Summer Sojourns

Every summer the Criers scatter to drink from the fountain of inspiration at music festivals, in far corners of the world, at the family cabin in the woods, on a road trip along the Pacific, etc... And every Fall, they bring this inspiration back to a fresh new concert season. We're just four weeks out from the first rehearsal for our 4th Season, and I smile when I imagine the personal, artistic, soulful growth and its profound effect on both process and product. This flexibility and eager embrace of change is at the core of our being. It is quintessentially A Far Cry, and I love it!

On the music festival front this year, you might catch Margaret or Tony at Yellow Barn (Putney, VT), myself at Int'l Musical Arts Institute (Fryeburg, ME), Sarah at Carmel Bach Festival (Carmel, CA), Liza at Monadnock Music (southern NH), Miki or Annie at North Country Chamber Players (Lincoln, NH), Megumi at Olympic Music Festival (Quilcene, WA), and Ashley or Court at LyricaFest (Lincoln, MA). You might spot Jesse on a tour of his home state with the Vermont Symphony, find Karl in a tent somewhere in Minnesota or on stage soloing on his bass with the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, catch a glimpse of Frank as he spends time with family in Maine, Virginia, and Sun Valley, or stumble upon Jae driving up and down the East Coast anywhere from Georgia to Maine. If you find yourself in more remote corners of the world, you might just have a Jen sighting in the back alleys of Romania while she soaks up everything Enescu, run into newly-wed Loewi in Seoul, Korea teaching cello and English with his wife Jenny, or discover Sharon on her annual tour with WEDO (West-Eastern Divan Orchestra) to places as diverse as the Dominican Republic, England, and Qatar.

All will slowly reconvene in Boston, and the rehearsals will begin shortly thereafter. Looking forward to another great season, coming up right around the corner!

1st Thursday comin' right up!

Hello lovely people, A Far Cry opens the doors to The Space in Jamaica Plain as part of the 1st Thursday events in the neighborhood. Join us on July 1st when we will feature artist Walter Worden, and on August 5th, featuring Tanya Maggi.

View art, enjoy chamber music performed by Criers, and meet your neighbors!

Doors will be open and refreshments served from 6-8pm at 146A South Street, Jamaica Plain.

In-the-moment Concert Announcement!

Sunday, June 6, at 7:00 pm, at the Far Cry Space 146 A South St, Jamaica PlainMonday, June 7 at 7:30 pm at Second Church of Newton, 60 Highland St, West Newton

Sometimes there's just too much rehearsing to do to properly let people know about a concert! That's been the case for a concert that I want to tell everyone about taking place tomorrow at A Far Cry's space. This is a concert that I guarantee will be overflowing with fun. Come on by Sunday evening for an all-C.P.E. Bach (the very witty son of J.S. Bach) concert with myself and Jesse Irons on violin, Blaise Dejardin, cello, and Andrus Madsen, harpsichord. You may have heard both Blaise and Andrus playing with the Criers at various times, although Blaise is full-time in the Boston Symphony and Andrus is a very busy harpsichordist and music-director-about-town. If you can't make it to the space, you can also catch us Monday night in Newton.

The program will feature sonatas by Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, including the Sonata “Sanguinius et Melancholicus,” a conversation between Sanguine and Melancholy in which the two debate the merits of their personal life outlook.

(No tickets, but donations will be appreciated!)

Springtime Music in JP

While baseball season has started up and A Far Cry's 3rd season has been winding down, there's still the chance to hear some really fun concerts in JP with the Criers in smaller numbers. First, I want to let you know about a recital I'm playing in JP this Sunday with my really great friend, pianist Arun Nadgir. We're playing pieces for violin and piano that totally encapsulate and showcase each composer's character, from Ravel and his French take on the Blues, to Brahms' beautiful, sometimes painful pathos. Info is below, and I'd love to see you there! Sunday April 25th, 6 PM River of Life Church 440 Centre Street (at the intersection of Centre and South Huntington) Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 Free!! Reception fun to follow.

Program: Mozart G Major Sonata KV 379 Ravel Sonata Webern 4 Pieces op. 7 Brahms D minor Sonata

Also, just looking ahead a bit, we'll be having another Chamber Music Happy Hour at our space on Thursday, May 6th. Criers will be doing one of our favorite things...playing chamber music with each other, and sharing it with all who enter! Come by anytime between 6-8 PM! (146A South Street!)

The Poets Sing

The second installment of World War Two poems written by soldiers drives home an interesting point - music, particularly jazz music, was a huge part of their lives. The poems below are parodies of well-known tunes, including "As Time Goes By", which we'll play tonight, a blues, and "Thanks For The Memories." The last one is an original song written by a POW. As Flak Goes By - Author unknown

You must remember this That flak don't always miss And one of you may die. The fundamental thing applies As flak goes by---

And When the fighters come You hope you're not the one To tumble from the sky The odds are always too damned high As flak goes by---

110's and 210's knocking at your gate Come on you jokers, come on kill that rate And should a bomb hang, salvo don't wait The targets passing by---

It's still the same old story A tale that's too damned gory Some brave men have to die The odds are always high As flak goes by.

