like playing lesser-known/less-played composers and pieces, including new compositions. I don’t always love playing the oboe. It can be a terrible bedfellow at times. All that fussing with reeds, the temperamental instrument, and physical demands. But when it’s not the bad stuff, it’s the second best (second to my husband of 37 years) friend I have. Playing the oboe – when practicing, rehearsing with others and playing concerts – keeps me grounded and brings a sense of joy. I’m not sure why, but it does. I like practicing – sometimes working on things for orchestra or other groups, but other times just playing music I like or want to learn. I call that practicing too, but it’s really just playing. I think I like playing music more than I like listening to it! I really like orchestra rehearsals. I love to see/hear the orchestra learn a piece, take it apart and put it back together to make it sound better than when we started. And Mark does all of that so well, trusting us as musicians while simultaneously giving us creative direction, teaching us about the specific music and music in general. It’s really fun to learn and improve and eat (hear) the fruits of our collective labors. I do like performing. It’s such a rewarding end to a period of time spent learning and improving. And I like sharing all that with friends and family, who are so supportive by coming to concerts. That said, I also enjoy playing music with others (mostly in chamber groups like wind quintets) where the joy comes from just playing through music together (sometimes pieces we work hard to learn together) without the added “stress” of a concert. I don’t think I’d be musically complete without both. Elaine Wu, second violin I joined the WSO when I moved to the Boston area. Dianne Mahany (former principal clarinet) was working with Barry's (my husband's) stepfather and she recruited me to come specifically to the WSO, telling me they were the best community orchestra in this area and that Max Hobart was an amazing musician and great to work with. I had to hurry and join, as I wanted to play Beethoven's 9th with the orchestra (in 2004). It's been 18 years! Our daughter Mia began coming to hear us rehearse almost weekly since she was 3 weeks old. She stopped coming to rehearsals only due to the Covid pandemic. Now she's a busy junior in high school and comes to all my concerts. I love playing with friends, in the middle of the sound, immersed in the music we create in the orchestra. I'm still surprised after all these years that when I practice, I actually get better and am able to accomplish hard passages that I think are impossible! Liz Turi, second violin I play my grandfather's violin. He played it through high school and stopped playing when he suffered an injury in WWII that removed his left pinky. When he heard that I had started learning violin not long after my eldest child was born, he lit up like a Christmas tree and hurried off, returning with his violin to show it to me. It had been stored under his bed for years. (You have to imagine this - my grandfather had a kind of gruff exterior with a voice like James Earl Jones. He was a farmer and an engineer, and he didn't ever rush, but moved deliberately (but boy did he love his grandkids and great grandkids and he had the best hugs). So to see him act like a kid was amazing in and of itself and I STILL tear up at the memory). It was a beautiful red varnished violin, that had clearly been sitting unplayed for years. Its strings were slack and some were missing. The bow was a disaster. Its case was an old leather bound case barely held together and creaking. But Grandpa was so proud to show it to me. He'd always been supportive of me in my scientific efforts - and always encouraged me to play music (I played flute growing up) - but now we shared something specific that no one else in the family shared, and he was visibly excited about this (as was I!). When he passed away a few years later, I shared that there was literally only one thing that I actually wanted to the point of explicitly asking for it, and that was his violin. (Now my house is happily filled with memories from his farm). It would be a few more years again until the violin came to me, at which point I took it to Jennifer Becker (in the Twin Cities where I lived at the time) to see if it could be restored to playing condition. It was a baroque style violin, built in 1841 in Ashburnham, MA, by Samuel Brooks. Jennifer told me that it was built oddly. It had Italian and German features from the time period, and there were braces along the sides holding the top and bottom to the sides. It has a square sound peg. (I would later learn from a now-defunct museum that featured Pioneer Valley violins that Samuel Brooks was a clockmaker who dabbled in violins but that "none of his surviving violins are at all playable".) She replaced the neck, tailpiece, chin guard, and fingerboard, keeping the original scroll. We also left the little bit of tape that has Grandpa's name on it - a remnant from when he played in high school. I chose to go this route so I could play it in modern orchestras rather than restoring it to its baroque state. Now I figure that the violin's clockmaker/tinkerer maker would approve. Lin Yu, second violin I