THE LEGACY OF ANNE RATNER'S MANY GIFTS

The Anne Ratner Concert Series

Abigail “Abby” Esty moved to Camphill Village in 1975. Her adoring grandmother, Anne Ratner, became a regular here in Copake.

Anne was a pianist, and welcomed world-class musicians into her Manhattan apartment to play salon-style concerts for small groups several times a year, and for some stretches more than once a month. She cooked and served the food herself, and raised funds for the League Center for Seriously Disturbed Children in Crown Heights where she taught, as well as Camphill Village. These evenings that benefited the community where her granddaughter Abby lived some 100 miles north came to be known as the Anne Ratner Concert Series. And for the many years that this concert series continued even after Anne’s passing in 1995, the generous hosts who carried on the tradition did so with Anne’s sparkling personality, heart, and love of the arts at the center of each concert.

Anne was personal friends with many renowned musicians, including Richard Goode, Emanuel Ax, and André Watts, to name just a few. The series was special, and artists who were accustomed to playing for packed concert halls played for the Anne Ratner Concert Series just for the experience. Anne would cook giant meals for concert attendees for each concert, and she also had the help of her dear friend Charlie Hamlen, who dedicated many years to fundraising for charities through classical music before his death in 2018.

Nancy Wellman, who continued as the series music consultant securing phenomenal acts for many years, recalled the early days of the series, which were quite an experience.

“You couldn’t get in the door unless you put a check in the bowl. That was how Anne did it,” she said. “And we sat all around the apartment with pillows on the floor, and every inch of her wall space was covered in art and paintings with barely an inch between them. We’d listen to this worldclass music looking at all these paintings.”

Gradually, the series evolved: they started renting chairs, as well as Steinway pianos at the request of the artists, and the evening was eventually catered. But it never left the living room setting.

Suzanne Lubell, who hosted the series for 10 years with Charlie Hamlen following Anne’s passing, remembered fondly the exciting mood that filled her own Manhattan apartment. The first act she hosted was Richard Goode, and Suzanne realized that ticket sales would have to be limited in the future. Between cooking full meals and desserts to carry on the tradition Anne started, and having Charlie identifying acts for the series as he had done when Anne was alive, there was much work and it was all rewarding.

“I can’t tell you how much that whole experience meant to Charlie and to me,” Suzanne said. “And it happened so casually when Charlie was preparing a concert to be given up at Camphill Village in memory of Anne Ratner, and I went to hear the rehearsal for the concert and after it was over, I said, ‘You know, Charlie, maybe we ought to pick up the Anne Ratner Concert Series because it’s such a wonderful series,’ and he said, ‘You know, it’s a good idea.’”

In the final years of the series, Charles Sims and Nancy Wolf – both avid classical musical fans – hosted many musicians including Anne-Marie McDermott and the Kafavian sisters. As hosts their interest began with their commitment to the arts, but after welcoming so many Camphill Village community members during these special evenings, they grew to love the Village and championed the cause as their predecessors did. Chuck has even joined Camphill’s Board of Directors.

Abby Esty still lives here in Camphill Village. And while we recently retired this series that connected Camphill Village to classical musicians and their fans for 45 years, we are so grateful for the ways we could carry this beautiful part of Anne Ratner’s legacy. “Anne was just one of the most amazing human beings, and also so generous, and she figured out that the classical musicians that she loved could raise money for Camphill Village,” Nancy Wellman said. “Anne was one of the most gregarious people I’ve ever met, and one of the most upbeat, optimistic friendly human beings on the planet.”

Anne Ratner plays piano for Camphill Village.

Anne Ratner and her granddaughter Abby Esty together.