Fortress Blues

Why did I join the Air Corps? Mother, dear Mother, knew best. Here I lie 'neath the wreckage, A Fortress all over my chest.

If you ever lose an engine, And you don't know which way to turn, Just reach right up on the dashboard, Push the button marked spin, crash and burn!

The Fort is a very fine airplane Constructed of rivets and tin, With a top speed of over 100, The ship with a headwind built in.

If you ever run into ack-ack, Or a Messerschmidt makes a good pass, Just pick up your chute and start walking; To hell with the crew, let 'em crash.

Why did I join the Air Corps? Mother, dear Mother, knew best. Here I lie 'neath the wreckage, A Fortress all over my chest.

Thanks for the Memory - Author unknown

Thanks for the memories, of flights to Germany Across the Northern Sea, with blazing guns We fought the Hun, for air supremacy. How lucky we were!

Thanks for the memories, of Me-109's And Flak guns on the Rhine They did their bit and we were hit So ended our good times...we miss them so much!

We drifted far out of formation We jumped-and what a sensation And now we sweat out the duration Our job is done, we had our fun.

So thanks for the memory Of days we had to stay, at Stalag Luft 1A The cabbage stew which had to do Till Red Cross Parcels came How thankful we were.

So thanks for the memory When "D" Day came along We changed our marching song From "Forever and a Day" to "War ain't Here to Stay" We thank God for that!

LOW IS THE SUN by John Lashly

Days have their worries

Nights have their furies

But in between times it's dull.

I hate to seem alone

So hate to dream alone

Evenings bring such a lull, so –

Low is the sun as slowly it leaves the sky,

Low is the moon as night draws nigh,

So is my heart whenever the day is through

Once a day, every day, evenings bring thoughts of you

Each long shadow whispers -

You must be lonely too

But my heart keeps saying

“Don’t go back, your through”, so –

When in dusk I sit around just for fun

Its to think of you, only, lonely, when low in the sun.

The Poets

As we get ready for "The Poet" - a program that is inextricably linked to the Second World War, and which poses the very real question of what it means to create art in a time when everything is changing - I've been taking on a little side project and researching POETRY written during this period. I'll post a few WWII-era poems here between now and concert time... One of the most interesting and profound sources of verse is the soldiers themselves. So I thought I'd start with some short GI-created poems, each written in dramatically different circumstances (and the last two coming from a prisoner-of-war camp). I love reading these works and hearing these incredibly real voices sounding in the distance. There's art here, and wit, and insight, but also a lack of "artfulness." Here goes:

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

- John Magee

WAITING

When you're far away from the one you love Stop and gaze at the heavens above, Whether the time be the sun-scorched noon Or a frosty night with a glittering moon, And there up above in that realm of space I see not the sun or the moon, but a face A beautiful face with a tender smile Which tells me she’s waiting to make life worthwhile.

Perhaps tonight from her windowpane She’s gazing aloft, on her lips my name. As she prays to God, way up above To watch o’er, keep safe, and return that love.

So when you’re feeling alone and forlorn Watch into the night and the wakening morn, And remember that westward across the blue She’s watching and waiting, the same as you.

- Author Unknown

KRIEGIE THOUGHTS

Barbed Wire! Barbed Wire! Barbed Wire! To the North, South, West and East Will it always hold me captive Without hope or joy or peace

Must I ever curve this eager flame That burns within my chest Or know once more the joy of home With pleasant hours of rest

Such questions to my mind do crowd When deep in thought I sit But ever with it comes the cry It won't be long, don't quit

And so it goes from day to day A never changing scene But someday soon I will leave it all As though it were a dream.

-  Author Unknown

By:  Lt. Larry Phelan,  Stalag Luft III,  dedicated to his wife:

I dream as only captive men can dream Of life as lived in days that went before; Of scrambled eggs, and shortcakes thick with cream; And onion soup and lobster Thermidor; Of roast beef and chops and T-bone steaks, And turkey breast and golden leg or wing' Of sausage, maple syrup, buckwheat cakes, And chicken broiled or fried or a la king. I dwell on rolls and buns for days and days, Hot corn bread, biscuits, Philadelphia scrapple, Asparagus in cream or hollandaise, And deep-dish pies - mince, huckleberry, apple. I long for buttered creamy oyster stew, And now and then, my pet, I long for you.

More poems can be found at  http://www.merkki.com/poetry.htm

Guest Criers' Feature

As part of my non-musical A Far Cry duties, I am webmaster for afarcry.org. Ever since the big redesign a couple months ago I've been slowly improving different parts of the site. There's still a lot of room to grow (and things for me to learn!) but I'm particularly proud of today's improvement. I've been searching for a way to give more meaningful acknowledgment to our Guest Criers, who toil long hours for little or no pay, contributing to and enriching the musical experience for musicians and audiences alike. Until now, all we had was a bulleted list of names. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so in that spirit, I hope the new guest criers page brings our special guests more of the attention they deserve!