joined the WSO for the love of classical music, and the pleasure of making beautiful music with like-minded folks. And, the quality/level of WSO is quite high, I mean, the good musicianship of all members, not the least the conductor(s). It is much more enjoyable to play with WSO. Besides, I have learnt much while being with WSO. I joined in January 2017. Wow, 7 calendar years already flying by ... much water under the bridge, and continuing to flow . . . . I love to practice. However, often I cannot find enough time. I enjoy rehearsals because I like playing music with like-minded and well-trained musicians, as well as being among very friendly people. Performing is the harvest time to enjoy the fruit of our time-spent, labor and effort. Usually, at performance, we do our best in beautiful music making, playing without interruption and immersing ourselves in endlessly sublime of classical music. As for me, I too love playing with the WSO, enjoy practicing and rehearsing, and get excited about performing and sharing all that we have learned about the music with you. This is my 48th season with the WSO, and I never get tired of working on this glorious music with my fellow musicians. We hope that you will join us at our concerts in experiencing our musical journey - after all, music is the universal language! Carol Davidson

What a year 2022 has been! We began the year in January by continuing our search for a new music director and auditioned 4 more finalists. Each of our finalists worked with the orchestra for several weeks and then we performed a concert (except one concert, canceled by COVID). The 2021-22 season ended with a beautiful and poignant performance led by our former music director of 28 years, Max Hobart, featuring our very own concertmaster Emil Altschuler playing the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto No. 3. Despite COVID, we had such a wonderful commitment from the entire orchestra and great audiences! After our new music director, Mark Latham, accepted our offer, the work began on our 2022-23 season - we are at the halfway point now. Our first concert on October 2 featured Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique - a crazy, romantic romp through an artist';s opium-induced dreamworld. We also performed Lera Auerbach's incredible Icarus, a music re-telling of the well-known Greek myth. In November, our theme was "In Memoriam" and was a tribute to my parents, Madeleine and Karl Weiss . The music embodied remembering the past and was incredibly moving. We just performed our annual holiday concert, with lots of fresh and fun takes on some old favorites. "A Mad Russian's Christmas" brought the nearly sold-out house down, as 2 young men (Devin Cox and Zach Fellinger) wailed away on their electric guitars! Rebecca Hains, a fabulous soprano, sang 4 songs and narrated the famous Christmas poem, " ’Twas the Night Before Christmas". My 4-and-a-half-year-old grandson was thoroughly enchanted by Rebecca and the story, and wanted her to repeat it all right away!! A rousing and well-sung sing-along ended the program. On November 13, after missing 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the annual Michael H. Welles WSO Young Soloist Competition returned, with some wonderful young musicians playing some glorious music. Our panel of judges auditioned 24 incredibly gifted students, ranging in age from 9 to 17. The students all played their selections magnificently, which made it quite difficult to select a winner. However, one student did stand out - Brian Lee, a 17-year-old student from Belmont, wowed us with his performance of the first movement of Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1. He will perform at our family concert on March 26, 2023 - you do not want to miss this! His impressive bio and photo have been posted on the Young Soloist tab on this site. The WSO Young Soloist Competition has been an annual event for several decades, originally managed by Bill Burdine, our personnel manager and fantastic bassoonist for many years. In 2002 Dianne Mahany, at the time principal clarinet and Board member took over the competition and set up the managing tools extremely well. So well that when I took over in 2019, I was able to follow in Dianne's footsteps without too many errors! We are grateful to the Dana Hall School of Music for graciously allowing us to use their building for this day-long event. The best part of this competition is the privilege to hear so many young people who are so passionate about classical music. In our current era, classical music organizations, both professional and amateur, are struggling to maintain relevance. As an example, this Sunday's NYTimes arts section did not contain a single article on classical music. As a life-long lover of classical music, I find this incredible. As we look forward to 2023, we have 3 more exciting concerts lined up for your enjoyment. It is our hope that our performances continue to enhance your lives. Music is the universal language and can uplift, soothe and amuse us. Music is for celebrations, for remembrance, and for enabling us to escape the troubles around us. My best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy and peaceful holiday and New Year! Carol Davidson

