Acorn House

CIRCA 1830ACHORN HOUSE

PSYCHOTHERAPY LCPC Carol Sherman Hayes, LCSW Lisa Katz, LCSW Christine Kimball, LCSW Jane McKinney, LCSW Kristen Sheppard, LCSW Kristin Stone, LCPC Jody Telfair-Richards, PHD

MASSAGE THERAPY , LMT

ACUPUNCTURE Sharon Gordon, M.AC., DIPL.AC.

YOGA , Yoga Instructor

Director’s Notes

Thank you for attending the concert and thank you for joining us as we continue to “mask up.” It’s not where we wanted to be at this point, but we’re happy to take any precaution that keeps our singers safer. The concert was programmed with the thought that the rehearsal schedule might be affected or cancelled by illness in the ranks. Alas, there’s been both! But here we are, happy to be with you and share some time in song.

The selections on today’s program celebrate the wonder of the world around us. One of our choir members reminded me of John Rutter’s arrangement of “For the Beauty of the Earth,” so I decided to revisit it. The piece was published in 1980 and was one of those tunes that everyone was performing when I was just beginning my career as a choral director. classicfm.com describes Rutter as “one of the most successful of all living composers. His rare melodic gift and captivating harmonic flair have combined in a series of unforgettable choral gems that have touched the hearts of millions around the globe.” We hope it touches yours.

We’re so pleased to have Abbey Hutchins join us this evening. I met Abbey when she was in elementary school. Even then, she was a natural born singer, actor and musician. I was happy to be her voice teacher for a number of years as she moved from musical theater repertoire to classical music. Her father, Marcus, explains it this way. “When Abbey was in the second grade, she picked up her older brother’s bugle and produced a perfect sound. I immediately bought her a trumpet and began teaching her to read music and play the trumpet. By the time she was in the fourth grade, she was playing with the Boothbay Region Community Band. When Abbey was in seventh grade, at Beth Preston’s suggestion, we took her to Lincoln Theater to see a live in HD Met broadcast of Madame Butterfly. Needless to say, Abbey was by far the youngest in attendance. At the end of the four-hour opera, I asked Abbey if she would like to attend another one of these, expecting her to politely demur. Instead, with eyes glowing she said, ‘YES! When is the next one?’”