ENGAGING COMMUNITIES | BEMF Director of Community Engagement Nina Stern will lead a compelling and interactive program featuring young recorder players from around the globe. A renowned recorder player, Nina is the Artistic Director of S’Cool Sounds, an organization that uses the power of music to inspire, educate, and connect children. Families as well as Festival attendees are invited to enjoy a live performance by an award-winning group of S’Cool Sounds students from the neighborhood of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya alongside a virtual performance by a group of American children hailing from Seattle to New York, from New Jersey to Boston. The children will then have an opportunity to greet each other and share stories, ending with a question and answer session for all viewers.
This year’s virtual event will lay the foundation for the 2023 début of the BEMF Youth Ensemble, which will bring together young players of recorder, strings, and percussion from far and wide. Through the joyful collaboration of music-making, this program will create bonds and build community for the next generation of music lovers and beyond.
Special thanks to recorder teachers Julius Odhiambo and Jacob Saya In Nairobi; Evan Harris and Ruaridh Pattison in New York, Miyo Aoki, Vicki Boeckman, Sabine Endrigkeit, and Isabella Pagel in Seattle; Bonnie Kelly, Karen Robbins, and Jennifer Farley Smith in Boston; and Julienne Pape in New Jersey for gathering and instructing our young participants. Special thanks also to Peter Maund.
Presented as part of the 2021 Boston Early Music Festival. Learn more at https://BEMF.org/2021-festival/