Historians speak about the Holocaust as the seminal event of the 20th century, and indeed it is, but its impact is truly seen when individuals tell their stories. The number of people affected by WWII and the Holocaust are staggering – millions of civilians murdered (including six million Jews), millions displaced, soldiers killed and wounded – all these people are individuals with their own personal tales to tell. The Holocaust is about more than numbers, it is about people, and each person, whether they perished or survived, has a voice that needs to be heard. This story tells the tale of two people, Madeleine and Karl Weiss,my mother and my father. Both began their lives in Germany, and through the kindness of family members and total strangers, both survived the Holocaust in completely different ways. Madeleine and Karl were both Holocaust survivors who fled from Germany. Madeleine, my mother, escaped to Belgium, and Karl, my father, escaped to England. They both ultimately emigrated to the U.S. after WWII, where they met, fell in love, married and lived out their lives. This is a brief synopsis of their life stories. Mom was born in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany on May 5, 1924. She and her parents, Gertude (Bial) and Alfred Witsenhausen, lived in a large house with a big garden near the center of the city. Mom had a happy childhood, and attended a Jewish school, the Philantropin. On May 6, 1930, Mom's brother Hans was born. Eventually, Hans also attended the Philantropin. Our grandparents were both fine musicians - Gertrude played the piano, and Alfred played the violin. He played first violin in a string quartet that met in their house weekly. I still have his violin, and his collection of bound chamber music. Our great-grandfather, Carl Bial, was also an excellent violinist, and I still play his violin! Both Madeleine and Hans grew up hearing wonderful chamber music right in their home, an experience that created their lifelong love of music. All was well with the Witsenhausen family until 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor, and then Führer of Germany. Little by little, the rights of Jews in Germany, and ultimately any country occupied by the Germans, were diminished. In 1935, according to the Nuremberg Laws, Jews were no longer citizens of the German Reich. Jewish children were not allowed to attend German public schools. Luckily, Mom and Hans were already attending the Philantropin, so they could continue their education. However, by 1937, Alfred Witsenhausen had to "sell" his textile fabrication business to a Nazi, and although he remained an employee, the family's income was greatly reduced. Mom's parents had already decided that the family had to leave Germany. Louis Bial, Gertrude's brother, had left for France in 1933. Aunt Charlotte, Gertrude's sister, and her husband and baby, were trying to get visas for the U.S. (they did succeed in moving to Los Angeles in December 1938 - among the few lucky ones). Gertrude and Alfred decided that they needed to leave Germany too, and selected Brussels, Belgium as their destination. Alfred spoke fluent, accent-less French, which ultimately saved his life, and the lives of the entire Witsenhausen family. On Kristallnacht , November 9-10, 1938, Alfred was in Aachen, a German city on the border of Belgium. He telephoned home to make sure his family was safe; Gertrude told him not to come home because the Gestapo was searching for him. He then decided to cross into Belgium and headed to Brussels, where he rented an apartment and waited for the rest of the family. In January 1939, Gertrude, Madeleine and Hans traveled to Brussels, and began a new chapter of their lives. Dad was born in Hamburg, Germany , on June 21, 1926. His father, Edwin Weiss, was a businessman who dealt in rawhide leather, purchasing goods in Scandinavia and eastern Europe, and was an Orthodox Jew. Edwin was also a master chess player. Sadly, Dad's mother died when he was 3 and a half, a traumatic experience. After a year or so, Edwin remarried, to Adele Sachs Thorn, who was not Jewish. She was born in Argentina and raised as a Catholic. She had a son from her previous marriage, Wolfgang, who was 3 years older than Dad, and they had great times growing up together. Dad attended the Talmud Torah Real Schule, which was closed by the Nazis in 1939. This location housed the University of Hamburg after the war, but has recently reopened as a school for Jewish children. Edwin and Adele Weiss loved music and opera, and frequently attended concerts in Hamburg. Grandfather Edwin was questioned by the Gestapo sometime before Kristallnacht, which caused him to have a nervous breakdown. He was hospitalized at a Jewish psychiatric hospital in Bendorf-Sayn, outside Koblenz, until he and all the other patients, doctors and nurses were "evacuated" to Poland, where they were all murdered at Belzec, one of the Nazi death camps (likely in March of 1942). Mrs. Weiss (Adele) was able to get a visa to move to New York in 1939. Luckily for Dad, Adele and Dad's uncle Henry Chassel (married to Aunt Irma Weiss) managed to get Dad on the first Kindertransport * to England. Dad left Hamburg about 3 weeks after Kristallnacht and arrived in London around December 3rd, 1938. Not