Dear Students and Parents,

A belated congratulations to all of you who participated in the ASTA Mary West Competition. Alec Witherspoon performed Mozart Concerto in G Major at the recital as a winner in the Intermediate Division, and Katia Tesarczyk received an honorable mention.

Here are important calendar changes. Since I was in Cleveland and did not teach last weekend, I would like to teach this Saturday even though it will be Thanksgiving weekend. Please email me or call with time windows.

We will be out of town from Dec. 6 to Dec. 20. This is a great time to rehearse and have lessons with Claudia. I hope she has received all of your piano parts and appointment times.

We will have our next performance class on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 10:00 a.m.

Our dress rehearsal will be Feb. 6, Saturday at 10:00 a.m., and our concert will be the next day, Sun. Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. here at the ranch. Please make a note of all of these changes from our last posting.

Bruce and I wish you all a beautiful Thanksgiving.  It means a great deal to us that you are in our lives.

The rest of this posting is news of an extraordinary event taking place at the University of Minnesota soon. Irvine Arditti, founder and leader of the Arditti String Quartet and an important contemporary violinist is giving a concert at the Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of
Minnesota on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 7:30pm; the concert is free of charge.
The celebrated pianist Noriko Kawai will be joining him on this program, which includes some wonderful music by Iannis Xenakis, James Dillon, and Salvatore Sciarrino. It’s been many years since he’s been in the Twin Cities, so it’s a great opportunity for new music enthusiasts in the area.
Please come, and feel free to pass this message on to anyone who might be interested!

 P.S. There are other events with Arditti taking place over the Dec. 4-7
long weekend, please see below for more details. Also, be on the lookout
for upcoming new music concerts in the area sponsored (in part or whole)
by CMW, including

Wed., Dec. 9 – Mario Caroli (flute) & Alice Teyssier (flute, voice),
Sundin Hall, Hamline University, 8:30pm (works by Sciarrino and Dillon).

Fri., Dec. 11 – CMW semester concert, 12:00pm, Ferguson Hall TBD (probably
room 85) (works by Feldman and Xenakis).

Wed., Feb. 10, 2010 – Rohan de Saram (cello) and Noriko Kawai (piano), Ted
Mann, U of M (works by Berio, Dillon, Zimmermann, others), as part of a
Consortium for the Study of the Asias (CSA) event.

About the Contemporary Music Workshop (CMW): Based in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, the Contemporary Music Workshop is a constellation of
performers, composers, and writers passionate about new music. For more
information visit http://www.contemporarymusicworkshop.com/