Play the Recorder Month

The Dallas Recorder Society to give a free, fun and educational concert to celebrate national Play-the-Recorder month

DFW students prepare to play the recorder along with the Dallas Symphony in May

March 2018 will mark the twenty-sixth annual international celebration of Play-the-Recorder Month. As part of the month's activities, the Dallas Recorder Society (DRS), as well as its sister chapters of the American Recorder Society (ARS) all over the North American continent, will perform and offer workshops in public places. In Dallas, DRS members will also be helping local music teachers to prepare their students to perform in a Play-Along concert with the Dallas Symphony in May.

At 3pm on Sunday, March 18, the Dallas Recorder Society will celebrate Play-the-Recorder Month with a free performance at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library (1515 Young Street, Dallas , TX 75201), featuring DRS co-directors Jamie Allen and Cornell Kinderknecht, along with many other musical friends on guitar, harpsichord, voice, ocarina, and all sizes of recorders. Included in the program will be music showcasing the wide range of what’s possible on the recorder, including dances, improvisation, and the imitation of birds. Composers will include Bach, Handel, Telemann, and Monteverdi.

On May 2nd & 3rd, students from throughout DFW will travel to the Meyerson Symphony Center for a unique Youth Concert experience with the Dallas Symphony. Included on the program will be several works on which the students will be invited to play along on the recorder. Teachers and students are currently learning these pieces in their classrooms. DRS members will visit classrooms during the months of March and April to offer coaching and encouragement to these students. A consort from the DRS will also perform on the Meyerson stage as part of these Youth Concerts.

Play-the-Recorder Month grew out of an event staged as part of an American Recorder Society 50th anniversary celebration, during which members all over the world played a recorder piece simultaneously on April 1, 1989. Play-the-Recorder Day was first officially held in 1992, and then expanded to Play-the-Recorder Month the following year.

The recorder is an instrument of both the past and the present. Developed during the Middle Ages, it is an end-blown woodwind instrument with no reed. Recorder consorts featuring the entire family (sopranino to contrabass) of "fipple flutes," or flutes with a beak, were common in Renaissance musical life. Some Baroque music, now commonly played on the modern silver flute, was actually written for recorders by notable composers such as Bach, Vivaldi, and Telemann. The recorder was less popular in 19th century concert halls, where its soft- spoken sound was no match for louder instruments then being developed. However, its popularity was revived in the 20th century as a relatively inexpensive, portable instrument that fits easily in brief case or backpack. Many adults pursue musical interests by playing in recorder groups, and millions of school children worldwide use it as a tool to learn music.

Founded in 1939, the ARS celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2014. Its membership is comprised of recorder enthusiasts of all skill levels, from amateurs to leading professionals, students to teachers. It has approximately 140 chapters, consorts, and recorder orchestras in the U.S. and Canada, where its membership base is nearly 2,200, including over 100 international members in 17 countries.

Roster of musicians for the March 18 concert at the Jonsson Central Library:

Jamie Allen, Cornell Kinderknecht, David Podeschi, Harald Poelchau and Alice Derbyshire, recorders

Cris Gale, ocarina

Don Vitsentzos, guitar

Susan Poelchau, harpsichord

Claudia Jameson, soprano

Contact Information:

Dallas Recorder Society: Alice Derbyshire

Phone: (940) 300-5345

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.dallasrecordersociety.org

Dallas Symphony Youth Concerts: Jamie Allen