all the children had been assigned families, so Dad and a number of other children were housed at Dovercourt Bay, in Harwich,England, in a summer "camp" with unheated little huts during one of the coldest winters on record! Just before Christmas 1938, Dad and 11 other Orthodox Jewish boys were placed with families in the Cricklewood neighborhood of London, and after the holidays, Dad began attending the Moro Road School, along with his new friend, Karl Morgenstern (who changed his name to Charles Morgan when he immigrated to the U.S.). Dad celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at the Dollis Hill Synagogue in the spring of 1939. In August of 1939, most of the children in London were evacuated to the countryside, because the government was concerned that the Germans would bomb the city. Dad and his friend Charlie, and all the children from the Moro Road School, were sent to Biddenham and Bromham, two very small villages just outside Bedford, north of London. After some time, most of the children returned to London, as the Germans did not bomb the city at that time. But Dad and Charlie, and a few other refugee children, stayed in Bedfordshire. Dad was extremely fortunate to be billeted with Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe, a middle-aged couple who had never had children. Dad lived with them in Biddenham until he left England in 1946. The war began with Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, and a few days later, Britain declared war against Germany. The next major event in our family's history was the invasion of Belgium (and Holland and France) on May 10, 1940. All male Jewish refugees between the ages of 16-60 in Brussels were arrested, and most were sent to concentration camps in the south of France. Alfred Witsenhausen, Mom's father, was one of those sent to Saint-Cyprien, a ghastly camp near the Spanish border. He was able to escape from a transport to another camp in Bordeaux several months later, and ultimately walked to Brussels, where he was reunited with the family. Things were quiet in Brussels until the summer of 1942, when the Nazis made a more concerted effort in all their occupied territories to round up Jews, deport them to Poland, and ultimately murder them. Madeleine and Hans were no longer able to attend school; rations for Jews were difficult to get - the situation was tense with the possibility of arrest and deportation always a possibility. Luckily for the Witsenhausen family, they were able to find a safer place to live - hiding openly in a basement apartment on the same street as Gestapo headquarters with false papers. The family survived the war intact, which was a miracle. In Britain, Dad attended the local school in Biddenham. At the age of 16, he was given a choice of either doing war work or being interned on the Isle of Man, where many German and Austrian Jewish refugees were imprisoned. Dad chose war work and served as a farm laborer on the neighboring farm in Biddenham. Dad often spoke of how much he learned about life from working on a farm. At the same time, he continued his studies in science and math, especially chemistry, at the Bedford Technical Institute. In 1943, after winning the first prize in a national (all Great Britain) chemistry exam, Dad was given the opportunity to work in a chemistry lab in London, and attend the University of London to study more math and chemistry - at the age of 17! Dad lived in a boarding house in North London, where the landlady called him "Larry" because "Karl" was too German! He was a firewatcher on the rooftop of the Dufay-Chromex building where he worked, as the Germans were dropping incendiary bombs all over London. Dad would spend most weekends back in Biddenham with the Sharpes. When the war finally ended, Dad was in London and joined in the VE Day celebrations. He had not heard from his father since war was declared and was unable to discover what had happened to him or any other family member for many years. However, his stepmother was able to correspond from New York, and she urged Dad to come to the U.S. and live with her. In November of 1946, Dad traveled to New York and moved in with his stepmother at 545 W. 111th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She had rented 2 adjoining apartments and was running a boarding house there, renting rooms and providing meals. Dad began working at a chemistry lab researching the benefits of blackberries, but ultimately found a position he was more interested in at Color Research Inc., where scientists were exploring producing color film. Meanwhile, in Brussels, our grandfather Alfred Witsenhausen became ill with cancer and ultimately died in the fall of 1946. He lived long enough to listen to the Nuremberg Trials on the radio and was somewhat comforted that the major Nazi criminals were found guilty and sentenced to death. When Brussels was liberated back in the fall of 1944, Mom worked at a USO canteen. She and Hans both resumed their education. Mom attended a college specializing in art, with a concentration on commercial art. She wanted to go to the U.S. to work as an artist because the opportunities were greater than in Brussels. However, when grandfather Alfred became ill, Mom decided to stay in Brussels for the time being. In May of 1947, after a great deal of difficulty in getting the proper visas and passport (as refugees in Belgium, they were all stateless), Mom got on a train, traveled through Germany and boarded the SS Gripsholm in Gothenburg, Sweden for the journey to New York. She disembarked on June 1, 1947 and was met by her Uncle Louis, Aunt Grete and Cousin Ernie, who has arrived in New York early in 1945, after finding refuge in Cuba for several years. Another relative, Julius Nathan, was a boarder with Mrs. Weiss at 545 W. 111th Street. A few days after her arrival, Mom went to visit Uncle Julius and there was a handsome young man named Karl Weiss! They enjoyed the typical German afternoon tradition of coffee and cake, and then Madeleine and Karl went for a walk. A few weeks later, Dad invited Mom on a date. They attended a concert at Lewisohn Stadium (College of the City of New York) where the main piece on the program was Dvorak's 9th Symphony, "From the New World". Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater that hosted athletic events, as well as many concerts and theater productions, until it was demolished in 1973. Both Mom and Dad loved music - attending that first concert together cemented their bond and was just the beginning of a lifetime of attending concerts, listening to records and music on the radio. Dvorak’s 9th Symphony became a symbol of their love for each other and of their love of music. Whenever they heard this symphony, it provoked lovely memories of their first date. The music itself, with its beautiful melodies and use of American motifs in a European musical structure, mirrors the life story of Madeleine and Karl Weiss. On July 31, 1948, Mom and Dad were married at New York City Hall. They spent their honeymoon at Lake View Lodge in Bolton Landing on Lake George in the beautiful Adirondacks of New York State. While working at The Rivers School in Weston, I was fortunate to be able to teach a course on the Holocaust for 14 years. Both Mom and Dad frequently visited my class and told the students their stories - a bonus for my students to hear from actual Holocaust survivors. Mom's favorite part of visiting with the students was to show her final slide - a photograph of the entire family after our daughter Abby's wedding. She would say, "Hitler tried to kill us, but he didn't succeed. Look at how we have multiplied!" Carol Davidson * To learn about the Kindertransport, visit the Kindertransport Association at https://kindertransport.org/.

I asked our orchestra members why they love to play Dvorak's New World Symphony, the featured piece on our November 6 program - some responses are below: Chris Ten Eyck (Principal Trumpet): The other day I tried to figure out when I joined the Wellesley Symphony (WSO), and it turns out I first substituted for the marvelous Franck Symphony in February 2005. I joined for the next season, which makes this my 17th full season. How time flies! One great thing about this orchestra is that we get to learn and perform a lot of music in not a lot of time as we sail through each season. Our November concert will be the fourth time I've played Dvořák's "From the New World" with the WSO. Playing this music invites learning more about its creation and playing it more than once invites the discovery of ever more great moments. The history of this piece, and Dvořák's trip to America, inevitably leads to examining the central narrative for this symphony -- his incorporation of "Negro melodies." I do have to note that the idea of incorporating 'native' music has a tremendous amount of acculturation history which is well worth examining. Some of the influences are obvious, such as the quote from the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" first played by the flute in the first movement. I daresay for most listeners, the favorite moment is the wonderful English Horn solo in the second movement, a tune later coined as "Goin Home" by Dvořák student William Arms Fisher. For me, it's four measures near the very end of the first movement -- which took longer to uncover. In rehearsing this piece several years ago (the 3rd time for me), with his knack for finding easily missed details, Max Hobart pushed the trumpets to blare out a very brief, four measure, syncopated unison figure near the very end of the first movement, heard at 12:25 in this performance Also note that a traditional fanfare rhythm just precedes it (also only in the trumpets - it's true, fanfares are our business, come to think of it!) In earlier readings of this piece, this snippet didn't make any sense, but playing it at that rehearsal sure sounded like ragtime, a great example of which is Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag". Certainly, ragtime would have been a large part of the music scene in Dvořák's New York in the 1890s, when 'New World' was written. Such large works as this symphony can't help but be built upon the world at the time. In several recordings I sampled, this little section is barely audible - maybe it wouldn't be missed if it wasn't there. But how great a detail it has turned out to be for me. Meagan Whelihan (Second Violin): Here is my favorite memory regarding Dvorak's 9th symphony. The summer after my sophomore year of high school, I toured Italy with NEC's Youth Symphony. I started dating a trombone player during the trip. We were playing the New World symphony during the tour. Every time the English horn played her solo, we would peek at each other -- because he was directly past her in my line of sight -- and we would wink or make funny faces. Ah, young love! Kelly Farewell (Percussion): I grew up in a suburb of New York City, and music was always part of our lives at home. I loved seeing how much joy music brought to both my parents and older siblings. Our field trips from elementary through high school were often to see Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, broadway shows, and the New York City ballet. I was blessed to have amazing music teachers and a family that fully supported our musical education. I always loved music, particularly Beethoven symphonies, but thoroughly fell in love with other orchestral music in my high school music literature class. I remember my teacher introducing us to Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World," why the composer wrote it, and the beautiful melodies within it. Whenever I hear it, particularly the "going home" section, I'm transported right back to that high school music classroom where I was absolutely mesmerized and energized. I couldn't get enough of it, particularly orchestral music of the romantic period. Although I've studied and played other types of music, my heart always longs to play orchestral music like this. Pat Diamond (First Violin): I joined WSO in 2000 when we moved to Massachusetts. WSO means many things to me: beautiful music, friendship, serving the community. I have played in WSO for 22 years. There are many reasons that I love to play my violin. I love the sound, the way it physically feels to play it, and that it may be played alone or with others. It feels like a friend that is always part of your life. Over the years, my violin has represented different things to me, depending on the stage of life I am in. The reason I enjoy practicing is because it provides me with a sense of accomplishment. I may not always be able to play everything perfectly, but I always improve. WSO rehearsals are my favorite part of playing my violin. Rehearsals provide a routine, provide a highlight activity to my week, and are the most enjoyable, relaxing aspect of playing violin for me. All my life, my conductors were more knowledgeable than I am in music performance and music history. I enjoy hearing them discuss those aspects of music. It is a comforting feeling to me. I like to play my violin in concerts, but I am usually nervous. I do not want to make a big mistake and ruin everything. The best part of performing in concerts is looking at the audience. My goal is to make audience members feel happy and relaxed for the two hours they spend with us. Dvorak’s 9th Symphony is a beautiful piece. The spot that is special to me is the English horn solo after the introduction of movement two. When I taught elementary general music, I put the poem “Who Has Seen the Wind?”, stanza two, by Christina Rossetti, together with Dvorak’s movement two, musical theme. If you know the theme, give it a try! “Who Has Seen the Wind?” By Christina Rossetti Who has seen the wind - -? Neither you nor I: But when the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by. (I cannot guarantee this is an original idea, but I never heard the poem and music combined this way before.)

Welcome to the WSO Blog! This weekly post will keep you up to date on the orchestra's news and programs and share interesting details about the music that we perform for you. The theme of our first concert of the season (Sunday, October 2) is "Story and Myth in Music". Mark Latham, our new music director, has selected 4 compositions that tell a story - the most famous being Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique. The orchestra is hard at work, rehearsing and practicing the fantastic music on this program. All 4 compositions are brilliant at "telling" a story through music. Our blockbuster piece on October 2 is the Berlioz. Berlioz's own life would make a great movie - he was a romantic who yearned for seemingly unreachable women. In fact, Symphonie Fantastique tells the story of a struggling artist who doses himself with opium and proceeds to take us on a wild and crazy journey through his drugged dreams. I asked Mark to share his thoughts on the programming for this concert: "One thing I enjoy about programming is to find a theme that links pieces/ideas together. As Carol has said, the blockbuster work on the program is Symphonie Fantastique. So, what works might fit with the Berlioz, both thematically, and in terms of being good works in and of themselves? Of course, one is story – these works all have to do with story – Mozart’s version of Don Juan; Ophelia from Hamlet; the story of Icarus; and finally, the story the composer Berlioz himself provided for his grand symphony. (There is also the amazing story of Berlioz’ own early life. Carol is right: Why has no film director made a blockbuster movie out of this material?) Then we have various myths: Of course, that of Icarus. There is the myth of Don Juan himself, the Spanish profligate who devotes his life to seducing women. In the Berlioz, we find the myth of the stricken artist, as well as the myth of unrequited love. And, with Ophelia, we have the myth of innocent love gone astray, of lovesickness gone mad. But why is Ophelia in this program at all? (This is perhaps my favorite connection!) Because of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars that followed, the Parisian intelligentsia had not seen live Shakespeare in a very long time. In 1827 a company come to Paris and performed Hamlet. In his well-worth-reading autobiography Berlioz wrote: “And now I come to the supreme drama of my life.” He and his friends went to the first performance at the Odeon Theater, and the impressionable composer became obsessed with the famous actress playing Ophelia, Harriett Smithson. (As for ‘the supreme drama’, more at the concert!) This is why we are performing the under-performed work by Edward MacDowell. A final connection! The Mozart Overture (and our program) begins at the moment in his opera when Don Giovanni will soon be consigned to hell. And the final movement of the Symphonie Fantastique (which concludes our concert) finishes in hell, at a witches’ sabbath! I hope that you, dear patrons and music-lovers, will come and connect with us, and experience fabulous live music with a fabulous orchestra. You won’t want to miss this!" Berlioz himself wrote the notes for his piece and requested that his "program" be handed out to the audience whenever this music is performed. Berlioz' program notes are below for you to read ahead of time and know what he is trying to say through the music: Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14 Program notes written by the composer A young musician of morbid sensitivity and ardent imagination poisons himself with opium in a moment of despair caused by frustrated love. The dose of narcotic, while too weak to cause his death, plunges him into a heavy sleep accompanied by the strangest of visions, in which his experiences, feelings and memories are translated in his feverish brain into musical thoughts and images. His beloved becomes for him a melody and like an idée fixe which he meets and hears everywhere. Part one: Daydreams, passions He remembers first the uneasiness of spirit, the indefinable passion, the melancholy, the aimless joys he felt even before seeing his beloved; then the explosive love she suddenly inspired in him, his delirious anguish, his fits of jealous fury, his returns of tenderness, his religious consolations. Part two: A ball He meets again his beloved in a ball during a glittering fête. Part three: Scene in the countryside One summer evening in the countryside he hears two shepherds dialoguing with their ‘Ranz des vaches’*; this pastoral duet, the setting, the gentle rustling of the trees in the light wind, some causes for hope that he has recently conceived, all conspire to restore to his heart an unaccustomed feeling of calm and to give to his thoughts a happier coloring; but she reappears, he feels a pang of anguish, and painful thoughts disturb him: what if she betrayed him… One of the shepherds resumes his simple melody, the other one no longer answers. The sun sets… distant sound of thunder… solitude… silence… Part four: March to the scaffold He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned to death and led to execution. The procession advances to the sound of a march that is sometimes somber and wild, and sometimes brilliant and solemn, in which a dull sound of heavy footsteps follows without transition the loudest outbursts. At the end, the idée fixe reappears for a moment like a final thought of love interrupted by the fatal blow. Part five: Dream of a witches’ sabbath He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering of shades, sorcerers and monsters of every kind who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. The beloved melody appears once more, but has now lost its noble and shy character; it is now no more than a vulgar dance-tune, trivial and grotesque: it is she who is coming to the sabbath… Roars of delight at her arrival… She joins the diabolical orgy… The funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies Irae. The dance of the witches. The dance of the witches combined with the Dies Irae. * simple tunes played on Alpine horns Hope to see you all at the concert on Sunday, October 2 at 3:00 pm! Carol

Congratulations to Mark Latham and the entire WSO for a fantastic concert on October 2nd - the first of our 2022-23 season! Rehearsals have already started for our November 6 concert - lots of new music to learn and enjoy. So - what does it take, behind the curtains, to produce a concert? Lots of work performed by people dedicated to making the performance of glorious music possible! Here is a brief synopsis of the action that you don't see: 1. The music director - Mark - plans the program - the music that we will perform. Mark particularly likes to plan around a theme. Our first concert, Story and Myth in Music, clearly used stories and myth to unite the music. More from Mark below. Our second concert is titled "In Memoriam", and it is a special program for me personally, as it is in memory of my parents, Madeleine and Karl Weiss. You will learn more about their story in a forthcoming post. Mark has chosen music that celebrates those people that we hold dear, and memories of times gone by. The main piece is Dvorak's 9th Symphony, "From the New World", which had special significance for my parents. 2. Once the music is selected, our orchestra manager, Richard Logothetis, sources the printed music. We need to have a score for the conductor and parts for every musician in the orchestra. The WSO owns some music, some music is found on a free online source, some is rented (especially contemporary music) and some is purchased. Next, Richard sends the string parts out to the string section principals so that we can mark bowings, and sometimes fingerings, into the parts. We generally wait for our concertmaster, Emil Altschuler, to annotate the first violin part, and then we use that to inform what our sections should do. Once the string parts are bowed, Richard scans every part for all of the instruments so that the music is accessible online. Our volunteer orchestra librarian, Liz Turi (who also runs the WSO website!) helps with photocopying the parts to put in folders for each musician. Phew! Now we have the music so we can practice! 3. Another extremely important task performed by Richard is to ensure that each part is covered - that is, that we have a full orchestra. We need enough string players in each section to balance the woodwinds, brass and percussion instruments. And we need to have each wind, brass and percussion part covered. The WSO is a nearly 100% volunteer orchestra - and luckily, a lot of great musicians want to play with us. Kudos to Richard for doing a fantastic job of finding wonderful people to join us. 4. Other tasks - - ticketing needs to be set up (thank you again to Richard) - website needs updating (thank you to Liz) - program booklet (a team effort) - program notes for each concert (thank you to James Heazlewood-Dale) - email notifications, Facebook posts (a team effort) - mailings about concerts and to solicit donations (a team effort) - ushers to help patrons find their seats (thank you, Wellesley Service League) - flowers for the concert (thank you to Posies of Wellesley) - refreshments for the receptions (thank you to orchestra and board members) - vaccination cards, ticket checking and sales at the door (Richard and volunteers) - stage set up and taken down (a team effort) - managing lights and microphones (thanks to Tim Hill and Henry Platt, stage managers) Clearly, it takes a village to produce each wonderful performance! As mentioned above, I asked Mark to give us a behind the scenes glimpse into how conductors prepare for rehearsals and concerts. Here is his answer: "It’s an interesting question, with a variety of answers. Here’s part 1 of my take: The variety comes about due to some different factors: How well do I already know the work? How many times, or how recently have I conducted it in concert? Or is the piece completely new to me? Another consideration: What issues will the orchestra likely have to deal with regarding a certain piece? In rehearsal, how to carve sufficient time for each work? Lera Auerbach’s amazing “Icarus” (which the WSO just performed) was, until August, a completely new work for me. Initially I’d asked our manager Richard to see if we might perform a newer work of hers, “Eve’s Lament”, but finding an ondes martinot (an early electronic instrument) and a player was going to be a difficult prospect in the short time we had. We settled on “Icarus”, which was enthusiastically recommended to me by my dear conductor friend and colleague Oriol Sans, who works at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Another friend, one of the librarians at Harvard, was able to get a score for me so I could begin to have a look. I’m a great believer in using whatever technology is available to us - thank you Youtube! There are quite a few recordings of Icarus, which is helpful if one’s in a bit of a hurry! Still - in the end, learning a score takes a lot of time. (One conductor I knew tried to put a number on that: For every single minute of music, he claimed, a conductor spends at least 2 hours of score study…So, for a Mahler symphony, you might spend 100 hours of score study! That’s probably exaggerated as many bits of a work repeat themselves.) You try to figure out the general structure, the emotional content and projection of that content, the changing character. What has the composer herself said about the work? If recordings are available, how have different conductors interpreted the work differently - and why? What is their rationale? And what is mine. My main teacher at the University of Michigan, Ken Kiesler, told us to constantly ask questions of the score: Why did Auerbach choose to do this here? Why did she choose this rhythm, or this instrumentation? What is the impact of the intense trills in the beginning of the second part? Why not just simple non-trilled notes? Often the questions are unanswerable, but they are enlightening… Or why did Beethoven choose to score the very beginning of his 5th Symphony in the way he did? (Hard to answer.) Why did he orchestrate the beginning of the "Joy" theme in the final movement of his 9th Symphony the way he did? (We can hazard a good answer to that!) More about rehearsal and concert preparation in Part 2!"